Embryo

Embryo is a 1976 American science fiction horror film directed by Ralph Nelson starring Rock Hudson, Barbara Carrera, and Diane Ladd with a cameo appearance by Roddy McDowall. It deals with the mental and physical consequences of growing a human embryo in an artificial uterus. The film is in the public domain. Plot Dr. Paul Holliston (Rock Hudson) is a geneticist who has been living alone in his rambling clinic, which he operates out of his home, after losing his wife in a car crash. This leads to his feeling constant pangs of guilt from his sister-in-law Martha Douglas (Diane Ladd), who has become his assistant. One night, Holliston runs over a pregnant Doberman Pinscher. The dog is fatally injured, but Holliston manages to save one of her unborn puppies by gestating it in an artificial uterus. Because the device still requires nutrients to be supplied by the mother, he must drastically shorten the gestation period: to this end, he uses an experimental growth hormone made from human placental lactogen, which speeds up the embryo's growth. The dog grows to adult size in a few days, and Holliston passes it off as the mother to disguise his secret experiments. Thanks to the serum, it learns incredibly fast and soon becomes a well-trained dog. However, Holliston fails to notice that the animal's aggression and intelligence are increasing commensurately: while he is out on an errand, it kills an annoying small dog and conceals the carcass. Eager to use his discovery for the good of mankind, Holliston applies the same technique to an unborn human extracted from a suicide victim. However, the subject's cells age uncontrollably, so Holliston uses the drug methotrexate to counter the effect. It works, and the embryo grows into an 22 year-old woman he names Victoria (Barbara Carrera).