EMBRYO is about Dr. Paul Holliston (Rock Hudson), a scientist who has recently lost his wife (also a scientist). Holliston hits a doberman with his car (a 3 ton cadillac) on his way home one stormy night. He rushes the dog home to his lab, where he is unable to save her. However, the doberman is pregnant, so the good doctor keeps the doggy fetus alive, injecting it with an experimental growth hormone. The little canine grows at an amazing rate, reaching adulthood within hours! Holliston names the dog "Number One" and is astonished by it's intelligence (the dog gets it's own food out of the fridge, drops the empty bowl in the sink, opens doors, etc.). Unbeknownst to the doc, Number One also has a mean streak, as is displayed when it kills another dog and hides it's body. Of course, Holliston thinks everything's great, and soon looks for a human fetus to try his serum on. He gets his chance when another doctor helps him acquire a fetus from a doomed prostitute. Back in the lab, Dr. H. performs his latest experiment with similar results. He watches as the fetus grows up at super-speed. Next thing he knows, he's got an adult woman on his hands (Barbara Carrera), with superior intellectual powers matched only by her exotic beauty. Some of the best parts of the movie come when she is busy absorbing knowledge. Named "Victoria", she is introduced at a party as Holliston's new assistant. In one fun scene, Victoria plays an arrogant chess master (Roddy McDowall) to a humiliating finish. Unfortunately, things get serious when Victoria starts getting sick and figures out that she is not long for this world. This causes her to seek out the method by which she can stay alive, at the expense of others. A pretty good mad scientist thriller, EMBRYO has enough creepy / funny moments to keep my interest...
