[Inspector Abberline]

The Terminal Man (1974)
Michael Hodges adapts and directs The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton,a 1972 novel.Crichton's story puts forward the theory,what if medical science could cure people of seizures and the violent outbursts that sometimes goes with it.Harry Benson played by George Segal has suffered with terrible seizures and violence,ever since a car crash,where he received a terrible head injury. Richard Dysart as Dr. John Ellis ( does he play anything else apart from doctors) and Donald Moffat as Dr. Arthur McPherson ( The Thing ) plant a computer into Benson's head that controls the seizures by stimulating the pleasure points in his brain cells.But hey this a medical science fiction film,nothing is gonna go right, after the operation which seemed successful,Benson is monitored,seems like his brain is still getting seizures and stimulation from the computer,and Benson's brain is gonna go into violent overload. The Terminal Man is a really thoughtful and extremely interesting film, although it may well be a tad on the slow side,as its a real slow burn of a film. Interestingly Segals character a highly intelligent computer programmer,is also of the opinion that one day the computers will one day take control,which in his case they have.George Segal himself give a fine performance especially in the second part of the movie,where his seizures are taking place nearly every few hours,which then send him on a psychotic killing spree. Mike Hodges has had a wide and varied directorial career,hard to believe this the same director as Get Carter,Flash Gordon and yes Morons from Outer Space,but what they do have in common with Terminal Man is that they are wonderfully shot films. Apparently Michael Crichton had written his own screenplay for the film,which would of been interesting as I am a big fan of his film adaptation of that other medical thriller Coma by Robin Cook. I really rate Terminal man,it is slow but well worth a look.