Philip K. Dick is up there with Isaac Asimov in terms of incredibly influential science-fiction writing, responsible for the stories behind Blade Runner and Minority Report, to name just a couple. Not all of his adaptations became big blockbusters or even cult classics, but one of these “lesser” works might be better than was originally credited. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Screamers, a sci-fi horror based on the story “Second Variety” about literal killing machines that evolve on their own and turn on their creators. To be clear, Screamers isn’t a fantastic movie or anything, but to dismiss it out of hand is to diminish its efforts of at least trying to do something as philosophically meaningful as Blade Runner. Fans of Robocop will delight in seeing Peter Weller play a hero outside of his famous cyborg costume, and while the special effects don’t hold up the best, the designs of the Screamers are still interesting, even when they look like BattleBots contestants.
What Is ‘Screamers’ About?

Image via Triumph Films

Screamers takes place on a distant planet in 2078, where a war is waging between the megacorporation N.E.B. and the Alliance, a military-like group opposed to N.E.B.’s mining of dangerously radioactive materials for fuel. To fight against N.E.B., The Alliance developed the titular Screamers, weaponized robots with spinning blades named for the ear-splitting shriek they emit while attacking; the opening scene demonstrates their deadliness when they hack off the limbs of an N.E.B. soldier before slicing the rest of him to a bloody pulp; Weller plays Hendricksson, the commanding officer of the Alliance’s base, who is growing weary of the fighting and jumps at the chance for peace negotiations when offered.

1:46

Related

The 10 Best Philip K. Dick Movie Adaptations

Philip K. Dick’s books have been adapted into some of the most popular movies.

But a new soldier’s crash-landing leads to the revelation that both sides of the war have written off Hendricksson’s particular battleground completely and will leave them there to slowly die out fighting a pointless battle. Hendricksson and the soldier, Jefferson (Andrew Lauer), head to the N.E.B. base, but problems arise when new forms of Screamers attack them despite their Alliance identities. The Screamers have become self-aware, upgrading themselves more and more until they’re almost indistinguishable from humans. The two men join up with a few other survivors to try and return to Earth, but it becomes more and more difficult to tell who is human and who is a machine as the Screamers become more advanced.
‘Screamers’ Is More Fun Than Good, But That’s Okay

Screamers wasn’t exactly a huge hit at the box office in 1995, and it hasn’t achieved cult status like Blade Runner, either. But even the more negative reviews at the time admitted that Screamers does have a lot of fun and interesting ideas, even if the execution leaves something to be desired. The idea of a machine learning how to upgrade itself until one day it might not even be considered a machine anymore is something Philip K. Dick was particularly fond of using, and it’s a really compelling theme even in the likes of Screamers. But if you’re not convinced by the moral philosophizing, at least you get some good old-fashioned cheesy sci-fi to entertain you. Seeing more and more advanced iterations of the Screamers as the movie goes on is definitely one of the highlights; one of the more disturbing scenes in the movie comes from the realization that a small, starving boy that Hendricksson and Jefferson allow to tag along with them is in fact a type of Screamer they’ve never encountered before. Another soldier they meet explains that these types are designed to trick people into letting the “child” come into the base for shelter, only for it to slaughter everyone once inside.
Later, they encounter a whole horde of these child-Screamers, and it’s pretty creepy to see a bunch of similar-looking children with uncannily blank faces and screaming mouths marching towards Hendricksson and his companions. Each new iteration of the Screamers has a unique design, including the original basic box with a sawblade attached to one that looks like a mini dinosaur made of metal. The stop-motion effect used to bring the latter version to life isn’t bad, it’s just poorly composited onto the background, but even that gives it a silly sort of charm. Peter Weller, on the other hand, is just genuinely charming, pulling off being both a competent military leader and a decent human being; he also helps ground some of the sillier performances, especially from one of the humanoid Screamers.
When it’s all said and done, the movie might fall short of being a sci-fi classic, but Screamers is still a fun enough watch, and even manages to make a decent point or two. The issues it raises about war, capitalism, and technology are still relevant today, so maybe Hollywood should think about giving it the reboot treatment (but with a bigger budget, hopefully).

Screamers

Release Date

September 8, 1995

Runtime

108 minutes

Director

Christian Duguay

Writers

Dan O’Bannon

Producers

Charles W. Fries, Franco Battista

Andrew Lauer

Ace Jefferson