Killdozer

When I saw the vote record for this title on this site, I was dumbfounded. 32 (the largest number) out of 198 people gave it only a 1!

I remember this film from when it first aired. It was one of the ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK projects. These were short (2 hours with commercials) films produced with TV series level budgets. This film was based on Theodore Sturgeon's short story about a machine that becomes "possessed" by an electromagnetic alien life-form and turns on its operators.

Because of the budget restraints, these films had to rely more on story than showmanship.

Young Orson Wells would have been right at home working on a project like this. Filmed entirely on location. This film was a thriller where an ordinary object we can take for granted becomes an object of fear – a twist Edgar Allen Poe often used in his works. The film is heavily altered from TS's original because of the low budget. The background story of his version of the fall of Atlantis was unnecessary to the plot, so a different and simpler opening sequence was filmed: a meteor crashing into the Earth 100,000 years ago. John Carpenter would use a similar conceptual opening again years later in his remake of THE THING. This film is a story – not a masterpiece – just a story. And I felt it was a good one.

For that matter, so did most of my friends at the time felt the same way -- it was a popular movie.

How I wish wish wish this was released on DVD!

OK. This is a fun film. Caterpillar D9 gets possessed, starts killing workers. But, what the hey, wasn't it great to see Clint Walker, Carl Betz and Neville Brand again? Eerie? Yeah, kinda. Spooky? Not unless you bought into it a lot more than I did. Liked the scene where Betz holds the D niner (glad to hear some construction worker ex-militaris speak here) at bay with a steam(?) shovel. Scary? Not really. But, fun...and it was great to see Carl, Clint and Neville again. BTW, this non-videoed TVdrama became a kind of campus cult classic for a while. Check it out.

I remember watching this flick when I was around the age of 12 and I thought it was wicked. Then to my surprise it was on again only recently and I still think it's a good film. Clint Walker is cool in this and I also thought he was good in the original 'Dirty Dozen'. In fact, they are all quite well known actors who star in this movie about a bulldozer that gets infected with hostile alien life and goes on a murderous rampage.

It's a watchable film, but also understandable that some people just won't like it. Like my sister for example, who watched it and then a few days later commented to one of her friends that she had watched this terrible film called 'Tractor Killer'. Rather amusing.

Rating 7/10.

I hunted this one for years, based on memories of terror in childhood. To finally see it again, for the first time since original airing, it was a treat. Hadn't realized how much the more recent "Virus" was borrowing from this. Clint Walker, still about 7 axe-handles wide, does his damnedest to complete an important job. It's no "Duel", but I'd take this over "The Car" (hate that crap, can't understand all the affection), "Virus" (like this, but with various "Hardware" steals), "Race With The Devil", and especially "Maximum Overdrive" (notice that they haven't let King direct again). It's simple, somewhat ludicrous, but quite effective little thriller. It's true that the story is immensely simplified from the original, but Theodore Sturgeon did the rewrite himself. Lovely parade of classic character actors, just adds to the fun. Proud to have it in my collection at last.

I remember seeing this as a kid nearly 40 years ago. Other boys and I were captivated by it, we discussed it at school for a week! Recently I saw it on YouTube and I felt compelled to comment. The story centers around six construction workers on some digging project on "an island 200 miles off the coast of Africa". They hit a strange meteorite which is possessed by an electromagnetic alien lifeform (?) which transfers its energy lifeforce to the D9 bulldozer which struck it. Now possessed, the D9 emits a faint hum as it storms around the island killing off the men one by one.

The story is a decent one for the sci-fi/horror genre. There are a few silly moments, like when one man sits stoically in the jeep as the D9 trundles toward him to flatten him. Why not jump out and run away? Sure he was drunk but even inebriated I think he could have outrun a bulldozer whose top speed is 4 miles an hour.

The special effects are minimal so instead the movie focuses on its story, something which I wish more movies did so these days, rather than relaying on special effects exclusively. it's worth watching if you stumble across it.