Demon Seed
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: April 15, 1977 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
The New York TimesVincent Canby
Gadget-happy American moviemaking at its most ponderously silly. Read full review
40
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
A few of his labyrinthine concerns and much advanced animation work (plus optical assistance from once-celebrated avant-gardist Jordan Belson) spice the thin conceit, but it's a doomed project. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Underrated science-fiction thriller about a superintelligent thinking machine, Proteus IV, designed by obsessive computer wizard Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver). Read full review
80
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Excellent performances and direction (Donald Cammell), from a most credible and literate screenplay [from a novel by Dean R. Koontz], make production an intriguing achievement in story-telling. Read full review
80
EmpireKim Newman
Though the clumsy geometric tentacle that does most of the machine’s evil will cries out for morphing, this is remarkably prescient in its tackling of issues the cinema is only now catching up with, and Christie adds depth to the lady-in-peril heroine. Well worth reassessment. Read full review
70
The New YorkerMichael Sragow
Christie’s passionate, vulnerable performance keeps pulling the entire movie into her point of view. Read full review
40
NewsweekJanet Maslin
There's no suspense in either Demon Seed or Audrey Rose because their protagonists haven't got the resourcefulness of an acorn squash. [18 Apr 1977, p.64]
63
Rolling StoneSam Adams
How did Cammell convince a studio to back a movie in which Julie Christie is violated by what looks like a copper Rubik's snake? Better not to ask, or to dwell on the film's less savory aspects, and soak in its moments of visionary hysteria, including the pulsating geometry of images borrowed from experimental filmmaker Jordan Belson. Read full review
50
Washington PostGary Arnold
Demon Seed might have been a genuinely witty and terrifying thriller if someone had taken advantage of the story's glaring sadomasochistic implications. Nevertheless, Cammell plays it dumb at a thematic level, ignoring the sci-fi sexual bondage satire staring him in the face. [08 Apr 1977, p.B11]
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