Review of Hardware (1990) by Daniel P — 31 May 2010

An incredibly inventive and surprisingly artistic take (given the story) on an evil Short Circuit type robot that when activated, kills everything in its sight. Reminiscent of Terminator (the robot keeps on coming, and mostly pursues one person), Alien (shots of electrical 'tendrils' coming in extreme close up to victims in profile), Mad Max (neo-dystopian/post-apocalyptic wastelands and rotting cityscapes) and in 'final girl' Jill (Stacey Travis) there's more than a touch of Laurie from Halloween and, especially, Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street - somewhat introverted but smart, capable, resourceful.

The 'patchwork' quality of the film actually works surprisingly well especially given that the majority of the running time is spent in one apartment room in murky browns and reds. The low budget is cleverly disguised through obscured close-ups and clever sound effects, and there are some impressive prosthetics effects (the film is pretty damn gory in the final stages).

Chuck in a rather superb, almost kitsch soundtrack and decent work from Stacey Travis and Dylan McDermott, as well as fascinating tech-heavy props and gadgets and a genuinely interesting scene-setting historical/religious background.

Hardware is more than a curio and I definitely recommend it.