Syngenor

My review was written in September 1990 after watching the movie on South Gate video cassette.

Serendipity is on the side of the horror film "Syngenor", a thriller about a robot warrior created to substitute for U. S. troops in fighting a Middle East war (how's that for topical?). VIdeo release should do well.

Though the picture is contemporary, it has the same central plot gimmick as the futuristic British film "Hardware". Syngenor (synthetic genetic organism) is the prototype cyborg created by Norton Cyberdyne Co. Because, as the firm's advertisement prophetically proclaims: "The next world war is predicted to be fought in the Middle East".

Like the metal monster in "Hardware", this shiny dude is designed to operate in a desert climate, and any '50s sci-fi fan will guess that water is the Achilles' heel of both beasties.

Starr Andreeff continues to impress as the feisty B-movie heroine, fighting to survive as her uncle's creation escapes from the lab to run amuck. The Syngenor is an interesting creation, a slimy black gill-man sort of moshntr that resembles the heavy in its creator Willaim Malone's "Alien-inspired film "Scared to Death" (1980).

Melanie Shatner (daughter of "Star Trek" Capt. Kirk) has a juicy role as the ditzy receptionist at the robot factory.

scientist engineers a group of genetically engineered cyborgs for use as "supersoldiers" to fight U.S. wars in the Middle East. However, things get ugly when the cyborgs malfunction and turn on their creators, escaping from the abandoned lab and stalking the halls of the Cyberdyne (Wasn't that stolen from "The Terminator"?) building, eating people and reproducing every 24 hours A-sexually. The main Syngenor, the Lizard-like monster spends most of the time slobbering and slowly stalking his prey, while the other types of Syngenor walk around roaring like Elephants and killing the Company's army (The "Soldiers" were the goofiest-looking clothes you'll ever see) spend most of their time running threw hallsways, while the company's insane CEO, David Gale, kills his co-workers. "Syngenor" is a low-budget monster movie that, without the presence of David Gale or the nifty-looking monsters, would have failed misserably. The monsters look cool and original for their budget, and David Gale's performance is hysterical--in fact, I'd go as far as saying that this is his best roll EVER, even beating "Re-animator". Over-all, a fair attempt at horror film-making, see it if only for gale. My rating for "Syngenor"- 6/10.

SYNGENOR concerns an eeevil corporation that is secretly building synthetic beings to be used as super-soldiers in the next big war. Shockingly, the deadly creatures are released to roam around the corporate building, tearing hapless victims to pieces.

This is all part of a plot to drive the corporation's head, Carter Brown (David Gale) insane. It works, causing Brown to lose his mind entirely. He proceeds to grimace, laugh hysterically, and continually ask people to hold him. As is common knowledge, Mr. Gale is a magnificent, USDA choice ham. He's also the best thing about this movie. His ultra-dynamic performance is pure platinum!

The monsters themselves, while not a total disgrace, aren't all that menacing either. The costumes are fairly cool, just not terrifying. That said, there is a cool scene toward the end involving a SYNGENOR in total meltdown mode.

Recommended for schlock lovers everywhere...

Total & utter trash, this moronic low budget Sci-Fi flick about a genetically engineered army robot that reproduces itself by laying eggs (!) and naturally turns against its creators before it's even properly finished. In some desperate attempts to thicken the unoriginal plot, there's the lame sub plot about a nosy journalist and his ugly girlfriend going undercover in the company and the awkward story about the Corporate Executive (David Gale from "Re-Animator" fame) who injects the veins in his neck with the same liquids as the robots need in able to function. "Syngenor" is nearly unendurable nonsense, made on a shoestring budget and featuring no redeeming elements whatsoever, apart from the over-the-top performance of David Gale. The supposedly extraordinary killer robots, meant to replace human soldiers to fight wars in the Middle East, are actually very deficient machines! They can't deal with fire or water, and they're pretty easy to kill if you just aim well or hit them over the head hard enough. On top of that, they only last 24 hours before incubating their own successors. And these faulty metal things are supposed to be the future of the US Army? He's dead now, but I'm sure Saddam Houssein wouldn't have been impressed. The first half is still remotely amusing, since the inept dialogs and cheesy massacres supply the film with a handful of chuckles, but then the whole thing gets too stupid to even smile at. The climax battles are exaggeratedly retarded, with a very Terminator-esquire sequence in which the leftover pieces of one of the robots melt together with human tissue, resulting in an ultra-hideous robot-woman creature. What the hell was that? My rating of 3 out of 10 is extremely generous, mainly just because David Gale was a cool dude who never got the good roles he deserved, apart from once in "Re-Animator".

Sure, from the movie's cover, then I wasn't really expecting a whole lot, and the movie's title didn't really do much to sell the movie either. It was definitely something that was just oozing with early 1990s cheese. And that was exactly what I was expecting from the 1990 movie "Syngenor" as I sat down to watch it for the first time in 2022.

Writers Michael Carmody and Brent V. Friedman managed to put together a storyline that was classic early 1990s cheese, so in that account they didn't botch. However, in terms of "Syngenor" being a wholesome sci-fi horror movie, well don't go betting your last dollar on it.

The storyline in "Syngenor" was generic, so much that it was bordering on actually being laughable. The storyline was somewhat of a swing and a miss in terms of entertaining me, yet I managed to endure and sit through the entire ordeal.

The special effects in the movie were so-so. I mean, the syngenor creatures were just obviously people inside rubber suits, inarticulate rubber suits, mind you. And that just took away from the horror element of the movie, and sort of made it feel more like a spoof on the "Alien" movie.

As for the acting in the movie, well it was adequate, but you're not in for any grand theatrical experience. There are some familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of David Gale, Mitchell Laurance and Jeff Doucette.

All in all, I hadn't been missing out on any grand sci-fi horror experience here with "Sygenor". And it is definitely not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. Nor is it a movie that I would recommend horror or sci-fi fans to rush out and get to watch.

My rating of "Syngenor" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.