SCREAMERS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1996 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: After a bit of updating, SCREAMERS is
a fairly accurate version of Philip K. Dick's 1953
story. Unfortunately, it takes more than that to
make a science fiction film that stands out from
the crowd. Dick's 50s paranoia comes across today
as pretty tame stuff that other films have done
better. This is just another cold SF film set in a
high-tech but grungy world. Rating: low +1 (-4 to
+4)
Most of Philip K. Dick's science fiction deals with paranoia about reality not being what it seems, or people who are not what they seem, or just something sinister going on behind the curtain. Films that have been based on his writing include BLADE RUNNER, about androids that look human, and TOTAL RECALL, about a reality that may be coming off a tape. Paranoia has its place in SCREAMERS also, though more in later portions of the film. The film is based on Dick's 1953 story "Second Variety."
That original story was set on Earth in a disastrous war with Russia, but to keep the story current the setting has been moved to the planet Sirius 6B where the 2078 war is with the "New Economic Block." The best American weapon is a "screamer," a small robot that attacks from just under the surface of the ground. It tunnels with lightning speed, pops out of the ground, and with the same speed rabidly attacks with whirling blades and deafening screams. The Alliance soldiers, most of whom are Americans, have special devices that prevent them from being detected by the screamers. The problem is that screamers have themselves become intelligent and are creating new varieties of screamer radically different from what came before them. And they are unaware that compatibility with the detection jammers were an important part of their original design. The new models attack anybody.
The original story has been adapted by Dan O'Bannon (a creative force behind ALIEN) and Miguel Tejada-Flores (writer of FRIGHT NIGHT, PART II). The problem with SCREAMERS is that the original story, while obvious film fodder, just does not have a lot of ideas that have not already been plundered for other films. The Dick story itself borrows much of its paranoia from stories like John Campbell's "Who Goes There?" which has already been adapted twice to film. Had SCREAMERS been made in 1980 it would have achieved classic status. But the thrills offered by "Second Variety" are too little and too late--years late. Ironically, SCREAMERS will appeal mostly to people in widely separate groups. It will seem best to those open to science fiction action films without much experience with them. And it will appeal to super die-hard Dick fans. The range that stretches between including most science fiction fans will find too little that is new or interesting about the film.
The director is Canadian Christian Duguay, who did most of his filming on the snowy landscapes of Quebec and in the grungy sets that are now so cliched for post-holocaust and futuristic stories. Coming out at the same time as the releases of CITY OF LOST CHILDREN and 12 MONKEYS only makes the sets look more impoverished than they normally would. The only really familiar actor is Peter Weller, who seems to be majoring in playing stories about paranoia and general weirdness.
SCREAMERS is a low-budget film that has a few expensive explosions, but the matte artist simply does not seem to be able to do convincing work. This adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "Second Variety" offers far too little variety from what has come before and comes in second to far too many films. Rate it a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Sources for Philip K. Dick's "Second Variety" include:
THE BEST OF PHILIP K. DICK edited by John Brunner SPECTRUM 2 edited by Kingsley Amis and Robert Conquest THE VARIABLE MAN by Philip K. Dick THE YEARS BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS: 1954 edited by Bleiler and Dikty
Mark R. Leeper
mark.leeper@att.com
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