The Creation of the Humanoids

In a world after nuclear war destroyed 92% of the human population, humanity uses blue-skinned humanoid robots called Clickers as servants and workers. As the Clickers become more sophisticated and humanlike, an anti-robot watchdog group called the Order of Flesh and Blood rises in power. When the Order discovers Clickers are creating robots that are identical to humans and one of them has killed a man, conflict between the humans and Clickers seems inevitable.

One of the smartest and most original sci-fi films of its time. Unfortunately, its talkiness and static direction prevent many from recognizing its worth. In my view the smart script, relatively short runtime, and steady pace balance out the criticisms. I don't even see a problem with the low budget since they do remarkably well with what they have. It's a movie full of ideas and great dialogue that gives you a lot to think about and still holds relevance to topical issues of today. It's what sci-fi is, at its best, all about. Creepy electronic music score is a plus. Also one of the last films of legendary makeup artist Jack Pierce.

I see other reviewers crying for a remake. What a waste of everybody's time that would be. First, the ideas presented and explored here were revolutionary for sci-fi films of the early 1960s. That wouldn't be the case today so it would hold little impact as a modern film. What seems thoughtful for that time would be just another preachy message movie made today. Second, and we all know this is true, they would attempt to fix the original's technical flaws by having tons of shitty CGI and ridiculous action sequences. It doesn't need to be remade. It's an excellent and underrated science fiction film from the later part of the golden era of sci-fi. People need to learn to appreciate movies that are older and have a lot to offer, instead of just trying to update them to today's often crass and ostentatious "standards." Make new stuff for today and stop mining the past for ideas, please.

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!

Sixty years after it was originally shot this unique movie continues to divide the still tiny number of people that have actually seen it from Susan Sontag to Andy Warhol - the latter quoted by David Bourdon in the 5 December 1964 edition of 'The Village Voice as calling it "the best movie he has ever seen" - to Leonard Maltin, who gives it a 'BOMB' rating.

Obviously screenwriter Jay Simms knew his sci-fi, and it remains one of the very few sci-fi movies accurately to reflect fifties magazine fiction and visually to evoke the cover art of the era. With expressionistic sets stylishly lit by veteran cameraman Hal Mohr, it resembles one of the preachier episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' or 'Out of the Unknown' with it's allegory of bigotry (which anticipates later more prestigious productions like 'Guess Whose Coming to Dinner' and 'Blade Runner'), and manages to compress an enormous ammount of allusion into just an hour and a quarter. The League of Flesh & Blood, for example, wear Confederate-style uniforms and are pointedly dismissed by the sister "in rapport with a Clicker" in language that could easily apply to the Klan ("You hold meetings. Wear ridiculous clothes. You tell each other how superior you are to the robots. Because you know we're not!"). Meanwhile accusations of electoral fraud are still arousing passion sixty years after Kennedy's highly questionable election victory over Nixon in 1960.

The wonderful dialogue is regularly remarked upon, my personal favourite being "the only crime that can be committed against a robot is vandalism"!

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.