Demon Seed (1977)

(On Cable TV, November 2019) Considering what came out of Hollywood during the hazy 1970s New Hollywood era, it’s probably an exaggeration to call Demon Seed one of the wildest movies of the decade. But that doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near sedate—even by the entire Science Fiction genre’s standards, it remains way outside the norm. Much of it stems from the primal premise of the film (adapted from an early Dean Koontz novel), in which a malevolent artificial intelligence impregnates a young woman to ensure its immortality. Or would that be its mortality? This is one of those movies where you really shouldn’t waste brain cells examining the premise—just run with “woman impregnated by computer” and that’s enough. This ludicrous starting point isn’t helped at all by the now laughable 1970s execution—Demon Seed is all unconvincing special effects, moronic gadgets and eerie music. And yet, and yet—considering that the whole fear-of-AI thing is not growing any less urgent and the evergreen moral quandaries about reproductive plot elements, it’s almost shocking that there hasn’t yet been a remake re-examining those elements in light of contemporary developments. But I’m sure someone is working on it. In the meantime, you can enjoy the vintage 1977 film as a wacky ride of its own, both ridiculous and yet unnerving. Julie Christie gives it all she’s got even in being stuck in such a film, and she’s an essential component of why viewers won’t immediately collapse in laugher when confronted to such bonkers nonsense. Demon Seed, against all odds, remains surprisingly entertaining in the sense of keeping your attention, even if you may feel slightly dirty afterwards and never revisit it.