Automatons

I yearn to encounter livelier less-than-zero-budget attempts at post-apocalyptic science fiction than this one.

McKenney worked in underground theater and comics before turning to filmmaking with movies such as Canniballistic. Judging by Automatons, he's worth keeping an eye on.

With its retro look, cautionary theme and not-so-special effects, Automatons is a shameless ode to 1960s sci-fi and classic television shows.

The acting is flat, and the scientist's ideological speeches too bluntly designed to mirror post-9/11 rhetoric. But there's a dreamy fascination to the iconic images of machines fighting a perpetual war for the human creators they'll inevitably outlast.