söndag 29 maj 2011

Automatons (2006)



In this odd little scifimovie we follow The Girl living in a small hidden underground base somewhere in a wasteland. She spends her days sending out battledroids to combat some sort of enemy and repairing the robots who make it back. Her free time is spent repelling radiosignals from the enemy that tries to take control over her robots day and night, although the concept of time doesnt really seem to exist as we know it anymore. While not fighting or repelling the enemy she listens to old messages from her mentor trying to describe why the world went to hell in the first place. The enemy signals are coming in faster and harder and it is just a matter of time before they find the right frequency...

Automatons is clearly a movie that you either love or hate, at least if you look at reviews and comments on imdb. The difference between this movie and all the other robotapocalypseflicks is that this is an ultra lowbudget movie that has a love for all the serials of the thirties and forties, where the robots are basically big tincans. The battlesequences are amateurish and silly but wholly on purpose and are full of really cheap landscapes and special effects. To add on the fun, Automatons is shot on b/w super 8 and processed to make it look even more cheap and ugly, sometimes it looks like they filmed a tv showing the movie. Arthouseish, yes, but it still works. The whole thing is slow and meandering but the concept is awesome. The atmosphere and the droning electronic score makes this a really pleasant experience. The acting and dubbing is poor, again on purpose with the exception of the taped messages from the mentor played by Angus Scrimm, an actor very suited for this type of role. If you find the concept interesting there is a chance that you will like it, but most people will probably ignore it due to the DIY feel of it. Too bad, it is a fine little moodpiece with an added bonus of some really nice gorescenes towards the end. Recommended.

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