Embryo (1976)

Thanks for the memories!

Really Surprised!

A Disappointing Continuation

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

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.

"A research scientist is experimenting with human DNA in an attempt to create the perfect human being. His work has made it to the point where he can take a human fetus and accelerate its growth to that of an adult within a few days. His latest creation is a (spoiler omitted), but side effects from the process (spoiler omitted)," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis."Embryo" opens by promising: "The film you are about to see is not all science fiction. It is based upon medical technology which currently exists for fetal growth outside the womb. It could be a possibility tomorrow… or today," according to Dr. Charles M. Brinkman III. Right. And, Dr. Joyce Brothers appears, later, at a party with Roddy McDowall.First, we see Rock Hudson (as Dr. Paul Holliston) light a cigarette and drive recklessly (watch that speedometer!) during a storm; unfortunately, he hits a dog. Mr. Hudson takes the wounded canine home. He learns it is pregnant, and manages to save the life of one of the puppies, due to his experimental knowledge of fetal growth. What this really boils down to is that Hudson uses an experimental drug to grow the embryo, so that it can survive outside the mother's womb. The dog, "Number One", grows to adult-size rapidly, and is passed off as its mother.Hudson lives with his sister-in-law Diane Ladd (as Martha Douglas); since his wife Nicole, also a doctor, died in another car accident. Ms. Ladd seems more emotionally stable about Nicole's death than Hudson, who survived the crash that killed his wife. Things begin to get creepy when Hudson's dog shows an intelligence level far above any normal dog. Then, Hudson decides to use his accelerated embryo growth on a human, Barbara Carrera (as Victoria Spencer).Hudson and the cast try their best; but, the "Embryo" storyline is wretchedly absurd nonsense. If you take away her silly opening and closing scenes, Ms. Carrera's valiant characterization almost works; she might have been a bigger star, if offered better films than this. The infantile ending suggests a sequel; but, happily, the idea was aborted.

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.