The Creation of the Humanoids

Even in the realm of the weird there is nothing else quite like "The

Creation Of The Hummaniods." Sure it's cheap, and it's got Dudley

Manlove(too small a role), but this dense, futuristic drama is miles

from Ed Wood and explored ideas (yes, "Blade Runner") that would be

judged profound coming out of a film with a budget.

The movie has about as many camera set-ups as "Rope"; but

a million times more story. Sure, it has unintentional humor, and

the most interesting thing about it; in the end, is it's an

unintentional exploration of boredom(hence, I think, the tie to Warhol).

It is moralistic, but avoids easy morality. Pax is a victim, but

also a seducer. Those who embrace the wave of robots are are hopeless as

those who attempt to enslave them.

This is a one of a kind film, and should be seen. Ten out of ten.

This one is enjoyable IF the viewer is prepared for the movie's distinctly odd nature and low budget. According to the story, World War III has depleted the Earth's population, but reconstruction efforts are progressing rapidly with the help of a newly developed race of `humanoids' (hairless, green-skinned androids who possess high intelligence and who serve with total faithfulness).

In fact, the androids are so intelligent and sensitive that many people want to have them destroyed, because they fear the androids will overthrow mankind. A few sympathetic humans have sided with the androids -- including the sister of the most outspoken anti-android activist. She actual MARRIES one of the androids. One rebel scientist conspires with the android members of a secret group who strives to perfect the androids and make them even more human.

Shot on a shoestring budget, the sets are fairly simple (although reasonably imaginative), and the acting is sometimes pretty bad. The soundtrack music is a kind o low-rent version of the `Forbidden Planet' tonalities. Oddly enough, all these apparent flaws somehow endear it to the more forgiving viewers, perhaps because the film works so hard to put across some very strange and imaginative concepts, including a nifty little surprise ending.

Watch for several recognizable props and costumes from classic science fiction movies, such as the glass tubes and the gray, one-piece uniforms from `This Island Earth'. One of the `early prototype robots' seen during the film's opening prologue is actually one of the armored alien space suits from `Earth versus the Flying Saucers' -- and it was spray painted silver!

There was, a few years ago, a prerecorded tape of this little gem available for rent at video stores. It you can find one, you're lucky. It's a nutty little cult classic from a by-gone age.

I hadn't seen this movie since the early 1960's when I was about 12. It made an impression on me then and, after renting this through Netflix as part of a "Double Feature", it still does!

The plot revolves around earth in the future (or is it the past?), with the human population ravaged through nuclear war. Only a remnant population of human beings remain and are dwindling, thanks to the effect of radiation on reproduction. Most tasks are handled by robots of varying degrees of sophistication, and who are taking on more and more responsibility in the running of earth, including becoming romantically involved partners with humans. At the core of the film is "The Order of Flesh and Blood", a group who is very wary of the robots and their activities, and who constantly monitor the robots' activities.

Without giving away too much of the plot, suffice to say that some of the robots have been entrusted to save man from himself, and the ending offers some interesting thoughts about what makes a human a human, and if robots are actually better at being human beings than human beings themselves.

You can definitely see the inspiration this movie provided to later films such as Bladerunner, Terminator, and many others.

The acting and many of the lines are cheesy, and the budget is minimal, but it's still a thought-provoking and entertaining film that gets the maximum out of the minimum. Recommended!

Maybe I just like robots too much, but having only just seen this, I happen to quite like it. The ideas are familiar by now, the production values make Star Trek look extremely flashy, and the characters tend towards wooden, but somehow it's better than all the expensive monster movies that pass for sci-fi lately. Fans of Blade Runner might appreciate this one. There are lots of little dialogue details worth paying attention to, which add a lot of context. Some older comments suggested this was one of the worst films the viewer had ever seen. I don't think it's even in that contest. It stands head and shoulders above dozens of sci-fi movies I've seen, some of them old and some of them new. Watch it if you can find it. :)

Don't let the rating I gave this movie dissuade you. I actually think people who like 'thinking' science fiction should check this out.

Some have suggested that this 1962 feature should be remade. If someone did do a remake, they'd have to just accept the fact that many casual viewers would claim that this movie's remake was ripping off Blade Runner, The Questor Tapes, Ghost in the Shell, and the 2000s Battlestar Galactica. However, it looks very much like all of those shows 'borrowed' from this 1962 motion picture.

Clearly the concepts in this film were really coming to a head in the 1960s. "Do androids dream of electric sheep" was talking about a lot of this stuff in 1968 (and who knows how long the book took to write). Captain Future of the 1940s and 1950s touched on some of this too. Every time I dig a bit deeper, I find out that someone's tackled many of these concepts. Heck, even Fred Saberhagen's Berserker novels tread similar territory.

I've written this in such a way that I don't give too much away. I think the best thing is to see the film for yourself. Be prepared though, since certain aspects of it are certainly dated. The preliminary robot designs during the film's intro are primitive looking (and almost comical). And the pacing is somewhat difficult at times. Stick with it though. The thesis comes out in the end and it's pretty entertaining to watch it unfold. This is a movie that could actually be done as a stage play. To that effect, I really enjoyed the sets and the lighting. With such a deep message, I felt that even more dramatic lighting and higher contrast ratios would have added even more gravity to certain scenes.

So yes -- check this out. It must have come as quite a shock to audiences of the time. For audiences today, it covers topics that we're quite used to so the impact won't be as great. Still pretty neat though.