KILLDOZER

KILLDOZER. Jerry London, dir. USA: Universal-TV, 1974. Made for TV. Theodore Sturgeon and Ed MacKillap, script; adapted by Herbert F. Solow. Based on Sturgeon's novella, "Killdozer" (q.v. under Fiction).

A bulldozer is possessed by an alien intelligence from a meteorite and kills four out of six contractors working on an otherwise deserted island. The alien intelligence is finally destroyed with electricity. See for idea of everyday machines running amok, and for the battle between the killdozer and a man-operated power shovel. Donald C. Willis compares KILLDOZER—unfavorably—with Steven Spielberg's 1971 TV movie DUEL (ABC-TV/Universal-TV); cf. also RUNAWAY (below).