Tedfoldol
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Casey Duggan
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Leofwine_draca
EMBRYO is a low-key science fiction film of 1976, notable for starring a middle-aged Rock Hudson in the protagonist role of a misguided scientist who invents an incredible growth hormone that can transform an embryo into an adult being in the space of a week. Hudson begins the film by experimenting on his own dog before he manages to create a young woman in his own laboratory, but his experiment has typically unforeseen circumstances.There are obvious parallels to the FRANKENSTEIN story in this film, but otherwise it's very much a low budget production of the 1970s. Most of it takes place in the dark and there are few if any effects or the usual sci-fi trappings. This means that the actors have to work a lot harder in order to convince us of their situation, and thankfully they're up to it. Hudson is a solid presence who pivots the whole picture, but the real treat is Barbara Carrera who is a convincingly otherworldly Victoria. Roddy McDowall has an amusing cameo too. Like COMA, EMBRYO is a thinking person's science fiction thriller in which ethics are a primary concern, and thus it builds to a suitably horrific - and fitting - climax.
RavenGlamDVDCollector
Horribly disappointing movie. Had a fantastic poster featuring nude Barbara Carrera (supposedly?) which is, by my standards, a collector's item today like few others. The only fun about this movie is that poster. I ordered the DVD and hoped the poster would be the box cover, but no, only a weak, weak, weak rendition of the original image as big as an average-sized postage stamp. The movie is hugely disappointing... Given the theme, From Embryo to Woman in 4 1/2 Weeks, there is a hell of a lot that could have been done with it. Imagine cultivating your own dreamgirl down in the laboratory, only for it to go wrong in a most disastrous way. Movie needs a remake, with particular focus on the anguish of premature aging, especially since the object of desire comes into the world as a fresh flower that is as doomed as just exactly that. It is however my experience that the movies of Ms. Carrera are invariably disappointing because, it seems to me, she's not exactly the star material she appeared to be at the time. Long, long hair a la Jane Seymour got her on my radar back in the mid- Seventies, but alas! long, long hair alone a fine actress doth not make.The poster is fun though, and today I saw the Net version of the one cutting out the off- putting male presence. To this day, when I see girls curled up so innocently, vulnerably, in the fetal position, I think of this poster. Nice legs, and especially the bare feet added that total total vulnerability.Had the movie been a tenth of the fun of the poster... but it doesn't have a hundredth.
dbborroughs
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.
wes-connors
"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.
