Screamers

Screamers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Christian Duguay
Produced by	Franco Battista Tom Berry
Written by	Philip K. Dick (Short Story) Dan O'Bannon Miguel Tejada-Flores (screenplay)
Starring	Peter Weller Roy Dupuis Jennifer Rubin
Music by	Normand Corbeil
Cinematography	Rodney Gibbons
Distributed by	Triumph Films
Release date(s)	January 26, 1996[1]
Running time	108 min.
Country	Canada / US / Japan
Language	English
Budget	$20 million[2]
Followed by	Screamers: The Hunting (2009)

Screamers is a 1995 dystopian science fiction film directed by Christian Duguay based on the short story "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick. Screamers stars Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, and Jennifer Rubin. It premiered at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 1995 and was released in the United States on January 26, 1996.

Plot

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Screamers is set in the year 2078 on the planet Sirius 6B, a once thriving commercial hub and mining colony now reduced to a battle-torn wasteland by a prolonged war between the colony's miners and their former employers, the New Economic Block.

Ten years after the discovery of berynium on Sirius 6B a federation of the colony's miners, called the Alliance, and scientists began to organize opposition to the mining of the substance. They demanded that further N.E.B. activities on the planet be halted to preserve the colony's safety. The N.E.B.'s response was to declare war against The Alliance and those supporting its activities. During the first decade of war, the N.E.B. launched a multitude of nuclear bombing strikes against Sirius 6B, devastating the planet and killing most of the population in the process. Although actual combat was confined to the colony, it is stated that a cold war of types began on Earth between Alliance supporters and the N.E.B. administration.

Five years into the war, Alliance scientists created a weapon called the Autonomous Mobile Sword, or "screamer". The artificially intelligent screamers were subterranean, self-replicating, crawlers which target and locate a life-form by tracking its pulse. The screamers are equipped with a spinning saw blade designed to kill by "leaping" from the ground and dismembering the target. The screamers are so named because they produce a shrill sound similar to a scream while attacking. As screamers are unable to identify friend from foe, The Alliance scientists developed a wrist-worn device called a Tab, which renders its wearer invisible by broadcasting the wearer's heartbeat and pulse out of rhythm.

After a prolonged and brutal war, both Alliance and N.E.B. forces on Sirius 6B are exhausted, poorly supplied and undermanned. After six months without a battle, a lone N.E.B. soldier is spotted approaching The Alliance command bunker. The Alliance guards witness the soldier being killed by a group of screamers, only to discover that he was carrying a message intended for The Alliance commander. The message requests an immediate cessation of hostilities between The Alliance and the N.E.B. and guarantees safe passage through N.E.B. territory for two Alliance officers in order to discuss the formation of a peace treaty.

The Alliance contingent on the planet later receives a communication from Alliance command on Earth, which informs him that the planet Triton 4 contains berynium which can be safely mined, and that negotiations are currently in progress with the N.E.B. administration regarding the find: he is forbidden to follow up on the peace treaty offer. Shortly thereafter, an Alliance troop transport vessel sent from Earth crashes near The Alliance bunker. The only surviving soldier, a sniper named "Ace" Jefferson (Andrew Lauer), is attacked by a screamer which is shot down mere inches away from his torso before they get a tab on him. Joe Hendricksson (Peter Weller), the Alliance's commanding officer on Sirius 6B, dissects that screamer, thus discovering that its CPU is labeled "revised". The Alliance never made changes to the screamers, and it is suggested that the screamers are now building themselves. Ace informs Hendricksson that the message received from command is a lie and that war between The Alliance and N.E.B. is worse than ever and continuing on Triton 4, where the transport was destined. Hendricksson concludes that Alliance command had been lying to the Sirius 6B contingent for years, intent on simply abandoning them on the ruined planet.

A destroyed Type 1 screamer.

After conferring with his friend and second-in-command, Chuck Elbarak (Ron White), Hendricksson decides to accept the N.E.B offer for peace and heads out towards the N.E.B. base to meet with the enemy commander. He is accompanied by the combat-eager Jefferson. As the pair walk through the ruins of a war-ravaged city, they discover a young boy clutching a teddy bear. The boy says his name is David and tells them that he has been living within the ruins, scavenging to survive. Hendricksson and Jefferson are baffled as to how David had managed to survive the nuclear war, the ensuing radiation exposure and the screamers for so long. While camping for the night, the trio are attacked by what appears to be a newly modified type of screamer; although Jefferson removed and turned off his tab temporarily, the screamer still attacked Hendricksson, who was wearing his.

The following morning, while approaching the N.E.B. base, David is shot by an N.E.B. soldier. Hendricksson and Jefferson discover that David is another type of screamer capable of impersonating a human. Two N.E.B. soldiers, Becker (Roy Dupuis) and Ross (Charles Powell), emerge from a ventilation tunnel to greet the pair and proceed to escort them into the bowels of the N.E.B. base. It is explained that the entire N.E.B. contingent was wiped out after their patrol teams had unwittingly brought the David model screamers inside the base. The two remaining N.E.B. soldiers and a woman named Jessica (Jennifer Rubin) claim to be the only remaining survivors.

Hendricksson heads to the N.E.B. command center to locate the N.E.B. commander. The group enter the base via an underground network of tunnels. They find only the empty building and many large pools of blood. Ross sees a "reptile" screamer and in a panic fires his weapon at it. The resulting explosion destroys most of the computer equipment. The survivors take apart the screamer to find out it's yet another new type. As they begin to argue, Becker kills Ross claiming he was a screamer. Hendricksson reveals that Ross was human. Finding nothing left, Hendricksson decides to return to the Alliance base.

Hendricksson, Becker, Jefferson, and Jessica return to The Alliance bunker to discover that type 3 screamers have wiped out The Alliance as well and are waiting in ambush for them. As dozens of type 3s pour out of the bunker's entrance, the group find their weaponry to be inadequate in the face of such odds. Hendricksson then fires a "Mini-Pluto" miniature nuclear warhead into the bunker's entrance, obliterating the screamers and sending the group reeling from the resulting explosion. Becker appears to have been seriously injured in the blast, prompting Jefferson to rush to his aid. Becker kills Jefferson, revealing that Becker is also a screamer. He is killed as Hendricksson and Jessica escape.

A teddy bear screamer.

As the senior Alliance officer on Sirius 6B, Hendricksson is aware of an escape shuttle hidden in a mountain. Now quite paranoid, he cuts Jessica's hand in order to determine whether or not she is a screamer. Satisfied she is human, they head inside the hidden port, where Hendricksson encounters a screamer that is wearing Chuck's face. The screamer admits to cutting the face off its former wearer before Hendricksson manages to kill it. Hendricksson and Jessica arrive to find that the escape shuttle can seat only one person. Hendricksson resolves to allow the reluctant Jessica to escape in the shuttle, at which point an individual identical to Jessica greets them. Hendricksson realizes that Jessica is a screamer and scrambles to enter the shuttle. The two "Jessica" models begin to fight, with the first Jessica attempting to protect Hendricksson from the second. The second Jessica is destroyed by the shuttle's engines as they ignite. As the first Jessica dies from its injuries, Hendricksson informs her that screamers are "moving up in the world" because they now kill each other just as humans do. With her dying breath, Jessica professes her love for Hendricksson.

En route to Earth, a teddy bear (the type carried by the type 3s) is shown to be aboard the shuttle with Hendricksson. It then begins to move, as if it is "alive", at which point the screen fades to black.

Cast

List of Autonomous Mobile Swords (Screamers)

Autonomous Mobile Swords are machines created by The Alliance to defend themselves against the NEB. Nicknamed "Screamers" for the disorienting scream they let out before an attack.

Throughout the film, several types are introduced:

• Type 1: These were the original "screamers" built by The Alliance. They can embed themselves in the sand and jump out to attack, slicing limbs and torsos in half. (See first screenshot image above)
• Type 1 Revised: Machines that still move through the sand, but are of a more sleek design, have small legs with which to walk around on other surfaces than sand, and can hack into computer terminals. Armed with a buzz saw blade on its head.
• Type 2: A grown man, usually acting as a wounded soldier that cries for help. Seemingly not armed with weaponry, though they do possess a great deal of strength. One claims that it has acquired its current face by cutting it off the former wearer. This model seems to possess advanced reasoning skills and is capable of interacting with humans in a manner that mimics human behaviour.
• Type 3: A small boy, wearing worn clothing and holding a teddy bear. Acts as an orphan and pleads to "come with you", seemingly to be led to more targets. Their faces can mutate into a more monstrous visage with razor-like teeth and have buzz saw blades embedded in their hands.

Other types that were not identified in the film are:

• The teddy bear usually found in the hand of a Type 3. (See second screenshot image above)
• A grown woman, the most advanced and can even bleed, cry, laugh and have sex, unlike the earlier versions. Strong, and seemingly able to produce a scream, the full effect of which is not shown before it gets destroyed, to possibly incapacitate or kill foes. This model, similar to the Soldier Model, seems to possess advanced reasoning and even sentience, as witnessed by the model that defended Hendricksson from another unit of the same model, professed its love for him and even refused to get on board the shuttle, being afraid of its programmed actions once it reaches earth.

Production, Reception, Box Office

Screamers was filmed in a quarry in Quebec, in Montreal's Olympic Stadium, as well as Joliette.^[3] It was filmed on 35 mm film with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1.^[4]

Screamers earned a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 39 reviews.^[5] James Berardinelli gave the film a positive review, awarding it a rating of three stars (out of four). Berardinelli said that the film "oozes atmosphere" and "underlines an important truth: you don't need a big budget or big-name stars to make this sort of motion picture succeed."^[6] Joe Bob Briggs also reacted positively, calling Screamers "a pretty dang decent [movie]" and saying, "I loved it. ... Three and a half stars."^[7]

Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars (out of four), remarking that it was "made with a certain imagination and intelligence," "the dialogue is often effective," and "what makes the film somewhat intriguing is its Blade Runner-like ambiguity: who is, and who isn't, a human being."^[8] Time Out New York Film Guide criticized director Christian Duguay's "flashy, aimless direction", saying that the movie "lacks the intelligence to follow through its grim premise", but added that the film "does offer many ... guilty pleasures" and "the design and effects teams have lent scale and impact to the futuristic locations and sets."^[9]

The Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film Review gave Screamers three stars out of four, calling it a "two-thirds excellent and intelligent science-fiction film" that "builds towards a climax that never arrives ... After an impressive build-up, the film blows its third act and falls into cliches."^[10] Popcorn Pictures gave the film two and a half stars out of four, writing: "Screamers isn't terrible. The scenes inside the refinery are creepy enough with them stalking and being stalked by the Screamers. But the intro and finale are terrible ways to start and end a film respectively. There was a good film waiting to come out here, it's a shame only half of it did."^[11]

Rob Blackwelder of SplicedWire said, "Screamers is inundated with movie clichés, stock characters, stolen premises and scenes that just don't make sense."^[12] Beyond Hollywood wrote, "One of the biggest problems with Screamers is the near absence of a likeable character, or at least someone who we actually give a damn about escaping those slice-and-dice robots. ... There's no doubt Screamers could have been a lot better than it is. The whole sequence at the refinery is the best of the movie, managing to elicit both a couple of scare scenes and a lot of creepiness. The rest, unfortunately, doesn't live up to that middle section."^[13]

The film, budgeted at $20 million, and returned about $5.7m domestically, or 28% of its budget. It was moderately popular in France, Japan, and the Netherlands. Worldwide box office was approximately $7 million.

Awards

Differences between Screamers and "Second Variety"

Although based on the short story "Second Variety", by Philip K. Dick, the basic ecophagy premise remains, there are several important differences between film and source story that make the film less pessimistic.

• The protagonist of Screamers, Colonel Hendricksson, has a side-kick, the young, inexperienced Private Jefferson. His presence lightens the mood of the film's first half. In "Second Variety", the protagonist, Major Hendricks, travels alone.
• Screamers occurs in the distant, second-half of the 21st century; "Second Variety" occurs in the then-near future of the 1950s, the middle of the 20th century.
• The war in Screamers is fought between the Alliance and the New Economic Bloc over a natural resource. In "Second Variety", the Cold War degenerates to open war, between the UN and the Soviet Union. Still in movie, despite this, "Jessica" is asking for "american cigarettes".
• Screamers occurs on the planet Sirius 6B, one of many human-colonised planets, and the only planet where the screamers were launched. Thus, the screamers do not threaten the human race, as a whole, only the troops stationed on Sirius 6B. "Second Variety" occurs on Earth; there are no human space colonies, except a small, military moon base. Thus, the human race is at risk of extermination by the claws.
• In Screamers, the "Jessica" screamer betrays the other screamers and helps Col. Hendricksson escape the planet. In "Second Variety", the "Tasso" screamer is loyal to the claws and escapes to the Moon Base in the rocket, stranding Hendricks on Earth.
• In "Second Variety", Hendricks has doomed the last humans by unwittingly sending a claw to the moon base. This is explicit when Hendricks grasps it in the end. In Screamers, a screamer stowaway is aboard Hendricksson's escape rocket ship, but he is unaware of it; the human race's fate remains undecided.
• In "Second Variety", the Wounded Soldier is Type 1, David is Type 3, Tasso ("Jessica") is Type 2, and Klaus ("Becker") is Type 4.

Release dates

DVD cover showing Hendericksson, Jessica, and Becker in the foreground

Screamers had the following release dates:

• 1995 Toronto International Film Festival — September 8, 1995^[1]
• Theatrical releases:^[1]
  • USA — January 26, 1996
  • Spain — April 25, 1996
  • Portugal — May 24, 1996
  • Poland — June 28, 1996
  • UK — June 28, 1996
  • France — July 10, 1996
  • Hungary — July 18, 1996
  • Germany — July 25, 1996
  • Netherlands — August 1, 1996
  • Japan — November 30, 1996
• DVD — July 29, 1998^[14]

Sequel

In January 2007, a sequel to Screamers began production but without Peter Weller returning as Colonel Hendricksson. Filming took place in Bell Island , Newfoundland Canada. Directed by Sheldon Wilson, Screamers: The Hunting stars Gina Holden, Jana Pallaske, and Lance Henriksen, known for his many genre-fiction roles. The film was released straight to DVD on February 17, 2009 and focuses on a group from Earth sent to Sirius 6B to investigate an SOS signal.^[15][16]

As well as the screamers from the original film, this film introduces a sleeker, longer and more serpentine version, complete with trademark cutting mandibles for a mouth.

As with Screamers, critical reaction to Screamers: The Hunting has been mixed. David Johnson of DVD Verdict wrote that "the visual effects were surprisingly effective" and "[p]ractical effects impress as well", but added, "Unfortunately ... the script defaults to a clichéd finale, and a predictable -- though well-executed -- final twist ending." He concluded, "I had a pretty decent time with [Screamers: The Hunting] ... [I]f you're hankering for a serving of effective sci-fi B-movie shenanigans, you could do a lot worse."^[17] Scott Foy of Dread Central reacted less positively, writing: "They've basically recycled the first film but dumbed it and dulled it down considerably, doing away with the paranoia and sense of desolation that gave the original some spark in favor of logic gaps and tedious predictability. ... The best that can be said for [the movie] is that most of the production values and make-up effects are top notch for a direct-to-DVD production. Too bad they didn't put as much work into crafting the screenplay."^[18]

References

External links

• Screamers at the Internet Movie Database
• Screamers at Allmovie
• Screamers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Screamers at Box Office Mojo
• DVD Review, DVD Talk