The Clonus Horror (1979)

It deserves better than the 3.4 IMDb rating, 7 August 2015

The Clonus Horror is the story of a clone farm for the wealthy and powerful. At the farm, their clones are allowed to grow in a safe, controlled environment until needed for organ harvesting. The clones are kept ignorant of the world to be easier to handle and manipulate. However, one clone named Richard (Tim Donnelly) starts to question his world and his purpose in it. After Richard discovers what he really is, he escapes to find his donor and, in the process, triggers a cover- up that will end in multiple murders.

Had The Clonus Horror been made with a bigger budget and with bigger stars, it would probably be remembered more fondly today. As it is, it's an example of low-budget, 70s independent film making worth checking out. The story is interesting and compelling because it's the kind of thing you could actually imagine. With all the advancements in science, it's not that unthinkable. And just imagine being in Richard's shoes. For all practical purposes, he doesn't exist. How frightening would it be learn your whole life is a lie and your only reason for existing is to be killed when some guy needs a new kidney? Pretty horrific, if you ask me.

Tim Donnelly really does his best as Richard. Though he can be grating at times, his sense of wide-eyed cluelessness comes through. Keenan Wynn and Peter Graves are enjoyable in small supporting parts.

Michael Bay's The Island (which I've never seen) gets a bad rap for ripping-off Clonus. But many of the ideas in Clonus weren't all that new when it was made. There had been a number of movies made prior to Clonus that examined the possible misuse and ethical problems of cloning. One of my favorites is Coma. If you enjoy Clonus (or The Island), check out Coma.

I feel that Clonus has been unfairly rated merely because it appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I'm a huge fan of MST3k, but I realize that not all the movies that appeared on the show were "bad". Clonus is one of those. It's not the best movie ever, but it gets a 6/10 from me.

6/10