Demon Seed

Dean R. Koontz's novel is adapted for the screen with this original and provocative science-fiction tale. An organic super computer dubbed Proteus has been created, but this entity has ambitions and thoughts that its creators couldn't have foreseen. The one emotion built into it is reason, and it doesn't want to just blindly follow orders; it questions things. For example, why it's so necessary to plunder the Earth's oceans in search of precious metals and destroy wildlife in the process. But what really intrigues Proteus (eerily voiced by an uncredited Robert Vaughn) is human life itself, and it traps Susan Harris (ever radiant Julie Christie) inside her own home, intending for her to bear its "child".

As one can see, "Demon Seed" is far from your typical sci-fi, and is positively creepy, and personal. For a while it's practically a two character drama, with the frightened Susan and the coldly determined Proteus locked in a battle of wills. With the high level of intimacy generated, it's easy to be with these characters and feel concerned for Susan's safety.

The popular subtext of this and similar features - "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and "The Terminator" - illustrating a potential for disaster in trusting our lives to machinery, is front and centre. The movie never insults the audience's intelligence, and as it plays out it's really fascinating to see. Even if one can take issue with the way the movie strongly dates itself - special effects, fashions, etc. - some of the visuals are still quite hypnotic and the scenario remains compelling the entire time, with a memorable and haunting wrap-up, which will leave the viewer to wonder about the "What next?" aspect.

The acting is strong from all concerned, with Christie an engaging lead, and the likable Fritz Weaver doing well as the confident human brain behind Proteus who realizes this creation of his can't be so easily controlled. It's also cool to have on hand the always entertaining Gerrit Graham ("Phantom of the Paradise", "Used Cars") as Susan's would-be rescuer, Walter Gabler.

Excellent widescreen cinematography by Bill Butler and chilling music by Jerry Fielding are also heavy assets in this solid shocker, one of the more noteworthy films of its type from its era.

Eight out of 10.

This movie does seem to be older than 1977 when you see it, yet it is very nice. Nice enough to have searched for it on Imdb. The film depicts a rarely seen machine intelligence, one that has a conscience, a purpose and a cool calculating mind. One would expect that from a machine, but usually machines in movies are stupid, mean, vengeful, everything a computer should have no reason to be. The ending is also great, showing the stupidity inherent in extreme human emotion. A must see and a classic. Demon Seed could seem to many troubling as it forces you to think and ask questions many of us prefer to refuse to ask. The nature of humanity, moral and thought are all put into question by this movie. See it and answer those questions for yourself.

Susan Harris (Julie Christie), wife of a scientist working in the field of advanced robotics, becomes a prisoner in her own home when super-computer Proteus IV, who also wants to spread its seed by impregnating Susan, takes charge of her life. I rented "Demon Seed" because I felt like watching something with a brain, and based on a lot of positive IMDb reviews, I was praying for a smart sci-if flick. My prayers were answered.

The acting in Demon Seed is fine. Robert Vaughn was creepy as hell as Proteus IV, both sinister and relaxed at the same time, in fact he does an even better job as an evil computer here than Douglas Rain did as HAL-9000 in 2001: A space Odyssey.

The film benefits greatly from an intelligent screenplay, penned by Robert Jaffe and Roger O. Hirson. The dialog is thought provoking and thankfully never really insults the audience's intelligence.

Helming the director's seat is Donald Cammell, who directs with a firm hand and injects a claustrophobic and uncomfortable atmosphere into the film, also managing to maintain the suspense scenes well. Interestingly, he apparently condones the film (assuming that calling the film a 'piece of sh*t' warrants that…).

As others have pointed out there are some dated aspects to the production. The special effects were sparse but thoroughly unconvincing, the only exception being the mesmerizing computer screens that consist of ever-changing shapes and colors that are shown on Proteus's computer terminal. The film takes place in the 'distant' future—1995, I believe—yet it looks like it's right out of the 70's, no thanks to the cars, clothing, computers and hair styles that give away the films age. This is a small complaint but an annoying one, though it's easy to ignore once you get involved with the story line.

"Demon Seed" is an intelligent sci-fi film that's pretty rare but if you happen to see a copy of it, pick it up if you're in the mood for something smart.

7.5/10.

Demon Seed is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dean R. Koontz. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw this film. Needless to say, I was impressed. Whilst the idea of a megalomaniacal computer is not new, it is used to great effect. Proteus IV is a computer that actually questions the tasks it has been made to do and what the relevance of those tasks are. It also seems to have emotion and is heard several times to other characters in the film that he does not wish to hurt them when they are not co-operating with his demands. Although aspects of this film are now dated ( particularly the computer equipment ),Proteus IV's interesting philosophy, Julie Christie and Fritz Weaver's performances and the unexpected creepy ending make this film worth watching.

My mixed (at best) feelings about the film as a whole are reflected in the range of previous comments. My response to the contributions of composer Jerry Fielding, however, is unadulterated awe. The harmonic richness and complexity of his music sometimes seemed wasted on the films they accompanied - i.e. "Funeral Home", "Grey Lady Down, some of the Michael Winner collaborations et al - both the attention to detail his scores displayed and the complexity of response his music evoked were simply not supported by what was on screen. In fact, some of these films probably could have been served just as well if not better either by a relative hack or simply by a composer more able to work at "half-mast" on a given project - i.e. Goldsmith, Williams etc. Fielding's effectiveness was not restricted to scoring intense and/or violent scenes - witness his brief, exquisite interludes early and late in ""Junior Bonner", the heartbreakingly beautiful music underscoring Warren Oates' tortured efforts to express his feelings to Isela Vega in "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" or for that matter the many gentle moments of respite in "The Wild Bunch" itself. Still, some of the most imaginative and memorable marriages of sound and image in the history of film are provided by Fielding in just such intense contexts, often in scenes anticipating or immediately following violence and especially scenes of violation – i.e. the rapes of "Straw Dogs", the near rape of "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia", the rough sex / bondage of "The Nightcomers", or the not-in-itself particularly violent but perhaps even more disturbing – more violating – situation played out in "Demon Seed" 's centerpiece. However unbelievable or even ludicrous this scene's premise - or the "science" underlying it - may seem, the emotional journey the film's protagonist is forced to take is massive and mind bending (the scene turning into something somewhat reminiscent of the penultimate scene of 2001). Fielding's music is more than up to the task, amply supporting and even expanding the scope of this journey.

Anyway, I think I've expended enough syllables. Fielding is one of the extremely small group of film composers whose work is just as absorbing and memorable with or without the image. So, to all those who are interested – follow the IMDb links and search … and look and listen …

P.S. As a previous poster has noted, the soundtrack recording is available on a cd pairing it with the score from "Soylent Green" by Fred Myrow. It was released by FSM (Film Score Monthly) on their Silver Age Classics label.