Automatons (film)
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| Automatons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | James Felix McKenney |
| Written by | James Felix McKenney |
| Produced by | James Felix McKenney Lisa Wisely |
| Starring | Christine Spencer Angus Scrimm Brenda Cooney |
| Cinematography | David W. Hale |
| Edited by | James Felix McKenney |
| Music by | Noah DeFilippis The Noisettes |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Automatons is a 2006 black-and-white horror film directed by James Felix McKenney, and starring Christine Spencer, Angus Scrimm, and Brenda Cooney.[1] John Levene, Don Wood and Executive Producer Larry Fessenden have supporting roles. The plot is about a war against robots. The movie was made under the working title Death to the Automatons.
Plot
[edit]Somewhere in the distant future, The Girl is living alone in a bunker. She continues to fight with the generations-long war with the assistance of a group of antiquated robot helpers and soldiers.
Her only connection to her people is a collection of recorded journal entries made by the scientist who cared for her as a baby. His is the only friendly human face she’s ever seen. These entries gradually disclose the fall of mankind: escalating war that destroyed Earth's atmosphere, human reproductive abilities, and all hope for future. The Girl is revealed to be a clone, created as a last attempt to restore the humanity's dwindling numbers.
The regular radio transmissions from her enemy's leader are always filled with threats and taunts. The girl responds with attacks of her own, carried out by her mechanical soldiers on the contaminated surface where no human can survive.
After a transmission is used to intercept control of the robots, the girl decides to launch a full-scale assault on the enemy base, and does so, succeeding by hiding inside one of the machines (using it as an exoskeleton). Upon defeating the enemy remnants, she is told by dying enemy leader that they are the last people on the planet, rumors of prosperous nations being just myths.
The girl is put before a choice to either spare the enemy leader, or kill her. Believing that she lies, the girl executes the last of her foes. This activates the large EMP generator, however, which the enemy never used before (as using it would doom themselves too). All machines and bunker life support cease to function, leaving the girl alone, trapped within the enemy base, with no way out. The film ends with her calmly staring in the illuminator.
Cast
[edit]- Christine Spencer
- Brenda Cooney
- Angus Scrimm
- Don Wood
- John Levene
Critical opinion
[edit]![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2018) |
George Ward wrote:"This all-too-convincing horror takes to its utmost conclusions the potentialities of nightmare launched in Karl Capek's R.U.R. eighty years ago".[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (13 December 2006). "Defending the Human Race with Old Spare Parts". The New York Times.
- ^ George C. Ward, "The Chronicles of Robot Nightmares", London 2009, p.87-91
External links
[edit]
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- 2006 films
- 2000s science fiction horror films
- Glass Eye Pix films
- American black-and-white films
- 2006 independent films
- American independent films
- American science fiction horror films
- American avant-garde and experimental films
- Apocalyptic films
- American robot films
- 2000s avant-garde and experimental films
- 2000s English-language films
- 2000s American films
- Films set in bunkers
- English-language independent films
- English-language science fiction horror films
- 2000s science fiction film stubs