Death Machine (1994)

Director:

Stephen Norrington

Writer:

Stephen Norrington

Release Date:

26 May 1995 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Order in to chaos

Plot:

Chaank Armaments is experimenting with the ultimate fighting machine which is part human - part machine...

Plot Keywords:

Corporate Corruption | News Report | Cult Movie | Security Camera | Bomb

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Brad Dourif	...	Jack Dante
Ely Pouget	...	Hayden Cale
William Hootkins	...	John Carpenter
John Sharian	...	Sam Raimi
Martin McDougall	...	Yutani
Andreas Wisniewski	...	Weyland
Richard Brake	...	Scott Ridley
Alex Brooks	...	Sheriff Dickson
Stuart St. Paul	...	Glitching Hardman
Jackie Sawiris	...	Waitress
Annemarie Lawless	...	Screaming Demonstrator (as Anne Marie Zola)
Julie Cox	...	Screaming Demonstrator
Kathleen Tessaro	...	Reporter
Ronald Fernee	...	Reporter
Lesley Lyon	...	Reporter
Jason Shepherd	...	Reporter
Colleen Passard	...	Anchor Woman
Robert Jezek	...	Media Controller
Dominic Hawksley	...	Argumentative Executive
Rachel Weisz	...	Junior Executive
Nicola Van Dam	...	Cale's Personal Assistant
Rob Freeman	...	Obstructive Executive
Randall Paul	...	Duty Sgt. Bateman
Matthew Justice	...	Oily Corpse / Oily Dead Diner / Oily Executive
Joe Scott	...	Chaark Recovery Squad / Lecherous Engineer
Melissa Charrington	...	Chaark Recovery Squad
Dominic Anciano	...	Dead Diner / Executive
Ray Burdis	...	Dead Diner
Chris Edwards	...	Dead Diner
Anna Lisa Seccombe	...	Executive
Lisa Shanley	...	Executive
Ian Stanley Norse	...	Executive
Stephen Norrington	...	Executive
Richard Brenchley	...	Executive
Samantha Jane O'Neill	...	Executive
Maurice Fellouhe	...	Lab Technician
Tony Haynes	...	Lab Technician
John Schoonraad	...	Lab Technician
Fredrick Lopez	...	Deputy Sheriff Randall (as Frederick Lopez)

Directed by
Stephen Norrington

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Stephen Norrington

Produced by
Dominic Anciano	....	producer
Jim Beach	....	executive producer
Ray Burdis	....	co-producer
Nigel Green	....	co-executive producer
Matthew Justice	....	line producer
Heidi Lester	....	associate producer
Teruhiko Noguchi	....	co-executive producer
Stephen Norrington	....	associate producer
Stuart St. Paul	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Crispin Merrell

Cinematography by
John de Borman

Film Editing by
Paul Endacott

Casting by
Beth Charkham

Production Design by
Chris Edwards

Art Direction by
Su Whitaker		(as Susan Whitaker)

Costume Design by
Stephanie Collie

Makeup Department
Lisa Boni	....	makeup artist
Chris Cunningham	....	tattoo designs
Dave Elsey	....	special makeup effects artist
Alan Hedgcock	....	special makeup effects designer
Daniel Parker	....	animatronics

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Oscar Beuselinck	....	second assistant director
Kieron Phipps	....	first assistant director
Richard Walker	....	stand-in/trainee assistant director

Art Department
Nic Stubbings	....	stand-by props
Richard Van Den Bergh	....	set dressing
Tim Youngman	....	property master
Will Ayres	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Mark Allen	....	sound designer
Rudi Buckle	....	production sound mixer
Michael A. Carter	....	sound re-recording mixer
Colin Codner	....	boom operator
Nainita Desai	....	sound designer
Patrick M. Griffith	....	supervising sound editor
Pauline Griffiths	....	foley artist
Chris Kelly	....	foley editor
Peter Lacey	....	adr mixer
Jenny Lee Wright	....	foley artist
Otto Snel	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kevin Tayler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mike Wood	....	sound editor
Sandy Buchanan	....	post-production sound assistant (uncredited)

Special Effects by
David Brighton	....	special effects senior technician
Peter Hutchinson	....	special effects supervisor
Stephen Hutchinson	....	special effects technician
Nick Middleton	....	special effects
Graham Riddell	....	animatronics designer
Jim Sandys	....	animatronic model designer
Mike Tristano	....	special effects makeup
Cliff Wallace	....	special makeup effects and design
Nik Williams	....	animatronic special effects

Visual Effects by
Sally Goldberg	....	computer animator
Pete Hanson	....	studio manager: CFC
Christian Hogue	....	digital special effects supervisor
Ian Morse	....	model maker
Roy Scott	....	miniature special effects supervisor
Richard Thomas	....	prop maker
Richard Van Den Bergh	....	model maker
Brendan Lonergan	....	makeup effects/sculptor (uncredited)
Kevin Phelan	....	scanning and recording producer: CFC London (uncredited)

Stunts
Jonathan Cohen	....	stunts
Ray De-Haan	....	stunts
Frank Henson	....	stunts
Dave Holland	....	stunts
Sy Hollands	....	stunts
Stuart St. Paul	....	stunt coordinator
Stuart St. Paul	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Bonnici	....	director of photography: second unit
Jasper Fforde	....	focus puller
Tony Haynes	....	clapper loader
Lisa Lloyd	....	clapper loader: second unit
Michael Metcalfe	....	camera operator
Rebecca Peters	....	video assistant
Ron Turowski	....	assistant camera
John Ward	....	Steadicam operator

Editorial Department
Tristan Mullane	....	assistant film editor
Clive Noakes	....	color grader
Jason Wheeler	....	negative cutter
Sylvia Wheeler	....	negative cutter

Other crew
Gardner Compton	....	body double
Chris Cunningham	....	tattoo designs (as Chris Halls)
Memphis Perkins	....	body double
Joyce Turner	....	production coordinator
Steve Vaughn	....	body double
Elizabeth West	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Fugitive Features

Distributors

• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• New Star (1996) (Greece) (VHS)
• Trimark Pictures
• Vhero Films S.A. (Spain)
• Vidmark Entertainment (video)

Special Effects

• Computer Film Company, The (CFC) (compositing)

Other Companies

• Pinewood Studios  movie studio
• A1 Animals  rats supplied by
• Animated Extras  animatronic special effects
• Joe Dunton & Company  camera equipment provided by
• Sapex Scripts  post-production services
• Silent Movies  catering
• Speedform Construction  steelwork construction

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi terror and violence, language and brief sexuality

Runtime:

99 min | USA:120 min | 111 min (Director's Cut) | 128 min (Final Cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Germany:18 | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Fugitive Features

Trivia:

The film was banned in several countries, including Iraq, China, Malaysia and Australia among others. The Board of Film Censors accuse the film of excessive violence (perhaps the most famous scene from the film, the scene of the elevator, where they were censored 12 seconds), and screening for drug habits (in one of the scenes of the film, the cast of actors smoked several giants cannabis cigarettes). But undoubtedly the most censored of the film was the character played by Brad Dourif, Jack Dante. The character was accused of violent acute psychosis, profanity, lewd behavior, incitement to murder and incitement to rape. Some countries also censored a scene in which dead babies showed the arms of the company, and this scene reported on numerous occasions.

Goofs:

Continuity: The warbeast running speed changes from extremely fast (in first person view) to very slow (in frontal view).

Quotes:

[first lines]
John Carpenter:There he is, the ultimate soldier. No mercy, no pity, no fear.

Movie Connections:

References Scarface (1983)

Cyberpunk + Brad Dourif = Great Result.

I really didn't know what I was thinking when I picked up this undercover gem from ye olde rental shoppe, but I sure as hell didn't regret picking it up! Death Machine; even though the name sounds trashy, the movie itself is not.

It's about a company, named Chaank Armaments, which does all sorts of experiments, including testing 'techniques' on babies. Hayden Cale (Ely Pouget), the woman in charge of covering up for the companies tracks, is being left in the dark about the real things happening in Chaank Armaments, namely the afore mentioned experiments. Not only that, she's being targeted by the prodigy child of the company, who invents all of the flashy equipment they produce, only not really targeted for death, more targeted for 'mating' since she has a dark past of her own. Jack Dante (Brad Dourif), the prodigal child, then proceeds to take whatever steps necessary to get his 'prize'. And all of this, happens on the night some eco-terrorists (well, some low cookoff of them anyhow) decide to expose Chaank for what it really is. Add a mechanical monster, some comical scenes, and voila, you have Death Machine, a brilliant little.. well. SciFi Splatter movie. I have to admit, I only rented the movie because it starred Brad Dourif, which I think is a brilliant actor. He played in various movies (Alien : Resurrection, The Prophecy III), series (Star Trek : Voyager) and even a game (Myst III : Exile), all in which he put down a fantastic performance, even when the movie or series wasn't upto much good. (Voyager, Alien 4 and The Prophecy 3 for example) If I had ten thumbs, I'd put them all up!