Parts: The Clonus Horror
Entry updated 4 April 2017. Tagged: Film.
Film (1979; vt Clonus). Clonus Associates. Directed by Robert S Fiveson. Produced by Fiveson. Written by Ron Smith, Bob Sullivan, Myrl A Schreibman from a story by Sullivan. Cast includes Paulette Breen, Eileen Dietz (Dana), Tim Donnelly, Peter Graves, David Hooks, Dick Sargent (Dr Jameson) and Keenan Wynn. 90 minutes. Colour.
The young man Richard Knight (Donnelly) becomes dissatisfied with his life in a scientific colony somewhere in a western US desert, and escapes the facility. While being pursued by security forces from the facility he learns that this is the Clonus Project, used by very powerful people such as politicians and industrial leaders to Clone themselves; having reached maturity and peak physical fitness, the resulting clones are preserved in frozen Suspended Animation as harvestable organ banks for future transplants. Ironically, Presidential candidate Senator Jeff Knight (Graves) is one of the project's main backers within the government, and Richard is a clone of the Senator's brother Richard Knight (Hooks). Receiving assistance from retired journalist Jake Noble (Wynn), young Richard attempts to rescue his girlfriend Lena (Breen) and expose the project's existence. Unfortunately, by the time he returns Lena has already been lobotomized for security reasons. After considerable intrigue, Richard and Noble are both killed. However, Noble was able before his death to distribute a tape to the news media containing evidence of the project, and the clones' exploitation is made known to the world.
This minor, low-budget Horror in SF film acquired greater prominence when its makers filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement against DreamWorks Productions, whose film The Island (2005) has multiple plot similarities to the earlier Parts: The Clonus Horror. Screenwriter Bob Sullivan reported in a 2007 interview that a sealed settlement had been reached between Clonus Associates and DreamWorks. [GSt]
see also: Organlegging.
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