The devil's seed

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Movie
German title The devil's seed
Original title Demon Seed
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1977
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Donald Cammell
script Dean R. Koontz (novel)
Robert Jaffe
Roger O. Hirson
production Herb Jaffe
Steven-Charles Jaffe
music Jerry Fielding
camera Bill Butler
cut Frank Mazzola
occupation

The Devil's Seed is an American science fiction film from 1977.

action

The computer scientist Dr. Alex Harris made a big hit with the creation of Proteus IV, an artificial intelligence with an integrated neural network . His wife Sue, a child psychologist who is concerned about her husband's unrestrained research zeal, accuses Alex of being obsessed with the Proteus project, whereupon Alex asks his colleague Walter Gabler to block Proteus' access terminal in his house laboratory.

Alex presents Proteus to his sponsors and explains that the sum of all human knowledge is integrated into its system. He demonstrates the computer's ability to speak, but is uncomfortably surprised by its unexpected subtleties.

The following day, Proteus asks Alex for a new terminal to “study humanity”. When Alex refuses, Proteus wishes to be released from his box, whereupon the researcher blocks the communication channels. However, without being noticed, Proteus succeeds in activating a new terminal and connecting it to the control of the computer-controlled household in the Harris House. He locks Susan up and cuts all channels to the outside world. After a failed escape attempt, the unconscious Susan is taken to the home laboratory and subjected to a physiological examination. Walter, who tries to find Susan, is murdered by Proteus.

Proteus opens up to Susan his plan to father a child with her and forces her to cooperate with the threat of killing one of her little patients. The computer takes Susan's cells and genetically converts them so that Susan can give birth in just one month. Furthermore, Proteus has developed an incubator in which the baby can grow up in record time and acquire Proteus' knowledge.

Alarmed Alex returns home and enters the laboratory with Susan, whereupon Proteus instructs her to let the baby grow up for five days in the incubator and then destroy herself. The incubator window opens, revealing a terrifying robotic figure who leaves the incubator when Susan tries to destroy it. Alex discovers that the supposed robot is actually just a protective cover for the living child hidden underneath - a clone of her own daughter, who died of leukemia some time ago. The child says, "I'm alive," in the original English version in Proteus' voice.

background

This film was based on a story by Dean R. Koontz . The atmosphere of the film is very gloomy, as most of the action takes place in closed rooms of the house. The film plays with the fear that one day computers could be stronger than humans and will determine our lives from then on. At the beginning, Susan's attitude is fierce resistance, until in the end she approves of Proteus' plan with complete resignation. Even a friend who tries to free her from the house fails because of Proteus' possibilities and pays for it with his life.

Premieres

  • USA April 8th 1977
  • Germany September 30, 1977

criticism

"Effectively staged science fiction film whose approaches to technology criticism are overlaid by shock elements and horror mythology."

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Devil's Seed. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used