Death Machine (1995)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Stephen Norrington

Writer:

Stephen Norrington (writer)

Release Date:

26 May 1995 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It feeds on your fear

Plot:

Chaank Armaments is experimenting with the ultimate fighting machine which is part human - part machine...

Plot Keywords:

Killer Robot | Psycho | Cyberpunk | Cyborg | Robot

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Brad Dourif	...	Jack Dante
Ely Pouget	...	Hayden Cale
William Hootkins	...	John Carpenter
John Sharian	...	Sam Raimi
Martin McDougall	...	Yutani
Andreas Wisniewski	...	Weyland
Richard Brake	...	Scott Ridley
Alex Brooks	...	Sheriff Dickson
Stuart St. Paul	...	Glitching Hardman
Jackie Sawiris	...	Waitress
Annemarie Zola	...	Screaming Demonstrator (as Anne Marie Zola)
Julie Cox	...	Screaming Demonstrator
Kathleen Tessaro	...	Reporter
Ronald Fernee	...	Reporter
Lesley Lyon	...	Reporter

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi terror and violence, language and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

USA:120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Germany:18 | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Fugitive Features

Trivia:

Yutani's declaration of "Shouryuken" before opening fire is a reference to the video game Street Fighter 2. It literally translates as "Rising Dragon Fist", and is the battle cry attached to an unstoppable uppercut move.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Carpenter walks through the glass doors and looks back behind him, two cameramen in blue jeans are reflected in the glass.

Quotes:

Jack Dante: With weapons like mine, and authorization like yours, we can do some serious damage.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La magra (1998) (V)

So far over the top it vaults over the wall

One of the characters yells at his friend: "You just knew Ho-Ho was going to turn out to be the fat, sweaty, desperate psycho!" And of course, we all did too...

There is no question what this movie was. There are even characters named Scott Ridley, Sam Raimi, and John Carpenter. While the surface of the film is a long-corridor (Aliens) horror movie, what lies beneath is sort of a manic, director-oriented comedy that reminds me more of Evil Dead 2 than anything else. The hyper sound to dead silence, the overly dramatic lighting, the first-person Missile Cam, the cool line followed by backlit explosion... it all leans towards a wild but fun ride through all of the most common camp in these types of movies. It's a satire subtle enough to pass as just another bad horror movie, if you're not paying attention.

Brad Dourif (who was B-B-B-B-Billy Buh-Bibbit, a long time ago, and the voice of Chucky-- and might become a little more prevalent in film after being in the upcoming Lord Of The Rings trilogy) is the great shining spot in this film, and alternates from acting well (check out his outpouring at the end) to completely terrible (awful references to hacking... "Molebdenic composite"?). And all of the best subtle jokes are bad guy parodies-- my favorite example is his inability to get his threat right over the monitors: "Turning me off won't turn you off. No. Wait. Turning you off--" click.

But the real flair here is in the direction. None of this would work if it wasn't played half serious with the sights and sounds. As the climax builds, the ambient noise cuts out completely for the doors to chime "Welcome!" cheerily. The HUD from the machine's point of view displays 1P and Hi Score. The Robocop-style machine whirring in the Hardman gear as Raimi actually gets into a fistfight (!) with the machine... there is never any "set 'em up, knock 'em down" standard cue that *these* are the jokes... but there they are. Dig in.