Hardware is a 1990 science fiction horror film written and directed by Richard Stanley, in his feature directorial debut.

It stars Dylan McDermott and Stacey Travis, and also features cameo appearances by musicians Carl McCoy, Iggy Pop and Lemmy.

Fleetway Comics successfully sued the filmmakers of Hardware for plagiarism, due to similarities between the screenplay and a short story entitled "SHOK!"

After Shades leaves, they have loud, passionate sex, while being unknowingly watched by their foul-mouthed, perverted, voyeuristic neighbour Lincoln Weinberg via telescope.

Before he leaves, Mo checks his Bible, where he finds the phrase "No flesh shall be spared" under Mark 13:20, and he becomes suspicious that the robot is part of a government plot for human genocide to address the planet's severe overpopulation crisis.

13 sets her apartment doors to rapidly open and close; the security team die when they attempt to enter, and Shades is trapped outside.

Stanley wanted to emphasize themes of fascism and passive acceptance of authoritarianism, as he had recently come from the apartheid regime of South Africa.

"[12] Donnelly notes that Stanley had directed music videos prior to Hardware, including videos for the bands Fields of the Nephilim—whose frontman Carl McCoy appears in the film as the nomadic "zonetripper"—and Public Image Ltd.[13] Donnelly highlights the appearances by McCoy as the zonetripper, Iggy Pop as radio announcer Angry Bob, and Motörhead vocalist Lemmy as a water taxi driver as "establishing a significant esoteric level in the film";[11] he also notes the meta-referential nature of the film's inclusion of "Ace of Spades", as Lemmy's character plays the song on his water taxi's radio cassette.

[17] Due to its unexpected success, the film was caught up in continual legal issues that prevented its release on DVD for many years.

[22] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of "D+", lamenting it as unoriginal, "as if someone had remade Alien with the monster played by a rusty erector set.

"[23] Variety wrote, "A cacophonic, nightmarish variation on the postapocalyptic cautionary genre, Hardware has the makings of a punk cult film.

"[25] Vincent Canby of The New York Times described it as a future midnight movie and wrote, "Watching Hardware is like being trapped inside a video game that talks dirty.

"[26] Richard Harrington of The Washington Post called it "an MTV movie, a mad rush of hyperkinetic style and futuristic imagery with little concern for plot (much less substance).

Ian Berriman of SFX wrote, "It's one of those lovingly crafted movies where ingenuity and enthusiasm overcome the budgetary limitations.

"[29] Bloody Disgusting called it "an austere and trippy film" with a narrative that is "a disjointed mess", but noted that it "has become a certifiable cult classic".

[30] Todd Brown of Twitch Film called it "essentially a lower budget, more intentionally punk take on The Terminator" that has an "undeniable ... sense of style".

[35] Michael Gingold of Fangoria gave it three out of four stars and wrote, "If the ingredients of Hardware are familiar, Stanley cooks them to a boil with a relentless pace and imagery that makes his future a tactile place".