A century before anyone ever uttered the word “hippie” Henry David Thoreau was living that life lost in time in the 19th century. Twenty years before Blade Runner a film called “Creation Of The Humanoids” was doing “cyber punk” before the term was even invented.
I had a memory fragment of this movie from when I saw it on a UHF channel a lifetime ago as a small child. Through the magic of usenet I found a science fiction lovers newsgroup with someone on the planet who was able to take my faded memory and produce a movie title.
Luckily enough, it turned out that netflix had a copy ( titled “Drive-in Double Feature: Creation of the Humanoids / War Between the Planets” ).
I just saw it last night and it was fantastic.
The film is set in the future a few generations after a nuclear war wipes out 92% of the population of the Earth. The dwindled human race turns toward building androids as a means of obtaining sufficient labor to rebuild civilization. However, the radiation from the war has made most people sterile. As the human population dwindles the androids become more prominent and more “human”. The story of that conflict is this film.
Since it was made in 1962 the special effects weren’t all that great but if you appreciate campy out-of-date effects you will love this film. What it lacks in special effects it more than makes up for with a highly intelligent and philosophically provocative script. As a bonus, the DVD that it comes on has the film in its original context, as a second film in a double feature made for drive-in movie theaters; complete with intermission commercials from the late 50s encouraging people to go buy snacks and “coming attractions” for films made the better part of a half a century ago. What a freaky trip!
If you are any kind of science fiction fan I encourage you to rent a copy of this film. If you are a science fiction fan I think like me you will consider this film to be a lost and under appreciated treasure.
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