Screamers

• Directed by Christian Duguay
• September 8, 1995 (Toronto) / January 26, 1996 (United States)
• Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1953 short story “Second Variety“

A military commander stationed off planet during an interplanetary war journeys through the devastation when he receives an offer of peace from the enemy commander.

There is a great deal of backstory in this enjoyably trashy movie that we need to get through before we get to the nitty gritty. The movie is based on Philip K. Dick’s 1953 short story “Second Variety” and touches on things common in his stories such as societal conflict, confusion of reality and illusion, and machines turning upon their creators. At least the story does. This movie a little less so.

In 2078 on the planet Sirius 6B a war has erupted between the New Economic Block (N.E.B.) and a group called The Alliance after the mining of a new energy source was shown to release a dangerous gas. Alliance scientists have deployed Autonomous Mobile Swords (A.M.S.), self-replicating machines nicknamed “screamers” because of the sound they make when attacking, which hunt their prey by their heartbeat. Alliance soldiers wear special bracelets called “tabs” that mask their heartbeat though the technology does not appear foolproof.

I am not sure what genius thought that learning machines that were designed to kill people with as much gore as possible with no method of control were a good idea but here we are. That is a huge McGuffin in science fiction. Nobody ever thinks these things through.

Peter Weller stars as Commander Joseph A. Hendricksson. He is the leader of the Alliance military forces. He is cynical and jaded. Weller’s bearing and voice really sells him as an authority figure. Then again, he was RoboCop and that character was supposed to be the ultimate authority figure.

One of my early celebrity crushes was actress Jennifer Rubin. It started with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors where she played Taryn White. She was so good in the whole film and in the dream part her character became a genuine badass. Here she plays N.E.B. soldier Jessica Hansen and the only significant female character in this movie.

The screamers move through the ground and shoot up to dismember their victims with circular saws. Early in the film there are indications that something is amiss with the technology (whooda thunk?) which sets the stage for the story. Nobody outright states such but based on dialogue and reaction you know that they know things are changing but are not sure how or why.

During the film we learn that screamers are building human versions on their own in an effort to target ALL people. It is their way of getting around the tabs. The reveal of the little boy as the new type of screamer was rather surprising back in the day. It would not have been too unusual to find them having to take along a cute kid. Too many times somebody somewhere prior to production feels a cute kid to give the movie heart is necessary. We encounter more with different appearances though the rules that governed how they act get tossed aside at convenience of the plot.

Initially the responses of the copies are simply like an NPC in a game. Then they get creative and indistinguishable from any other character. I liked that clue and it is really cool when you pick up on it. I wish the film had been a bit more consistent with that.

Screamers tries to be a combination of science-fiction horror and the cheesy gore of the 80s. I have a soft spot for it and enjoyed it way too much because of that despite the flaws. To that extent there are some bad practical effects that you might snicker at used such as when we see the first screamer kill. There is some simple morphing technology and a little CGI elsewhere but from what I can tell the film is mostly practical effects and stop motion.

By the mid 90s science-fiction films were straddling the era of practical affects and the era of CGI. It still looks decent enough but this movie at other points looks as if it was done on the cheap. The crashed spaceship looks like a leftover prop from the old Battlestar Galactica series, and the walking screamer in one scene does not mesh that well with the background image but those are the two real shortcomings of this film. The music is pretty good and the sets and the general environment are convincing.

Screamers is pretty well acted for what it is despite the general cheesiness of some of the dialogue and points in the story. Peter Weller helps to bring the material up and Jennifer Rubin sells her part very well. I’m not saying everybody’s a winner but with Peter Weller and Jennifer Rubin taking central parts they help cover for the weaker members of the cast.

Screamers is a movie for those who like bad movies that managed to be good. It is not for everyone, but it would not hurt to give this a watch.