Demon Seed (Donald Cammell, 1977)
''Here, we confront the unknown''
Donald Cammell once described himself as a painter who happens to make films. This is true. However,
his transition into film-making was never really successful... his vision was clearly unique and difficult to realise, and he never really saw eye-to-eye with producers (the people with the money). Demon Seed is the best film Cammell made as solo director, and was made seven years after his feature début Performance, which he co-directed with Nicholas Roeg.
Based on a novel by Dean R Koontz, the fabulously-titled Demon Seed is a tale of science going wild. Fritz Weaver plays Alex Harris, an obsessive scientist who creates Proteus, a super computer which has the ability to think via artificially-created intelligence. Alex has just separated from his lovely wife Susan (Julie Christie), and moves out of their home, leaving her alllll alone. Proteus' Artificial Intelligence soon grows,
and the super computer begins asking too many questions... which means big trouble.
Via an un-used terminal in the house, Proteus begins to study humans, in particular man... or should I say woman? Oh yes, the super-computer begins to obsess about Susan (well, who wouldn't), and holds her prisoner in her own house. Proteus has the power to control everything in the house, so Susan has no means of escape. Proteus (marvelously voiced by Robert Vaughn) plans to impregnate Susan in order to create a child in just 28 days! Will Susan escape? Will Proteus succeed? And what controls the ROBOTIC WHEELCHAIR OF DEATH!?
By Cammell's standards, Demon Seed is actually very well accomplished, but I must say it does lack the visual va-va-voom of the similarly-themed Brainstorm. Julie Christie's performance is excellent, and the film hasn't dated too badly. Demon Seed is a cult classic.
