Product Description

Fresh off a limited theatrical release and shot in Robo-monstervision, a black-and-white retro style reminiscent of old television series and even older movies, AUTOMATONS is a tip of the hat to the imagination and humanity of shows such as The Outer Limits and One Step Beyond. The deceptively simple cinematography evokes a time before big-budget CGI--and thus a time when theme and content were more important than empty action and special effects.
The story focuses on a lone woman in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have been engaging in a futile war of competing philosophies and belief systems. Newcomer Christine Spencer stars as the Girl, who lives in a crumbling laboratory repairing outdated robots while fending off the destructive video beams of the Enemy Leader. Cult horror star Angus Scrimm (Phantasm) stands out as the Scientist who has seen it all.
As potent as The Day the Earth Stood Still or Android, AUTOMATONS is a must-see for all science fiction fans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41826 in DVD
• Brand: FACETS HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2008-01-29
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 83 minutes

Features

• "Automatons is what happens when Eraserhead and Tetsuo the Iron Man bong themselves into oblivion and collaborate on a minimalist avant-garde sci-fi cheapie shot in a toolshed" (Nathan Lee, Village Voice). In a post-apocalyptic future, a lone girl (Christine Spencer) tends to a decaying band of robot soldiers fighting in a generations-old war sparked by humans over conflicting ideologies.

Review
...the movie's loving attention to light and shade transcends its hermetic setting and meager budget. At times the buzzing static and fizzy backlighting recall the glistening surrealism of the filmmaker Guy Maddin... enormously endearing. --Jeannette Catsoulis, NEW YORK TIMES

Review
Ed Wood, the notorious director of Plan 9 From Outer Space and Glen or Glenda, has risen from the dead and returned to filmmaking as James Felix McKenney... And I mean that as a compliment. --V.A. Musetto, NEW YORK POST

Review
Automatons is an excellent homage to the movies of yesteryear, and will be quite a thrill for anyone who misses those old days. --Steve Anderson, FILM THREAT

Customer Reviews

Cool Retro Stuff Lacks Script
First, don't let the film format turn you off - this looks just like any sci-fi flick from the '50s. The 'bots are cool and there's lots of action (eventually...). The only problem is that there is so little script to work with. It's a shame, because the budget limitations don't interfere nearly as much. Also, notice in the extras how they set up their shoot in an un-air-conditioned space during the summer! Let this be a lesson to aspiring directors - you have to create a survivable work environment. Also, having a troupe of crew laughing like hyenas doesn't augur well from the directorial perspective. I still hope this director, or others, will encourage shooting on film in this inexpensive and visually cool way. Meanwhile, you can surely enjoy a viewing of this little film, it's still fun and different from most other things out these days. It'll tide you over until somebody rereleases Gog And Magog.

Low budget, high concept, dry humor + robots!
Writer/director James Felix McKenney based this b/w Super-8 project on a faulty childhood memory and it screens like a dreamy low budget Pi channeled through the Outer Limits by way of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Filled with mid-century gadgets, men-in-suit robots and robot puppets, Automatons is a parable about a lonely, heavily-mediated future. Going the standard low-budget route (mostly one set, a few actors, shot silent), McKenney turns his budget into an asset. The slightly-off but trying-hard lip sync and cheap but earnestly designed sets and costumes make the film come off like a memory of a B-movie yesterday that never was. There's not enough material to fill a feature and by minute 24 I was aching to get out of that one set. But that's OK, you can just fast forward to the end. Great music and sound design too. This one's more for fans of directors like Guy Maddin and David Lynch rather than horror or sci-fi buffs. There's a sense of humor at work but it may be too dry for some tastes. Favorite image: the evil leader with a wrist communicator the size of a brick.

AUTOMATONS goes Public!
Starting today, visitors to New York Public Television station WNET's
Reel 13 website can view Glass Eye Pix's award-winning film,
AUTOMATONS, in its entirety. The film is available to watch streaming
for free along with additional AUTOMATONS content, including an
exclusive Reel 13 interview with writer-director James Felix McKenney:

[...]

Also available is the option to download a high-quality digital copy
of the film for anyone who makes a donation to Channel 13.

The Village Voice exclaimed "Robot radness achieved!" and the New
York Times said that "the buzzing static and fizzy backlighting
recall the glistening surrealism of the filmmaker Guy Maddin...
enormously endearing" when AUTOMATONS was first released in theaters
in 2007. The film was directed by DYI auteur James Felix McKenney who
also directed CANNIBALLISTIC!, THE OFF SEASON and the forth-coming
SATAN HATES YOU and HYPOTHERMIA.

Says McKenney, "I'm incredibly excited to have our film be part of
Reel 13. I have been a huge fan of Public Television my whole life.
In fact, AUTOMATONS is almost entirely inspired by my a large part of
childhood spent staring through the snow at a tiny B&W television
with a coat hanger for an antenna to watch DOCTOR WHO, THE PRISONER,
MATINEE AT THE BIJOU, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and the classic films
of Hitchcock as well as Universal horror movies on my local PBS
stations in Maine and New Hampshire. I think we've found the perfect
online home for our little film."

AUTOMATONS is the third film in Glass Eye Pix's ScareFlix series and
is currently available on DVD from Facets Video. This black & white,
retro-science fiction experiment tells the story of a civilization's
lone survivor who continues to fight the robot war that destroyed her
people. The film stars Christine Spencer (SATAN HATES YOU), Brenda
Cooney (I SELL THE DEAD), Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM), Don Wood (PBS'
COLONIAL HOUSE), producer Larry Fessenden (HABIT) and John Levene
(DOCTOR WHO).

[...]