With a lot of the current controversy about cloning and embryonic stem cell research, this movie is an interesting flashback to when this concept was first mined for Science Fiction stories.
Rock Hudson plays a doctor who hits a dog, and then hits on the concept that the fetuses of the dog could be saved by growing them in a tank using some special drugs. The result is a dog that is highly intelligent but (unbeknownst to him) psychotic. (There is a great scene where the dog, a DOberman called "Number One", kills a yappy dog and then hides the body.
Hudson decides to skip the usual years of animal research and peer review, and apply the process to a human embryo. The result is a child that grows out of control into the very hot Barbara Carerra. Even though she has the ability to learn simply from reading a book, she lacks any kind of moral underpinnings. Like Frankenstein's monster,Carerra's Victoria proceeds to reek havoc into the life of her creator, killing anyone who stands in her way.
Hudson, who was past his prime as an actor, turns in a good performance here. Roddy McDowell has a cameo as an arrogant chess master who is bested by the novice Victoria.
Some of the things in the movie scream "Seventies", like computers as big as a room with tape drives, polyester leisure suits and a character with a huge afro haircut. The film is frequently out of focus, and the lighting is bad (perhaps so we can't see Hudson's age?) The pacing is slow in many parts (A DVD's fast forward feature is good for getting past these.)
This movie is okay, despite its flaws. Not great, but okay.
Rock Hudson plays a doctor who hits a dog, and then hits on the concept that the fetuses of the dog could be saved by growing them in a tank using some special drugs. The result is a dog that is highly intelligent but (unbeknownst to him) psychotic. (There is a great scene where the dog, a DOberman called "Number One", kills a yappy dog and then hides the body.
Hudson decides to skip the usual years of animal research and peer review, and apply the process to a human embryo. The result is a child that grows out of control into the very hot Barbara Carerra. Even though she has the ability to learn simply from reading a book, she lacks any kind of moral underpinnings. Like Frankenstein's monster,Carerra's Victoria proceeds to reek havoc into the life of her creator, killing anyone who stands in her way.
Hudson, who was past his prime as an actor, turns in a good performance here. Roddy McDowell has a cameo as an arrogant chess master who is bested by the novice Victoria.
Some of the things in the movie scream "Seventies", like computers as big as a room with tape drives, polyester leisure suits and a character with a huge afro haircut. The film is frequently out of focus, and the lighting is bad (perhaps so we can't see Hudson's age?) The pacing is slow in many parts (A DVD's fast forward feature is good for getting past these.)
This movie is okay, despite its flaws. Not great, but okay.