Movies - TV
MGM Stopped This Dean Koontz Sci-Fi Film From Becoming A Cult Classic
By DEBOPRIYAA DUTTA
Based on Dean Koontz's science fiction novel of the same name, Donald Cammell's "Demon Seed" failed to impress critics when the film was released in 1977.
During an interview with David Del Valle, Cammell described making the movie a "very unhappy experience" and revealed that last-minute studio interference stunted its potential.
He explained that MGM seemed to love it but changed it during editing: "It could have been a great film, but even though it got bloody respectable notices, it wasn't my vision."
Koontz spoke about MGM's marketing blunders: "Before release, it changed the initially classy poster and the stylish newspaper ads into a sleazy minimalist campaign."
Explaining that MGM needed to minimize marketing costs as this was a sci-fi film, Koontz added that they realized too late that "science-fiction movies never made money."
The author believes that MGM utterly misunderstood the film's tone and intent, marketing it as a sleazy psychosexual experience that was completely removed from heady sci-fi ideas.