The Darker Side of Terror (1979) (TV)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Gus Trikonis

Writers:

Al Ramrus (writer)
John Herman Shaner (writer)

Release Date:

3 April 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Romance

Tagline:

What happens when you create the world's first perfect human ... and he turns out to be your wife's perfect lover?

Plot:

When a scientist at a research lab is passed over for a promotion, he creates a clone of himself to attempt to seduce the wife of the man who got the job.

Plot Keywords:

Clone | Scientist | Experiment | Male Female Relationship | Maniac

Cast

Robert Forster	...	Paul Corwin / Clone
Adrienne Barbeau	...	Margaret Corwin
Ray Milland	...	Prof. Meredith
David Sheiner	...	Prof. Hillstrom
John Lehne	...	Lt. Merholz
Denise DuBarry	...	Ann Sweeney
Jack De Mave	...	Roger
Thomas Bellin	...	Ed Linnick
Heather Hobbs	...	Jenny
Eddie Quillan	...	Watchman
Raye Sheffield	...	Clone
Russell Shannon	...	Guard
James Nolan	...	Dr. Tapler (as Jim Nolan)
Madeleine Shaner	...	Audrey Linnick
Johnny Hock	...	1st Skater

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:16 (video premiere) (1980's)

Company:

Bob Banner Associates

Definitely recommended if you can FIND a decent copy

A medical scientist (Robert Forester) discovers that his one time mentor (Ray Milland) has decided to make a clone him from a blood sample he surreptitiously obtained. He's upset with this at first (if not nearly as much as he ought to be). Later though after he is passed over for an important promotion, he decides to join the older scientist in this groundbreaking experiment--bad move since everyone knows that clones will inevitably turn out to be evil ("Dolly" the cloned sheep was always trying to murder the "original" sheep who she was cloned from).

While there are good arguments against human cloning, you won't find any of them in this preposterous sci-fi TV movie from the 1970's--which is not to say that it isn't entertaining as hell. After the clone is somehow rapidly aged to where it is the EXACT same age and likeness of the scientist, they manage to educate it even more rapidly. The clone actually proves better than the original at satisfying the scientist's neglected wife (Adrienne Barbeau)and taking advantage of nubile, lovestruck co-eds. Unfortunately, the clone also suffers from some kind of dysfunction where his left eye goes white and he falls into murderous impulses. The end of this movie though is GREAT. Trust me, they don't make stuff like this anymore either for the big or the small screen.

Tragically, this movie is only available in third-generation dupes some yahoo recorded off TBS ten years ago. It's a mystery to me why this and a lot of other 1970's TV movies I loved as a kid are not available on DVD while practically every godawful TV sitcom series in history is, often is in a multi-volume edition. It would also be nice if ONE of the 500 cable TV networks was devoted to this kind of programming (the Turner stations USE to show these kind of movies a lot and occasionally MGM and the Fox cable network still do). There's no use in railing against "bootleggers", however, if no one else is willing to step into the breech and provide these movies legitmately. Definitely recommended though if you can FIND a decent copy.