Yet another cautionary "scientists-shouldn't-try-to-play-God" sci-fi thriller; the first half strives for scientific accuracy, of sorts, and is a little too claustrophobic, but when Barbara Carrera (in a great breakout performance - I feel compelled to mention that she has a memorable nude scene as well!) enters the picture, it "opens up" and builds to a good shock ending. It moves slowly, but you don't really know where it's taking you; it's an advantage that there are no clear-cut "villains" in this story. Rock Hudson gives a committed performance in a genre unusual for him, and even that dog is an amazing actor. Be warned: the Mill Creek DVD print I watched is pretty awful. **1/2 out of 4.
42 Reviews
Not uninteresting but slow and kind of silly
preppy-38 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Dr. Paul Holliston (Rock Hudson) is experimenting with fetuses. He manages to remove one from the body of a dying dog and keep it alive AND make it a full grown dog within a few weeks! He gets the body of a dying pregnant woman. He removes her fetus and also keeps it alive and, within a few weeks, has a full grown female named Victoria (Barbara Carrera). Oh yes--she also is a genius. But it seems her and the dog acquire some homicidal tendencies and things slowly fall apart...
I'm no scientist but I find the science in this questionable. I realize it's just a movie but it's introduced with a statement from an (allegedly) actual scientist who says the events in this film could happen. Uh huh. Well...it's been 30 years and I've never heard about this actually taking place. Factual issues aside this is OK. It moves slowly and, really, the plot is kind of silly but it's somewhat interesting. Unfortunately it falls apart completely at the end and gets pretty sick (and stupid).
!!!PLOT SPOILERS!!! One of the more interesting scenes include when the dog actually kills another dog. Sounds sick but there's no blood and it's hysterically obvious that the dog being killed is a dummy and not real. Actually the dog here is super intelligent and seeing in preform tricks that a normal dog couldn't do was fun. Also note the now antique technology shown at one point. There is a VERY fun scene where Carrera whips obnoxious Roddy McDowell (chewing the scenery) at a chess game! This may or may not be a selling point to some, but there's a bit of fairly explicit nudity (for a PG film) from Carrera. !!!SPOILER END!!!
The acting wavers. Hudson (who could be good) is terrible. He looks miserable and doesn't try to hide his disinterest. Diane Ladd is totally wasted as a helper of his. Carrera is very beautiful and surprisingly good as Victoria. She manages to keep the movie going almost single handedly. So--it's an OK sci-fi movie. Just pretty silly and slow at times. I give it a 6.
I'm no scientist but I find the science in this questionable. I realize it's just a movie but it's introduced with a statement from an (allegedly) actual scientist who says the events in this film could happen. Uh huh. Well...it's been 30 years and I've never heard about this actually taking place. Factual issues aside this is OK. It moves slowly and, really, the plot is kind of silly but it's somewhat interesting. Unfortunately it falls apart completely at the end and gets pretty sick (and stupid).
!!!PLOT SPOILERS!!! One of the more interesting scenes include when the dog actually kills another dog. Sounds sick but there's no blood and it's hysterically obvious that the dog being killed is a dummy and not real. Actually the dog here is super intelligent and seeing in preform tricks that a normal dog couldn't do was fun. Also note the now antique technology shown at one point. There is a VERY fun scene where Carrera whips obnoxious Roddy McDowell (chewing the scenery) at a chess game! This may or may not be a selling point to some, but there's a bit of fairly explicit nudity (for a PG film) from Carrera. !!!SPOILER END!!!
The acting wavers. Hudson (who could be good) is terrible. He looks miserable and doesn't try to hide his disinterest. Diane Ladd is totally wasted as a helper of his. Carrera is very beautiful and surprisingly good as Victoria. She manages to keep the movie going almost single handedly. So--it's an OK sci-fi movie. Just pretty silly and slow at times. I give it a 6.
You would have thought by 1976 that doctors would have learned NOT to play God!
planktonrules15 March 2013
Okay, I'll admit it--you need to suspend disbelief on this one--A LOT of disbelief! But, you have to do this all the time in movies so stretching this just a bit further might enable you to enjoy this film. I know that I went in with very low expectations after reading the IMDb reviews, but it turned out to be a decent little movie about yet another doctor who wanted to play God.
The film begins with a doctor (Rock Hudson) hitting a dog. He takes the pooch home and tries to save it, but he's unsuccessful. But here's the weird part--using some special serum he'd been working on, he injects the dog's surviving puppies to try to save it. That's because the puppy is WAY too young to survive. Speeding up its growth at an astronomical rate enabled the puppy to grow many weeks in a matter of hours and it survives.
A short time later, the doctor decides to play God with a human. Taking a recently dead pregnant woman, he's able to remove the small fetus and grow it in his lab at an even faster rate. The problem is that for some time he cannot stop its fast growth and the fetus ends up becoming a full-grown woman by the time he's arrested the fast growth. At first, things seem great as the woman is a sort of super-woman--with amazing learning skills and intelligence and the ability to be well-coiffed despite being raised in a lab. Plus, and here's the best part, it turns out to be an amazingly HOT young lady (Barbara Carrera). What's next? Well, I'd say more but don't want to spoil the plot. Suffice to say that the lady's moral reasoning abilities are at times VERY suspect...yet hot! Despite the prologue that makes it sound as if this technology is possible, it certainly is not! But, it did make for an interesting film with a few nice surprises (such as at the very end). A word of note--you WILL see a lot of Miss Carrera in this one, so perhaps it's best not shown to your small children or mother!
The film begins with a doctor (Rock Hudson) hitting a dog. He takes the pooch home and tries to save it, but he's unsuccessful. But here's the weird part--using some special serum he'd been working on, he injects the dog's surviving puppies to try to save it. That's because the puppy is WAY too young to survive. Speeding up its growth at an astronomical rate enabled the puppy to grow many weeks in a matter of hours and it survives.
A short time later, the doctor decides to play God with a human. Taking a recently dead pregnant woman, he's able to remove the small fetus and grow it in his lab at an even faster rate. The problem is that for some time he cannot stop its fast growth and the fetus ends up becoming a full-grown woman by the time he's arrested the fast growth. At first, things seem great as the woman is a sort of super-woman--with amazing learning skills and intelligence and the ability to be well-coiffed despite being raised in a lab. Plus, and here's the best part, it turns out to be an amazingly HOT young lady (Barbara Carrera). What's next? Well, I'd say more but don't want to spoil the plot. Suffice to say that the lady's moral reasoning abilities are at times VERY suspect...yet hot! Despite the prologue that makes it sound as if this technology is possible, it certainly is not! But, it did make for an interesting film with a few nice surprises (such as at the very end). A word of note--you WILL see a lot of Miss Carrera in this one, so perhaps it's best not shown to your small children or mother!
"I Don't Want To Kill! I Don't Want To Kill! I Just Want To Live!"...
azathothpwiggins25 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
EMBRYO stars Rock Hudson as Dr. Paul Holliston. After accidentally hitting a pregnant Doberman Pincher with his ten-ton Cadillac, Holliston manages to save one of the pups through highly experimental, artificial means (aka: mad science).
Growing at an astonishing rate, Holliston has a full grown dog on his hands, overnight! Known as Number One, the dog appears normal, but the viewer is made aware of some disturbing behavior that escapes the attention of Holliston and his fellow humans. It also exhibits extraordinary intelligence.
In no time, Holliston endeavors to try his procedure on a human fetus. This is incredibly easy to attain from a local hospital, so he whisks the female fetus back to his home laboratory, and... Presto! You guessed it, the baby grows at an impossible speed, attaining adulthood in a few weeks!
Known as Victoria Spencer (Barbara Carrera), the woman is beautiful, as well as being a supra genius! Not-so shockingly, Victoria shares some of Number One's more unsettling traits. She and the cunning canine begin working together.
How could this not end well?
Having Hudson play Holliston is a plus, raising this movie -a tad- above the usual schlock. For her part, Ms. Carrera is convincing in her diabolical role. Diane Ladd is great as Paul's nosy sister-in-law, Martha. Watch for Roddy McDowall as the snotty, chess-playing Frank Riley, and Dr. Joyce Brothers as herself, at the big, groove-tastic party!
EXTRA POINTS: For the Doberman, and the training involved to make the dog's actions seem -convincingly- spontaneous...
Growing at an astonishing rate, Holliston has a full grown dog on his hands, overnight! Known as Number One, the dog appears normal, but the viewer is made aware of some disturbing behavior that escapes the attention of Holliston and his fellow humans. It also exhibits extraordinary intelligence.
In no time, Holliston endeavors to try his procedure on a human fetus. This is incredibly easy to attain from a local hospital, so he whisks the female fetus back to his home laboratory, and... Presto! You guessed it, the baby grows at an impossible speed, attaining adulthood in a few weeks!
Known as Victoria Spencer (Barbara Carrera), the woman is beautiful, as well as being a supra genius! Not-so shockingly, Victoria shares some of Number One's more unsettling traits. She and the cunning canine begin working together.
How could this not end well?
Having Hudson play Holliston is a plus, raising this movie -a tad- above the usual schlock. For her part, Ms. Carrera is convincing in her diabolical role. Diane Ladd is great as Paul's nosy sister-in-law, Martha. Watch for Roddy McDowall as the snotty, chess-playing Frank Riley, and Dr. Joyce Brothers as herself, at the big, groove-tastic party!
EXTRA POINTS: For the Doberman, and the training involved to make the dog's actions seem -convincingly- spontaneous...
Embarrassingly melodramatic and illogical
harry-7728 November 1999
I sat through this on TV hoping because of the names in it that it would be worth the time...but dear Gussie, whoever thought this script was worth producing? The basic idea is excellent but the execution is appallingly bad, with a constantly illogical sequence of scenes, an ending that is almost laughably melodramatic and poor Rock Hudson wanders through this with an understandably confused look on his slightly sagging face. Looks like a bad B movie from the 40's...
A painful miscarriage of a film...
Coventry7 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
First and foremost I'd like to state - for the record - that it's incredibly dumb to call your movie "Embryo" when the subject matter exclusively revolves on scientific research performed on fetuses (animal as well as human) aged 12-16 weeks. The embryonic stage is over at the end of the eighth pregnancy week and from that moment on the unborn critter enters the fetal phase. Okay, in all honestly, I didn't know all this, but I took the effort of looking it up and that's the also the least thing the creators of "Embryo" could have done. Don't worry; I'm not just stumbling over details or being exaggeratedly bitter, as there are several more reasons to state why "Embryo" is a huge failure. Actual science can be considered as boring and inaccessible, and thus Science Fiction is a cinematic genre created especially to make the otherwise tedious, yet educational science topics more interesting and comprehensible to larger audiences. By depicting ambitious scientific experiments that go horribly wrong, or space missions that encounter evil aliens instead of light-years of void, filmmakers usually manage to entertain people with spectacular special effects and, at the same time, teach them useful little trivia about science. In order to make a good or at least halfway-decent Science Fiction movie, writers and directors only have to comply with one basic rule: DON'T be boring! If they can't fulfill this one condition, the viewer might as well read a theoretically accurate book. Something must have gone wrong during the production of Ralph Nelson's "Embryo". The basic premise is potentially fascinating and even involving, as we're all sensitive about saving the lives of unborn babies. There also were some very prominent names involved in the production, like main stars Rock Hudson ("Giant", "Seconds"), Diane Ladd ("Chinatown", "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore") and director Nelson himself was responsible for the acclaimed classics "Soldier Blue" and "Charly". Then what went wrong? Simple. The script is irredeemably boring, clichéd and the whole thing looks incredibly foolish because the lab scenery & scientific equipment is clearly too primitive to achieve any medical breakthroughs with.
Rock Hudson, in a very poor performance, plays a doctor who hasn't put any passion in his research work ever since his wife passed away. When his car hits a pregnant dog on a rainy night, his passion returns and he does everything possible to save the dying animals' fetuses. He manages to keep one fetus alive, impressively accelerates its growth process and trains it to become an extremely intelligent dog. Because his procedure is so successful, Dr. Paul Holliston convinces his friend at the hospital to repeat his tests with the human fetus taken from the womb of a pregnant teenager who committed suicide. The female subject unexpectedly keeps growing at a fast rate, however, and after only a couple of weeks she's a full-grown, ravishing and super-intelligent woman. The good doctor naturally falls in love with her, but the groundbreaking new growth treatment also begins to show horrible side effects... Absolute nothing happens during the first 45 minutes of the film, apart from a lot of implausible and overly melodramatic mumbo-jumbo and one or two deeply impressive tricks performed by the dog. That second half of the film does contain a little bit of (grotesque) action and suspense, but by then the stupidity of the dialogs and the implausible plot-twists already ruined the potentially fabulous Sci-Fi idea. There are some really cool scenes, most notably the chess-showdown between Victoria and Roddy McDowall (in a highly memorable and ultra-obnoxious supportive role). The grand finale is absurdly grotesque and literally on the verge of ridiculous, and it almost feels like Ralph Nelson put in that final disastrous shot because it was the general rule in contemporary thriller & Sci-Fi cinema. The last sequence, including the horrible freeze-frame shot at the end, certainly doesn't fit the tone of the previous 100 minutes of the film. But anyway, my sincere admiration and respect to the dog and his trainers. An animal with such intellect and talent surely deserved to demonstrate its tricks in a much better film.
Rock Hudson, in a very poor performance, plays a doctor who hasn't put any passion in his research work ever since his wife passed away. When his car hits a pregnant dog on a rainy night, his passion returns and he does everything possible to save the dying animals' fetuses. He manages to keep one fetus alive, impressively accelerates its growth process and trains it to become an extremely intelligent dog. Because his procedure is so successful, Dr. Paul Holliston convinces his friend at the hospital to repeat his tests with the human fetus taken from the womb of a pregnant teenager who committed suicide. The female subject unexpectedly keeps growing at a fast rate, however, and after only a couple of weeks she's a full-grown, ravishing and super-intelligent woman. The good doctor naturally falls in love with her, but the groundbreaking new growth treatment also begins to show horrible side effects... Absolute nothing happens during the first 45 minutes of the film, apart from a lot of implausible and overly melodramatic mumbo-jumbo and one or two deeply impressive tricks performed by the dog. That second half of the film does contain a little bit of (grotesque) action and suspense, but by then the stupidity of the dialogs and the implausible plot-twists already ruined the potentially fabulous Sci-Fi idea. There are some really cool scenes, most notably the chess-showdown between Victoria and Roddy McDowall (in a highly memorable and ultra-obnoxious supportive role). The grand finale is absurdly grotesque and literally on the verge of ridiculous, and it almost feels like Ralph Nelson put in that final disastrous shot because it was the general rule in contemporary thriller & Sci-Fi cinema. The last sequence, including the horrible freeze-frame shot at the end, certainly doesn't fit the tone of the previous 100 minutes of the film. But anyway, my sincere admiration and respect to the dog and his trainers. An animal with such intellect and talent surely deserved to demonstrate its tricks in a much better film.
Where's the Science?
Hitchcoc13 March 2007
I suppose I'm supposed to take something like this with a grain of salt. These laboratory movies (and, yes, they spend a lot of time in the laboratory), always fail in one dimension: there is an understanding that single people fooling around have uncovered secrets beyond the comprehension of anyone to this time. Of course, they pay a price because their experimenting has the same shortcomings that Dr. Frankenstein's did. There is always something they didn't anticipate. There are so many things from pure science to fashion for young ladies to outrageous cover ups that don't work here. The young woman is certainly fetching and the doctor can't help himself, but he could have been a little bit discreet or even made an effort to shelter what he was doing. Things go wrong and because of this intellect, she gains tremendous power, including an understanding of how she came to be. Rock Hudson looks pretty fit here. He never quite makes it in this role, however. It wanders all over with lots of clichés and silliness which diminishes the basic issue. Once she has her revenge a more suitable thing would be for her to wander off and allow him to seek her out and destroy her in some grand way.
well done cautionary tale (AKA- Created to Kill)
disdressed1218 November 2007
i really enjoyed this movie.i thought the acting was very good,and the storyline well developed.i'm sure the movie was inspired by past literary works and movies,but i think it also inspired other movies and novels.so,obviously it's not wholly original,but it does have its own original elements to it.it's a cautionary tale for sure and it's just as relevant today, probably more so .the only negative thing i can say about it is that it can be a bit slow,and the first half has an almost clinical feel to it.by this i mean at times it's a bit dry and almost too scientific.overall,though i think it was a well done movie.i give Embryo a 7/10
Update of the 1940s Mad Doctor Movie—with Rock Hudson?
mrb198013 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
After his career as a romantic leading man ended in the late 1960s, Rock Hudson starred in lots of different projects, including TV shows and lesser films. However, I believe that "Embryo" is his only turn as a mad scientist, and that's probably a good thing. I guess he needed the work.
Driving along one dark and stormy night, brilliant Dr. Paul Holliston (Hudson) hits and injures a Doberman, which he brings back to his lab (that looks somewhat like a dank Midwestern basement). He then manages to raise the dog's unborn puppy outside the womb, so naturally he decides to do the same thing with a human being. He raises Victoria (the beautiful Barbara Carrera) from a fetus the same way. Victoria grows at an astonishing pace, and soon blossoms into a gorgeous young woman.
Predictably, things go very wrong. After a halcyon beginning, Holliston's sister-in-law Martha (Diane Ladd) begins to wonder where the young woman came from, and Victoria herself begins to show signs of instability and violence. The final sequence is one long car chase straight out of "Smokey and the Bandit", after which Victoria—who has shockingly aged in just a few minutes—is assaulted by a frantic Holliston, who tries in vain to destroy his malformed creation along with its unborn child. All of this is accompanied by screeching tires, roaring engines, a car fire, and lots of sirens. The limp ending—a bunch of paramedics frantically working on Victoria while Holliston writhes in regret—is more labored than creepy.
Although just made in 1976, this movie is very dated. The only difference between this and the many 1940s mad scientist movies is that Hudson plays the lead role rather than Boris Karloff. The sets are pretty cheap and very antiquated to today's audiences, to the extent that Hudson's reel-to-reel tape recorder is about the size of a refrigerator. Much of the action takes place in a poorly lighted laboratory. Hudson sleepwalks through his sordid role, giving the impression that he's truly a washed-up movie star, while Ladd and Carrera are much more believable. Surprisingly, Roddy McDowall pops up briefly as a chess player.
The Passport Video transfer is very substandard, looking as though it had been made from a poor VHS copy using home equipment. If you're nostalgic for 1976, watch this once just to say you did. Otherwise, watch a football game or soap opera instead.
Driving along one dark and stormy night, brilliant Dr. Paul Holliston (Hudson) hits and injures a Doberman, which he brings back to his lab (that looks somewhat like a dank Midwestern basement). He then manages to raise the dog's unborn puppy outside the womb, so naturally he decides to do the same thing with a human being. He raises Victoria (the beautiful Barbara Carrera) from a fetus the same way. Victoria grows at an astonishing pace, and soon blossoms into a gorgeous young woman.
Predictably, things go very wrong. After a halcyon beginning, Holliston's sister-in-law Martha (Diane Ladd) begins to wonder where the young woman came from, and Victoria herself begins to show signs of instability and violence. The final sequence is one long car chase straight out of "Smokey and the Bandit", after which Victoria—who has shockingly aged in just a few minutes—is assaulted by a frantic Holliston, who tries in vain to destroy his malformed creation along with its unborn child. All of this is accompanied by screeching tires, roaring engines, a car fire, and lots of sirens. The limp ending—a bunch of paramedics frantically working on Victoria while Holliston writhes in regret—is more labored than creepy.
Although just made in 1976, this movie is very dated. The only difference between this and the many 1940s mad scientist movies is that Hudson plays the lead role rather than Boris Karloff. The sets are pretty cheap and very antiquated to today's audiences, to the extent that Hudson's reel-to-reel tape recorder is about the size of a refrigerator. Much of the action takes place in a poorly lighted laboratory. Hudson sleepwalks through his sordid role, giving the impression that he's truly a washed-up movie star, while Ladd and Carrera are much more believable. Surprisingly, Roddy McDowall pops up briefly as a chess player.
The Passport Video transfer is very substandard, looking as though it had been made from a poor VHS copy using home equipment. If you're nostalgic for 1976, watch this once just to say you did. Otherwise, watch a football game or soap opera instead.
Better Than The IMDb Rating
weasl-729-31068215 September 2014
I think this movie was WAY ahead of it's time. Very few people were aware of the scientific manipulations that could be done for development of new life.
Also it doesn't hurt that the leading actors are absolutely gorgeous. Barbara Carrera has nude scenes that even a woman can appreciate. What a goddess!
If you like sci-fi from olden times that mimics the life we are living now, you'll love this one.
That said, I agree with the other reviewer who noted that it was absolutely ridiculous to put in the scene about the natural language query to a computer that came back with a good answer. I worked with mainframes in 1976, and we were still feeding trays of punch cards into readers to run programs. CRT's were still command line interfaces.
There are a bunch of hater's for this movie for resistance to scientists assuming the role of gods.
I happen to be a Monsanto HATER, ABHORER, LOATHER, DESPISER!
Did ya'll know they "own," legally, but NOT morally IMO, a terminator gene, that renders their seeds unable to reproduce? Imagine if that gene got loose and started mutating flora and fauna. That could be the absolute end of life on our planet. Fortunately, our government, stupid and clueless as it is, has so far denied Monsanto the ability to deploy such a dangerous assault against us.
Watch "Bitter Harvest" with Ron Howard to see some of the corporate antics this toxic multinational corporation gets up to: contaminating (getting loose on) neighboring farms with their genetically modified seeds and pollen, then suing them for stealing their patented stuff. They get away with it, and have put many hard-working people out of business and off their land.
Also it doesn't hurt that the leading actors are absolutely gorgeous. Barbara Carrera has nude scenes that even a woman can appreciate. What a goddess!
If you like sci-fi from olden times that mimics the life we are living now, you'll love this one.
That said, I agree with the other reviewer who noted that it was absolutely ridiculous to put in the scene about the natural language query to a computer that came back with a good answer. I worked with mainframes in 1976, and we were still feeding trays of punch cards into readers to run programs. CRT's were still command line interfaces.
There are a bunch of hater's for this movie for resistance to scientists assuming the role of gods.
I happen to be a Monsanto HATER, ABHORER, LOATHER, DESPISER!
Did ya'll know they "own," legally, but NOT morally IMO, a terminator gene, that renders their seeds unable to reproduce? Imagine if that gene got loose and started mutating flora and fauna. That could be the absolute end of life on our planet. Fortunately, our government, stupid and clueless as it is, has so far denied Monsanto the ability to deploy such a dangerous assault against us.
Watch "Bitter Harvest" with Ron Howard to see some of the corporate antics this toxic multinational corporation gets up to: contaminating (getting loose on) neighboring farms with their genetically modified seeds and pollen, then suing them for stealing their patented stuff. They get away with it, and have put many hard-working people out of business and off their land.
And your little dog, too!
JoeB1312 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
With a lot of the current controversy about cloning and embryonic stem cell research, this movie is an interesting flashback to when this concept was first mined for Science Fiction stories.
Rock Hudson plays a doctor who hits a dog, and then hits on the concept that the fetuses of the dog could be saved by growing them in a tank using some special drugs. The result is a dog that is highly intelligent but (unbeknownst to him) psychotic. (There is a great scene where the dog, a DOberman called "Number One", kills a yappy dog and then hides the body.
Hudson decides to skip the usual years of animal research and peer review, and apply the process to a human embryo. The result is a child that grows out of control into the very hot Barbara Carerra. Even though she has the ability to learn simply from reading a book, she lacks any kind of moral underpinnings. Like Frankenstein's monster,Carerra's Victoria proceeds to reek havoc into the life of her creator, killing anyone who stands in her way.
Hudson, who was past his prime as an actor, turns in a good performance here. Roddy McDowell has a cameo as an arrogant chess master who is bested by the novice Victoria.
Some of the things in the movie scream "Seventies", like computers as big as a room with tape drives, polyester leisure suits and a character with a huge afro haircut. The film is frequently out of focus, and the lighting is bad (perhaps so we can't see Hudson's age?) The pacing is slow in many parts (A DVD's fast forward feature is good for getting past these.)
This movie is okay, despite its flaws. Not great, but okay.
Rock Hudson plays a doctor who hits a dog, and then hits on the concept that the fetuses of the dog could be saved by growing them in a tank using some special drugs. The result is a dog that is highly intelligent but (unbeknownst to him) psychotic. (There is a great scene where the dog, a DOberman called "Number One", kills a yappy dog and then hides the body.
Hudson decides to skip the usual years of animal research and peer review, and apply the process to a human embryo. The result is a child that grows out of control into the very hot Barbara Carerra. Even though she has the ability to learn simply from reading a book, she lacks any kind of moral underpinnings. Like Frankenstein's monster,Carerra's Victoria proceeds to reek havoc into the life of her creator, killing anyone who stands in her way.
Hudson, who was past his prime as an actor, turns in a good performance here. Roddy McDowell has a cameo as an arrogant chess master who is bested by the novice Victoria.
Some of the things in the movie scream "Seventies", like computers as big as a room with tape drives, polyester leisure suits and a character with a huge afro haircut. The film is frequently out of focus, and the lighting is bad (perhaps so we can't see Hudson's age?) The pacing is slow in many parts (A DVD's fast forward feature is good for getting past these.)
This movie is okay, despite its flaws. Not great, but okay.
Gil Melle's moody score, and a sordid, hysteria-laden climax all have an undeniable entertainment value
Weirdling_Wolf14 February 2024
One of the most intriguing facets to largely forgotten 70s Sci-shocker 'The Embryo' is the casting. Rumpled icon, Rock Hudson, squirrelly, Diane Ladd, and the dazzlingly exotic, Barbara Carrera suggest lachrymose soap, or chintzy movie-of-the-week melodrama rather more than grimly gestating terror! Another singularity is the lack of archetypal 'Mad Scientist' tropes, and said 'monster' rearing its far from ugly head in the final act is another notable kink in standard creature feature DNA. The benign-ish Dr. Holliston's (Rock Hudson) cavalier usage of an experimental growth hormone on a purloined fetus has dramatic, wholly unforeseen results! Holliston's placental lactogen rapidly transforms this ailing embryo into the captivatingly beauteous, and voraciously inquisitive adult, Victoria (Barbara Carrera).
Domestic life chez Holliston becomes quirky, as twitchy sister-in-law, Barbara Douglas (Diane Ladd) is piqued by the increasingly malign actions of genetically altered Dobermann No. 1, and sleekly sinister, Victoria. Victoria's insatiable hunger to uncover life's mysteries, matched by her greater zeal for unlawful carnal knowledge with warped Svengali /patriarch, Holliston! More Dorian Gray, than Dr. Moreau, as the film's queasier moments are spawned from Victoria's desperate quest for prolonged life! Her accelerated deterioration can only be arrested by gruesomely harvesting the pituitary gland extract from a 5-to-6 month old fetus! The robust performances, maestro, Gil Melle's moody score, and a sordid, hysteria-laden climax all have an undeniable entertainment value, a fact blithely ignored by the film's many detractors.
Domestic life chez Holliston becomes quirky, as twitchy sister-in-law, Barbara Douglas (Diane Ladd) is piqued by the increasingly malign actions of genetically altered Dobermann No. 1, and sleekly sinister, Victoria. Victoria's insatiable hunger to uncover life's mysteries, matched by her greater zeal for unlawful carnal knowledge with warped Svengali /patriarch, Holliston! More Dorian Gray, than Dr. Moreau, as the film's queasier moments are spawned from Victoria's desperate quest for prolonged life! Her accelerated deterioration can only be arrested by gruesomely harvesting the pituitary gland extract from a 5-to-6 month old fetus! The robust performances, maestro, Gil Melle's moody score, and a sordid, hysteria-laden climax all have an undeniable entertainment value, a fact blithely ignored by the film's many detractors.
A little out-dated, but still scary
Huntress-211 March 1999
Okay, I admit, the movie theme isn't as frightening now as it might have been in the 70s when the film was made. Still, the movie was an interesting and somewhat disturbing view of a scientific experiment gone wrong.
Should have stayed an unfertilized egg
RavenGlamDVDCollector25 March 2015
Horribly disappointing movie. Had a fantastic poster featuring nude Barbara Carrera (supposedly?) which is, by my standards, a collector's item today like few others. The only fun about this movie is that poster. I ordered the DVD and hoped the poster would be the box cover, but no, only a weak, weak, weak rendition of the original image as big as an average-sized postage stamp. The movie is hugely disappointing... Given the theme, From Embryo to Woman in 4 1/2 Weeks, there is a hell of a lot that could have been done with it. Imagine cultivating your own dreamgirl down in the laboratory, only for it to go wrong in a most disastrous way. Movie needs a remake, with particular focus on the anguish of premature aging, especially since the object of desire comes into the world as a fresh flower that is as doomed as just exactly that. It is however my experience that the movies of Ms. Carrera are invariably disappointing because, it seems to me, she's not exactly the star material she appeared to be at the time. Long, long hair a la Jane Seymour got her on my radar back in the mid- Seventies, but alas! long, long hair alone a fine actress doth not make.
The poster is fun though, and today I saw the Net version of the one cutting out the off- putting male presence. To this day, when I see girls curled up so innocently, vulnerably, in the fetal position, I think of this poster. Nice legs, and especially the bare feet added that total total vulnerability.
Had the movie been a tenth of the fun of the poster... but it doesn't have a hundredth.
The poster is fun though, and today I saw the Net version of the one cutting out the off- putting male presence. To this day, when I see girls curled up so innocently, vulnerably, in the fetal position, I think of this poster. Nice legs, and especially the bare feet added that total total vulnerability.
Had the movie been a tenth of the fun of the poster... but it doesn't have a hundredth.
Exploitation sci-fi with Frankenstein asides
barnabyrudge4 December 2002
Rock Hudson plays a widowed scientist who runs down a pregnant dog whilst driving in a storm. He manages to save the unborn dog by messing with its genes, and decides that if he can do it with dogs, he can do it with humans. He steals a foetus from the local hospital, and uses it to create a female child. Amazingly, the child grows an incredible rate, and is a near-genius, very beautiful woman within a couple of months. Then, Franken-daddy makes his big mistake... he falls in love with his own creation, and gets her pregnant!
The modern elements of The Bride of Frankenstein sit nicely in this disturbing update. Hudson is OK as the scientist, and Carrera as the female he builds is pretty believable. Roddy McDowall has a funny guest appearance as a chess whiz who gets thrashed at his favourite game by the super-intelligent Carrera.
What I dislike about this movie is that as it goes on, it starts to go for cheap shocks and unpersuasive horror touches, rather than maintaining the accent on the science fiction side of the story. It veers off track and ends up like any old exploitation horror flick of the 60s and 70s. If they could have just stuck by the science fiction, then this would have been a top class film. As it is, it's no better than average. Pity, really!
The modern elements of The Bride of Frankenstein sit nicely in this disturbing update. Hudson is OK as the scientist, and Carrera as the female he builds is pretty believable. Roddy McDowall has a funny guest appearance as a chess whiz who gets thrashed at his favourite game by the super-intelligent Carrera.
What I dislike about this movie is that as it goes on, it starts to go for cheap shocks and unpersuasive horror touches, rather than maintaining the accent on the science fiction side of the story. It veers off track and ends up like any old exploitation horror flick of the 60s and 70s. If they could have just stuck by the science fiction, then this would have been a top class film. As it is, it's no better than average. Pity, really!
Creepy and Dark but not in a good way
royalty197414 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This movie was dark, not moody dark but pitch black, filmed with the lens cap on dark. And creepy. Old guy creates young hottie and gets busy with her creepy. Aside from that, meh. The dog was amazing, the things they got her to do was cool. The first thing we are supposed to notice that there is a bad seed in the "created" creatures is when the Doberman kills a yappie yorkie that got in her face. Large aggressive animals are actually known for being large and aggressive so what's the big deal? The dog actually covering up evidence better than my children when they steal cookies was impressive. And how exactly is there an existing remedy for rapid aging when there is no drug or case of rapid aging? Did he just fill her fulla whatever crap he had laying around, which happens to only be harvested from <6 month old fetuses!? and hope for the best? As an aside, thinking like a 2009 parent, when the weird chick is in the park and a strange child approaches and insists she swing him/her/it, (I couldn't tell), and then the weird chick ends up playing on all the kids' rides having way more fun than the now pack of parentless children she then leads to the beach. Holy Megan's Law Batman! My aforementioned children are fighting behind me now and I think I lost my train of thought. All in all, an odd cinematic thing. Also if the poor actress is traipsing around starkers at least have the decency to turn some overhead lights on. Why was the poor thing there catching her death of cold and we the audience can't see squat.
Bland, Overly Moralizing Film
TheExpatriate70017 January 2010
Although Embryo could have been a potentially thought provoking examination of bioethics, it degenerates into a stereotypical Frankenstein parable, putting across the by now monotonous lesson that there were some realms man was not meant to enter or study.
Scientist Rock Hudson is experimenting with ways to prevent miscarried babies from dying. After success with a dog, he immediately jumps to humans-violating medical ethics and any sense of plausibility-with the equally unrealistic assistance of a hospital administrator. His experiment works too well, with some decidedly unpleasant side effects.
Although Barbara Carrera is reasonably good in her role, and some of the animal training is spectacular, the film suffers from being too fantastical. Even though a message at the prologue assures viewers that this represents contemporary technology, the scientific work depicted looks far fetched even for the twenty-first century, let alone the mid- 1970s. Furthermore, the scene where Carrera is able to find a cure for the side effects of bioengineering simply by typing a question into a computer is laughable.
Scientist Rock Hudson is experimenting with ways to prevent miscarried babies from dying. After success with a dog, he immediately jumps to humans-violating medical ethics and any sense of plausibility-with the equally unrealistic assistance of a hospital administrator. His experiment works too well, with some decidedly unpleasant side effects.
Although Barbara Carrera is reasonably good in her role, and some of the animal training is spectacular, the film suffers from being too fantastical. Even though a message at the prologue assures viewers that this represents contemporary technology, the scientific work depicted looks far fetched even for the twenty-first century, let alone the mid- 1970s. Furthermore, the scene where Carrera is able to find a cure for the side effects of bioengineering simply by typing a question into a computer is laughable.
Are you crazy?
resalaree-124 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
You would have to be to see any plot or entertainment value in this movie, if your bored and want to waste 140 some minutes turn on a blank TV and stare at it. You will be better off in the long run! After trying to submit I have been informed I need 10 lines so here are 10 lines this movie should be buried by the psycho pincher who is by far the best actor in the movie... here goes: 1. Did Hudson need money that bad? 2. Same question for Diane. 3. Whyyyyyyyyyy did the poor family have to die? 4. MacDowell's acting was phenomenal, really! 5. How much did she get for frog lamp on ebay, it had best cameo. 6. Bonus: no dogs were harmed in the making of this movie, however directors daughters stuffed doggie did not survive. 7. RIP Goldie the gold fish. 8. They sure knew how to party in the 70's. 9. This clearly shows Rock Hudson without Doris Day equals tragic movie consequences! 10. I was seriously considering buying a doberman but now... PASS!
Bringing up baby
tomsview25 July 2016
"Embryo" has a touch of "Bride of Frankenstein" plus a pinch of "Lost Horizon", but all in all, I still find it a guilty pleasure.
Dr Paul Hollistan (Rock Hudson) is a genetic scientist who uses experimental growth hormones to speed up the growth of embryos. He has success with a dog, which becomes fully grown in no time at all. He then tries his luck on a human embryo and within a few days has produced a stunning Barbara Carrera. Not bad for his first human. He names her Victoria and sets out to educate her, finding that she absorbs information at a furious pace.
Of course, as devotees of horror/sci-fi well know, these kinds of experiments always have a catch and the growth hormone continues to accelerate Victoria's growth well past the hottie stage into old age; there are tears and screams before the final fade out.
The film has suspense: we wait to see people's reactions when Victoria explores her world and surprises them with her superior intelligence. The film starts stronger than it finishes, it has some interesting bits of pseudo science at the beginning with even a reference to DNA long before the acronym tended to pop up in every second sentence.
The presence of Rock Hudson gave the film a lift. The director, Ralph Nelson, had some big ones under his belt by this stage, and the film is many notches above the standard of many of the science fiction/horror movies that were around at the time.
I think Rock gave it some of the same juice he gave "Seconds" 10 years before; he ends up railing against fate at the end of both. "Embryo" was in that period between his big hits of the 50's and 60's, and before his career had a revival of sorts on television. However he was always watchable and had charisma to spare.
Barbara Carrera is captivating. She played a lot of femme fatales in her time, but that's fair enough; along with a sexy accent, she had a sensuous look that could easily cause turbulence amongst the male population. She works well with Rock, although she looks tiny alongside him despite the fact she was 5'8" (according to IMDb); he sure was a big dude.
"Embryo" is still worth a look even though there have been many variations on the theme over the decades, it doesn't outstay its welcome and the stars make it worth the effort.
Dr Paul Hollistan (Rock Hudson) is a genetic scientist who uses experimental growth hormones to speed up the growth of embryos. He has success with a dog, which becomes fully grown in no time at all. He then tries his luck on a human embryo and within a few days has produced a stunning Barbara Carrera. Not bad for his first human. He names her Victoria and sets out to educate her, finding that she absorbs information at a furious pace.
Of course, as devotees of horror/sci-fi well know, these kinds of experiments always have a catch and the growth hormone continues to accelerate Victoria's growth well past the hottie stage into old age; there are tears and screams before the final fade out.
The film has suspense: we wait to see people's reactions when Victoria explores her world and surprises them with her superior intelligence. The film starts stronger than it finishes, it has some interesting bits of pseudo science at the beginning with even a reference to DNA long before the acronym tended to pop up in every second sentence.
The presence of Rock Hudson gave the film a lift. The director, Ralph Nelson, had some big ones under his belt by this stage, and the film is many notches above the standard of many of the science fiction/horror movies that were around at the time.
I think Rock gave it some of the same juice he gave "Seconds" 10 years before; he ends up railing against fate at the end of both. "Embryo" was in that period between his big hits of the 50's and 60's, and before his career had a revival of sorts on television. However he was always watchable and had charisma to spare.
Barbara Carrera is captivating. She played a lot of femme fatales in her time, but that's fair enough; along with a sexy accent, she had a sensuous look that could easily cause turbulence amongst the male population. She works well with Rock, although she looks tiny alongside him despite the fact she was 5'8" (according to IMDb); he sure was a big dude.
"Embryo" is still worth a look even though there have been many variations on the theme over the decades, it doesn't outstay its welcome and the stars make it worth the effort.
Not bad, but dated film seems more like a tame TV movie than anything else
dbborroughs2 September 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Rock Hudson stumbles upon a means of rapidly growing fetuses after he hits a dog with his car. He made the discovery after he tries to save the dogs pups. Taking the experiment one step farther he grows a human fetus which turns into Barbara Carrera who seems to spring to adulthood almost over night. Unfortunately the rapid growth keeps her emotionally young and she also aging much faster than anyone realizes. Scifi horror film is the sort of thing that would have ended up on TV if it wasn't for the star and the nudity. Its actually not a bad little film but it's the sort of thing that had been done at least a dozen times before. Worth a look if you run across it on an undemanding night but nothing you need search out unless you're a fan of Hudson or one of its other stars.
Pretty good sci-fi-horror-melodrama
Red-Barracuda26 September 2017
A scientist attempts to create the perfect woman using an advanced test-tube procedure he has developed after experimenting on a dog fetus, resulting in a super-intelligent but fast-growing canine. Unbeknownst to the doctor, however, is the fact that this new science turns its subjects into killers. To this end, he falls in love with his creation - a very beautiful, extremely intelligent woman - who happens to have homicidal tendencies unfortunately also.
This sci-fi-horror-melodrama was directed by Ralph Nelson who previously was known to me for a couple of violent westerns, Duel at Diablo (1966) and Soldier Blue (1970), with the latter being a particularly controversial film. With Embryo, he is involved in something a lot less contentious, yet it does have a look at some uncomfortable issues, such as the horror of a human being growing to full adulthood in a matter of weeks and the associated tragedy inherent in that. The moral dimension of course is the old Frankenstein conundrum of man playing god and meddling with nature. The scientist here is Rock Hudson and I thought he was good enough in the part. Barbara Carrera stars as his creation, while Diane Ladd plays his dead wife's sister who stays with him to work as his assistant for some reason - it's not really much of a role for Ladd to be fair. Much better was Roddy McDowall in a cameo appearance in what is certainly the best scene in the movie, he plays a chauvinistic chess master who has his ass whipped by Carrera in front of an amused gathering of guests at a party – McDowall is really entertaining to watch in this part. Challenging him as best performer is the Doberman who nonchalantly carries out a series if very clever tricks throughout the movie.
Overall, while I wouldn't say this is a fully successful film, it's still a pretty interesting one. It only really moves into horror territory in its final stages and in fact ends on a pretty commendably dark note indeed. But I found the ideas and story quite engaging and think this one is worth catching, particularly if you like 70's sci-fi.
This sci-fi-horror-melodrama was directed by Ralph Nelson who previously was known to me for a couple of violent westerns, Duel at Diablo (1966) and Soldier Blue (1970), with the latter being a particularly controversial film. With Embryo, he is involved in something a lot less contentious, yet it does have a look at some uncomfortable issues, such as the horror of a human being growing to full adulthood in a matter of weeks and the associated tragedy inherent in that. The moral dimension of course is the old Frankenstein conundrum of man playing god and meddling with nature. The scientist here is Rock Hudson and I thought he was good enough in the part. Barbara Carrera stars as his creation, while Diane Ladd plays his dead wife's sister who stays with him to work as his assistant for some reason - it's not really much of a role for Ladd to be fair. Much better was Roddy McDowall in a cameo appearance in what is certainly the best scene in the movie, he plays a chauvinistic chess master who has his ass whipped by Carrera in front of an amused gathering of guests at a party – McDowall is really entertaining to watch in this part. Challenging him as best performer is the Doberman who nonchalantly carries out a series if very clever tricks throughout the movie.
Overall, while I wouldn't say this is a fully successful film, it's still a pretty interesting one. It only really moves into horror territory in its final stages and in fact ends on a pretty commendably dark note indeed. But I found the ideas and story quite engaging and think this one is worth catching, particularly if you like 70's sci-fi.
Stillborn
ofumalow13 April 2018
Ralph Nelson made some good movies particularly in the 1960s, mostly middle-of-the-road dramas addressing pressing social issues. But he didn't appear to have a fantastical bone in his body, and was clearly the wrong choice to direct this sci-fi variation on the Frankenstein story.
Rock Hudson plays a scientist whose personal guilt over his wife's death drives him to experiments in his private lab that attempt to save the lives of fetuses trapped in the bodies of dying females. He succeeds in saving one such being from a suicidal young woman. His methods lead the fetus to develop rapidly into an adult (Barbara Carrera) who is beautiful and brilliant but, because she has skipped past all the standard character-forming years of human growth, lacks any sense of morality--when she eventually feels threatened, she doesn't hesitate at resorting to homicide. But that doesn't happen until the last 15 minutes or so in a movie without any prior "action" (a little partial nudity aside), and Nelson doesn't even seem interested in the violence when it does arrive, keeping it mostly off-screen.
Hudson gives an earnest performance--he's not just walking through it, as he sometimes did with mediocre material--and Carrera, one of those actresses who seldom got to stretch much because she was typecast as cheesecake, is as good as the film allows. The supporting cast is strong enough, excepting Roddy McDowell, who throws off the straightfacedf tone somewhat with an overly hammy "guest star" turn as a snippy chess master infuriated when Carrera's "Victoria" beats him.
But the script isn't quite intelligent or credible to be taken seriously. Nor is Nelson's direction stylish, suspenseful, or lurid enough to make "Embryo" any kind of guilty pleasure--it's watchable enough, but once you realize there really won't be much payoff, the entire experience becomes somewhat deflating. While the 70s was full of variable big-studio sci-fi films that in one way or another emphasized their futurism, "Embryo" has no sci-fi trappings at all beyond a premise whose ideas aren't very boldly worked out. It wasn't a success at the time, and one has to admit there isn't much reason to pronounce it under-rated now. It's a competently crafted misfire.
Rock Hudson plays a scientist whose personal guilt over his wife's death drives him to experiments in his private lab that attempt to save the lives of fetuses trapped in the bodies of dying females. He succeeds in saving one such being from a suicidal young woman. His methods lead the fetus to develop rapidly into an adult (Barbara Carrera) who is beautiful and brilliant but, because she has skipped past all the standard character-forming years of human growth, lacks any sense of morality--when she eventually feels threatened, she doesn't hesitate at resorting to homicide. But that doesn't happen until the last 15 minutes or so in a movie without any prior "action" (a little partial nudity aside), and Nelson doesn't even seem interested in the violence when it does arrive, keeping it mostly off-screen.
Hudson gives an earnest performance--he's not just walking through it, as he sometimes did with mediocre material--and Carrera, one of those actresses who seldom got to stretch much because she was typecast as cheesecake, is as good as the film allows. The supporting cast is strong enough, excepting Roddy McDowell, who throws off the straightfacedf tone somewhat with an overly hammy "guest star" turn as a snippy chess master infuriated when Carrera's "Victoria" beats him.
But the script isn't quite intelligent or credible to be taken seriously. Nor is Nelson's direction stylish, suspenseful, or lurid enough to make "Embryo" any kind of guilty pleasure--it's watchable enough, but once you realize there really won't be much payoff, the entire experience becomes somewhat deflating. While the 70s was full of variable big-studio sci-fi films that in one way or another emphasized their futurism, "Embryo" has no sci-fi trappings at all beyond a premise whose ideas aren't very boldly worked out. It wasn't a success at the time, and one has to admit there isn't much reason to pronounce it under-rated now. It's a competently crafted misfire.
Nonsense but not too boring
Rrrobert18 May 2013
Entertaining nonsense where Rock Hudson learns the secret of growing fetuses to adulthood with the offspring super-fast learners, highly skilled and super intelligent.
The Doberman which is the first successful offspring is a fabulous character (like the diabolical dog in The Omen.) She is beautifully trained and does some great stunts, and is chilling in other scenes. The second success is Victoria (Barbara Carrera) who - surprise - is a stunning beauty. Carrera is good in the role and creates a believable character.
Diane Ladd provides great support as Rock's cynical sister-in-law/live-in assistant who is suspicious of Victoria, and hates the dog. The most chilling (and high camp) scene has Ladd's character, who has been away, return to Rock's estate to rummage through the attic and retrieve a hideous frog-shaped lamp, only to be followed by the snarling dog the entire time. The dog carefully escorts Ladd from the premises, clearly glad to be rid of the ugly light fitting.
The opening scenes are rather dull, padded out with Rock endlessly recounting plot exposition into his refrigerator sized reel to reel tape recorder. The film really begins to feel like a TV movie with its tiny cast and few locations. But once Victoria's up and talking (and disrobing) the pace and interest picks up.
The Doberman which is the first successful offspring is a fabulous character (like the diabolical dog in The Omen.) She is beautifully trained and does some great stunts, and is chilling in other scenes. The second success is Victoria (Barbara Carrera) who - surprise - is a stunning beauty. Carrera is good in the role and creates a believable character.
Diane Ladd provides great support as Rock's cynical sister-in-law/live-in assistant who is suspicious of Victoria, and hates the dog. The most chilling (and high camp) scene has Ladd's character, who has been away, return to Rock's estate to rummage through the attic and retrieve a hideous frog-shaped lamp, only to be followed by the snarling dog the entire time. The dog carefully escorts Ladd from the premises, clearly glad to be rid of the ugly light fitting.
The opening scenes are rather dull, padded out with Rock endlessly recounting plot exposition into his refrigerator sized reel to reel tape recorder. The film really begins to feel like a TV movie with its tiny cast and few locations. But once Victoria's up and talking (and disrobing) the pace and interest picks up.
These Stem Cells Bite
bkoganbing23 August 2008
Rock Hudson's second venture in the science fiction genre after Seconds is Embryo a film that combines elements of the Bride of Frankenstein and Pygmalion in one rather weird film about for lack of a better word a test tube baby that grows up to be Barbara Carrera.
Hudson is scientist experimenting in organic development and gets a chance to first experiment on his own Doberman pincher when it is accidentally hit by his car.
Some pituitary secretions from the female dog are given to a prematurely born puppy and it grows remarkably into an adult. Exalted with his success, Hudson takes a fetus from a dead accident victim and gives it some of the same stuff.
What he gets is Barbara Carrera. And she develops physically and intellectually at a prodigious rate. What she doesn't do is develop emotionally. Still Hudson passes her off as his new research assistant to friends and family like sister-in-law Diane Ladd, son John Elerick, and daughter-in-law Anne Schedeen.
Embryo doesn't explore some of the real issues in this kind of science, it exploits them instead. The special effects as they are, are pretty second rate. Hudson looks like he lost interest in the project about halfway through the film.
Now what would have really been interesting is if he had gotten boy child and it grew up to be a harlequin novel hero. Now that would have been something Rock Hudson could have sunk his teeth into.
Hudson is scientist experimenting in organic development and gets a chance to first experiment on his own Doberman pincher when it is accidentally hit by his car.
Some pituitary secretions from the female dog are given to a prematurely born puppy and it grows remarkably into an adult. Exalted with his success, Hudson takes a fetus from a dead accident victim and gives it some of the same stuff.
What he gets is Barbara Carrera. And she develops physically and intellectually at a prodigious rate. What she doesn't do is develop emotionally. Still Hudson passes her off as his new research assistant to friends and family like sister-in-law Diane Ladd, son John Elerick, and daughter-in-law Anne Schedeen.
Embryo doesn't explore some of the real issues in this kind of science, it exploits them instead. The special effects as they are, are pretty second rate. Hudson looks like he lost interest in the project about halfway through the film.
Now what would have really been interesting is if he had gotten boy child and it grew up to be a harlequin novel hero. Now that would have been something Rock Hudson could have sunk his teeth into.
Great horror from a lost decade
tostinati4 May 2004
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers.
Aside from great high profile work like the Exorcist, the 70s threatens to be eclipsed in the history of the horror film. It is remembered as the decade of slasher junk (the best of the sad field possibly being Halloween). Outshone by the pacesetting 30s, the lovable drive in schlock of the 50s, the emergence of Hammer style horror in the 60s and the flashy 80s (whose mature arrival was heralded by Alien in 1979), the 70s can really slip through the cracks. That's a pity too. Films like Embryo and Sisters, which tried to disturb you at a primal level rather than simply shock, deserve their place among the gems of any decade.
Those who have seen this film generally relate that Carrera's character in Embryo evolves into a murderous psycho, and they imply that is the crux of the thing. Her willingness to kill anybody in her way is certainly one of the sources of tension in the scenario. But when I saw this film for the first time yesterday, it struck me primarily as a tragedy. A double one at that...
Hudson and people he cares about deeply are threatened life and limb by Carrera's Victoria. But this isn't just another raging serial nut flick. One need only look at WHY she is killing. She is eliminating obstacles to the continuation of her existence. It's not putting too fine a point on it to describe her as a woman fighting for her life as though she is drowning. --Survival. Dropped more abruptly than most of us into a world into which she never asked to be born-- like Roy Batty in Blade Runner or the running, thinking clone in Simak's classic short story Goodnight Mr. James-- she learns that life, having once been tasted, is worth doing anything to hang on to.
Complicating matters is the way she came into being, skipping the first 24 years of life, subliminally endowed with a staggering encyclopedic breadth of knowledge while in the incubator. This leaves her lacking a crucial something: the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. If she needs it, it's right to take it. If someone tries to stop her, they're wrong. She really doesn't know any better. That simple. As the story develops, to know her is to be in peril. It's her furious drive to survive that will eventually cost her and several characters everything.
Hudson's Dr. Holliston is compared to Dr. Frankenstein in this role, but he's actually a pretty good guy. His intentions are essentially altruistic. We learn that his wife miscarried twice before his son was born, and he's had an interest since then in research that could help miscarried infants survive. When he hits a dog at the beginning of the film, he plays a hunch and takes advantage of the moment to see if he can make the fetus within the dog survive. His success at this emboldens him to try it on a human. I wouldn't even say temerity or even too much ambition is the doctor's downfall. --Maybe just possessing a personal curiosity about life and death that the situation can't bear.
Perhaps inevitably, the end of Embryo contains an echo of the stronger Hudson flick Seconds. But it still packs a wallop in its own right. Ralph Nelson also directed Lilies of the Field. If he is only a hired hand as a director, and not an auteur, he is a really deft story teller anyway. Newer viewers may complain about the effects, but they do all they really need to. The special effects are simple, kept in a secondary, supporting relationship to the story; doesn't it seem silly, when you see a film like this, to think that things have become inverted to the point that it should ever be otherwise?
8 Stars. Well done film, definitely worth a look.
Aside from great high profile work like the Exorcist, the 70s threatens to be eclipsed in the history of the horror film. It is remembered as the decade of slasher junk (the best of the sad field possibly being Halloween). Outshone by the pacesetting 30s, the lovable drive in schlock of the 50s, the emergence of Hammer style horror in the 60s and the flashy 80s (whose mature arrival was heralded by Alien in 1979), the 70s can really slip through the cracks. That's a pity too. Films like Embryo and Sisters, which tried to disturb you at a primal level rather than simply shock, deserve their place among the gems of any decade.
Those who have seen this film generally relate that Carrera's character in Embryo evolves into a murderous psycho, and they imply that is the crux of the thing. Her willingness to kill anybody in her way is certainly one of the sources of tension in the scenario. But when I saw this film for the first time yesterday, it struck me primarily as a tragedy. A double one at that...
Hudson and people he cares about deeply are threatened life and limb by Carrera's Victoria. But this isn't just another raging serial nut flick. One need only look at WHY she is killing. She is eliminating obstacles to the continuation of her existence. It's not putting too fine a point on it to describe her as a woman fighting for her life as though she is drowning. --Survival. Dropped more abruptly than most of us into a world into which she never asked to be born-- like Roy Batty in Blade Runner or the running, thinking clone in Simak's classic short story Goodnight Mr. James-- she learns that life, having once been tasted, is worth doing anything to hang on to.
Complicating matters is the way she came into being, skipping the first 24 years of life, subliminally endowed with a staggering encyclopedic breadth of knowledge while in the incubator. This leaves her lacking a crucial something: the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. If she needs it, it's right to take it. If someone tries to stop her, they're wrong. She really doesn't know any better. That simple. As the story develops, to know her is to be in peril. It's her furious drive to survive that will eventually cost her and several characters everything.
Hudson's Dr. Holliston is compared to Dr. Frankenstein in this role, but he's actually a pretty good guy. His intentions are essentially altruistic. We learn that his wife miscarried twice before his son was born, and he's had an interest since then in research that could help miscarried infants survive. When he hits a dog at the beginning of the film, he plays a hunch and takes advantage of the moment to see if he can make the fetus within the dog survive. His success at this emboldens him to try it on a human. I wouldn't even say temerity or even too much ambition is the doctor's downfall. --Maybe just possessing a personal curiosity about life and death that the situation can't bear.
Perhaps inevitably, the end of Embryo contains an echo of the stronger Hudson flick Seconds. But it still packs a wallop in its own right. Ralph Nelson also directed Lilies of the Field. If he is only a hired hand as a director, and not an auteur, he is a really deft story teller anyway. Newer viewers may complain about the effects, but they do all they really need to. The special effects are simple, kept in a secondary, supporting relationship to the story; doesn't it seem silly, when you see a film like this, to think that things have become inverted to the point that it should ever be otherwise?
8 Stars. Well done film, definitely worth a look.
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