R1 DVD
Facets Video
Web: http://deathtotheautomatons.com
Somewhere
in the distant future, there is a girl alone. We don’t know her name, perhaps
she doesn’t either. She lived in an isolated environment underground. The world
above having been destroyed by war and pollution. The generations before her
have long since died in a war which seems to have continued forever, they first
became sterile and then their last clones died, leaving just her and an army of
antiquated robots to continue the battle.
She
has been programmed from birth to believe in the rightness of her cause, she
does not question it, her enemies are less than human and must be exterminated.
She continues to send the robots out to fight even though she does not really
know what for. Her connection with the past is a series of memories recorded
for her by the scientist who looked after as a child. His messages are full of
patriotic fervour and become increasing paranoid as they continue throughout
the movie. Through these messages we learn about the past and how she has come
to be alone fighting a way she did not begin. The scientist is played by Angus
Scrimm (the Tall Man of Phantasm) and he is superb in the role. He
presents the right mix of menace and political reactionary to be truly scary.
This is the voice of utter self righteousness, which believes it is just to
destroy the world to save the integrity and sanctity of the West.
The
battle is fought through the robots which the enemy regularly turns against
her. They have some sort of radio device which they use to send her frightening
messages and which turn her own robots against her. She constantly works to block
their signals but it is a losing battle.
As
the battle increases, she arms her robots with all manner of weapons from
chainsaws to knives and sends them out one last time to fight. The robots clash
and then they slaughter the remaining enemies. When she finally confronts the
enemy, she suddenly realizes that she is not only the last of her people but
there are only six people left in the world and she has had them killed, but
not before they have triggered a EMF pulse which has disabled all her robots
and technology and left her stranded to die.
This
is a bleak and dark view of the future. It is decidedly retro-futurist even
Steampunk, projecting current political conflicts into the future but using the
imagery and feel of a Fifties sci fi film. It is beautifully made in black and
white with all the cracks and scratches one would expect from an old film and
this gives it quite an amazing look. When you couple this with a powerful,
driving electronic soundtrack and some amazing robotic models and puppets you
have quite a unique viewing experience. The film certainly has an underlying political
message and is not really too subtle about expressing it but at the same time
this suites the post apocalyptic tone of the feel and is not out of place.
Automatons
is an intelligent film with lots of interesting ideas, painstaking made with loving
attention to every possible detail, it has a great plot, superb ambiance and
when you consider that it was made on a low budget you realize just what gems
are missing from the mainstream.
Extra
includes a 60-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, an interview with Angus
Scrimm, Camera and FX tests and a trailer.