A sub-par science fiction tale dealing with intelligent robot life, this has been done too many times to be constantly entertaining, although there are a few choice moments. Frankly I'm pretty sick of the gloomy, grungy, depressing tone of a lot of modern thrillers like SEVEN and HARDWARE, and obviously that kind of atmosphere has rubbed off on the makers of this film who do their best to make their world look as dull and horrible as possible.

The story itself - based on Philip K. Dick's novel - is not too bad, dealing with A.I. and an interesting race of self-replicating robots. Unfortunately the film should have concentrated on these robots as they are the most interesting thing about the film, but instead human relationships are the main focal point, and they're really not that interesting.

On another note, if you're expected good special effects, then look elsewhere. The original flying spheres (like something out of PHANTASM) are shown only briefly a couple of times, and then gone for the rest of the film. The only time we see them is when they're underground like the worms in TREMORS. The use of children as merciless killers is a clever idea - see the original VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED for another menacing example - and this film has one excellent moment, where Weller and his friends desperately fight a never-ending stream of robotic killers issuing from an army base. It's this kind of visual theme which makes SCREAMERS stand out a bit from the rest.

The cast itself is okay, yet nothing special. Peter Weller is rather good as the charismatic, ageing hero, and proves himself well in the action sequences. It's good to see him in another film. However, everybody else is merely middling. The action scenes are well staged, especially the ending, but are frequently at the expense of the plot. Still, for a science fiction film you could do a lot worse; just try watching TERMINAL FORCE.

It's 2078 on the planet SIRIUS 6B. The Berynium mining colony was run by the all-powerful the New Economic Block (NEB). The Alliance, mine workers and scientists, demanded mine closure due to the pollution. This led to the devastating war as the Alliance unleashed self-replicating weapons under the surface called Screamers. Col. Hendricksson (Peter Weller) commands an Alliance outpost. He receives an offer for peace negotiations. Ace Jefferson is the sole survivor of a mysterious transport crash. Hendricksson discovers the Screamers are being modified. With conflicting reports, Hendricksson believes that they've been abandoned. He takes Jefferson on a mission to negotiate with the surviving NEB soldiers.

The story is overloaded with background expositions. Sometimes, less is more. The movie needs to have one scene which reveals everything that is needed to know about the Screamers. Once that stuff is put away, this is a compelling sci-fi B-movie. Peter Weller is a solid sci-fi actor. I really like the premise but the expositions need to be tighter.

If you have multiple layers ... it is a good thing to reveal them one layer at a time. It is fun for the viewer and it makes sense for the movie too. Now at a certain time you might be able to foresee certain "twists" or at least story points coming. That does not take anything away from the movie or the fun you can have with this. Peter Sellers and Jennifer Rubin are quite the pair - really great chemistry and an idea that one might have thought would have been used for more movies - there is at least one sequel (not sure if a Screamers 3 is in works),which I haven't seen yet.

I would say that almost any Science Fiction movie can be used to make a sequel. Or further the story one has build. It doesn't have to be the same players as in the original - they might not be alive anymore anyway. But back to this and a really cool story - you have to have a heart for Science Fiction and not be squeamish ... there will be violence!