Customer Reviews

Circuit Breaker [VHS]

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*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I've seen this movie several times. Why? Not because it has any redeeming qualities, but rather because it is SO bad that it verges on comical - unintentionally I'm sure. A bloated, unattractive Richard Grieco plays a "crazed" android-like creature; I say "android-like" because actually having real special effects would have bumped this movie over its $10,000 budget I suspect.

It's entertaining to play "look for the big boo-boos" on this film - for example, early in the movie we see Grieco lock a child in the spaceship trash compactor and press the button - poor kid is seen clutching her favorite dolly when they go bye-bye. But later in the movie, we see the SAME doll lying in the hallway. Can you say oops?

This stinker used to air quite a bit on my late night DISH network - maybe Roger Corman paid THEM to show it? Because otherwise I can't imagine how it came to claim two hours of anyone's life. Also, for some mysterious reason, it also appears under the movie title "Inhumanoid," perhaps to trick unsuspecting Grieco fans into thinking there's another elusive treasure of his quality work tucked away on a dusty shelf somewhere.

If, like me, you find a twisted-sort of hilarity in watching criminally bad films, this one doesn't disappoint. With a plot so thin you can see Grieco's lovehandles through it, and acting that makes your local TV commercials seem like quality entertainment, this is the creme de la creme of crappy movies.

This movie is partly a cautionary tale and partly an Its-locked-in-here-with-us movie.

A small rental spaceship on an emergency medical run comes across a derelict ship near a quasar. The quasar interferes with communications. The small ship contains a family; husband, wife and young daughter (the one in need of emergency medical treatment). On board the derelict a survivor is found. He is a very charismatic person and quickly wins the confidence of the family. But all is not well. Thing begin to happen quickly. The father is stranded on the derelict and the little girl is killed in the disposal unit. Why? The stranger loves the mother and wants her for himself. But he did not use malice. He actually though he was making things better.

On the derelict the father finds a second survivor; one with the same name as the first. Seems the first is not what he claims. He is an advanced android. But his creators made a mistake. Simpler androids did not need morals programmed into them so they were not even considered until it was too late. Now there is a super-strong, near-indestructible, hyper-intelligent being with the moral judgement of a two-year-old running around. In the end the mother triumphs and destroys the android (but not until it kills most of the staff of the medical facility).

A quickly developing plot and some good characters framed with an interesting plot device make up the film's strong points. One of the better artificial-man runs amok movies to come along in a good while.

This movie doesn't look like an up to date space movie. You think they are putting the UFO on a string. Really really badly done. Can Richard Grieco please do something else than this!!?? :)

This movie was too awful to even write about it. Richard Grieco must have needed work at this time. It was not written well. The acting was terrible. Richard, I know you are a good actor. Don't do these stinkers again. You would be good in a science fiction movie if it was a good one.