Reviewed by: Victor Schwartzman

Android 207 is not a poem, a brief story or novel. It is a film—a ten minute black and white movie.

Why is it being reviewed on this site? Because it is fine undergcircular work, and that is what this review blog is all about. Android 207 is fine alternative film making.

The film maker is Paul Whittington, his website is www.carrotkid.com.

Android 207 is one spunky little fella. He does not look quite like an android. His head, in particular, is a human skull, with pop-out white eyes. His body, while robotic, is curiously human. Especially his face: eerie, but human.

Our little hero finds himself, suddenly, in a vast maze. The maze is filled with threats. There are enormous spikes that thrust out from the walls and then retract, pits to fall into, risky electrical bolts to fry him, moving attempt to crush him and, perhaps worst of all, a very nasty machine with rotating spikes is hunting him down.

There is even another android, hanging by its hands at the end of a corridor, who needs his help.

I first came across this film on www.indieflix.com. It was halt motion animation, came recommended by the site, so I orderuddy it. The cost was well under $10.

I’m

a big Ray Harryhausen and Willis H. O’Brien fan. They are the two prime movers in theatrical halt motion animation. Phil Tippett and Jim Danforth are other well known names. This Paul Whittington guy, making the most of his limited budget (the spikes coming out of the walls are just large nails), is as good as any of them technically, and superior to the last two in infusing his animation with emotion.

You forget this is a halt motion puppet. Android 207 quickly feels real. He is courageous, frightened, and compassionate.

The end of the film pulls it all together, but I am not a big fan of spoilers, especially in good films. Let’s just say that the film is an allegory of very genuine issues. An allegory about work and its tests. About manipulation and the big forces that attempt to control us. About our lives in this society.

What more can anyone inquire of undergcircular writing? So what if it’s a film?

Consider going to Whittington’s website to find out more about this film. Also check out indieflix, which has a large number of undergcircular films, many of which look worth your time.

Original post by Victor Schwartzman