Reviews

Having read the review on this movie in the TV guide I thought 'Hmmm... looks intriguing' so I decided to watch it.

As the action started to unfold my mind started to work overtime as to what was going on. Nuclear attack? Biological attack? Sudden epidemic? The way the family (more on this later) was isolated in their home, told their food and water was contaminated and to innoculate themselves and follow instructions relayed through their TV made all three possibilities go through my mind. After the cause of all this was finally revealed I was disappointed. Any of the three possible explanations I thought of would make more sense than the corny, cliched one that unfolded. What a let-down!

The family. Oh yes the family. Other reviewers have described them as dysfunctional and I think this is about right. From the racist grandfather to the 'I'm in charge whether you like it or not' father and the whiny daughter and her macho but cowardly husband. The only likeable characters to me were the son and his doctor girlfriend.

Started well but the ending spoiled it for me.

As I am a great fan of Westworld I sat down to watch this movie on TV expecting a re-run of Westworld but in a different setting. Especially as the TV guide said 'Robots run amok in this sequel to Westworld.' As it turned out the TV guide got it wrong, or at least could have described it better.

As it turned out, rather than a 'Robots malfunction and cause chaos and destruction' plot like in Westworld this movie has a more convoluted plot involving a conspiracy to replace key members of worldwide society with robotic clones. Interesting plot and not what I was expecting. And who else thought the two reporters might turn out to be robots at the end? The possibility did occur to me. And maybe it would have made for a better ending if they had.

As I say, a good plot, but I feel that it took too long to get to the point, with too many uninteresting sequences in the meantime. And as for the appearance of Yul Brynner in a pointless cameo - why? I think it was just an excuse to include a character from the first movie. And the scene in which Brynner appears adds nothing to the story.

Overall not bad, and with reasonable special effects (especially for the mid 1970s) but I prefer Westworld. That movie had an equally interesting plot but with more drama and action.

First off I will say that not since the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre have I been so disturbed by a movie. And this is coming from a horror fan. For me it was too realistic (indeed it is claimed it is 100 per cent medically accurate) and graphic and was disturbing for these reasons. When I watch a movie I like to suspend my belief and know that the subject of the movie is purely fantasy. With this one I was unable to do this. Knowing that it is actually possible for some crazed surgeon to attach people together to not only take away their freedom but to cause them much suffering (having to swallow someone else's excrement - can anything be worse than that?) and even cause their deaths.

But having said this I couldn't tear myself away, rooting for the three victims of an obvious lunatic. Really hoping (and at one point expecting) them to escape. And when the two cops appeared I hoped they would be rescued. Or even for the mad doctor to get his comeuppance. Even though I knew it wasn't real I genuinely felt for them. And I was genuinely concerned for poor Lindsay at the end, left trapped between two dead bodies. This is how this movie affected me.

Other reviewers have mentioned plot holes. I noticed these too, but realised that they were necessary for events to go the way they did. The ones I noticed were: 1. When Lindsay and Jenny were stuck on the side of the road with a flat tyre, I found the idea that two women appeared to be totally incapable of changing a wheel when they are in the middle of nowhere frankly offensive.

2. Why did Heiter choose to put Katsuro at the front when it was obvious.he didn't speak English or German, with the problems of the language barrier this would cause?

3. When Katsuro stabbed the Doctor in the foot with a scalpel why didn't he use the scalpel on his throat? No doubt he would feel justified after what he had done to him and his fellow captives. Plus it would make escape far easier.

4. It was highly inconsiderate of Katsuro to kill himself. Knowing that if his two fellow captives had the chance to escape they would have had to drag his body around. Okay so Jenny dies in the end, but she was very much alive when he carried out this selfish act.

Yes, as I say disturbing but worth seeing. After all the publicity and talk about it I had to see it for myself.