The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writer:

Ray Buffum (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 October 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It Will Steal Your Body And Damn Your Soul!

Plot:

A powerful criminal brain from the planet Arous, Gor, assumes the body of scientist Steve March. Thru...

Plot Keywords:

Brain | Low Budget Film | Archive Footage | Decay | Radioactive Eyes

Cast

John Agar	...	Steve March
Joyce Meadows	...	Sally Fallon
Robert Fuller	...	Dan Murphy
Thomas Browne Henry	...	John Fallon (as Thomas B. Henry)
Ken Terrell	...	Colonel in Conference Room (as Kenneth Terrell)
Henry Travis	...	Colonel Frogley
E. Leslie Thomas	...	General Brown
Tim Graham	...	Sheriff Wiley Pane
Bill Giorgio	...	Russian

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Marquette Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Although some sources list Morris Ankrum as being in the cast, he does not appear in the film.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Steve and Dan stop their Jeep at the road block on Mystery Mountain, the sound is out of sinc. Agar's mouth moves but no sound comes out.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare Theatre's Late Night Chill-o-Rama Horror Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

No Brain Needed, Just A Sense Of Humor

This film gets off to a decent start. I like films set in the desert. And the acting of Robert Fuller is adequate. But too soon, we leave the desert, Fuller leaves the movie (to save his career no doubt). And we're left with a dimwitted plot, campy looking aliens that wouldn't scare a bird, and John Agar's "acting".

All suspense is lost early on when we see the evil alien, an uninspired floating ball with two sleepy eyes. And of course the ball speaks English, convenient for the film's characters --- and the intended audience. Near the end of the film, the alien makes a little speech (in English of course), rambling on about Caesar, Napoleon, and Hitler. Seems our alien is both talkative and well educated.

The film's plot is painfully anthropomorphic. The idea of a criminal "brain" hungry for power is hardly alien; it's all too human. And John Agar's performance has to be seen to be believed. His facial expression right before he kills the sheriff is true camp. The abrupt ending of the film gives the impression that it ended simply because the producer ran out of money.

This campy, 1950's sci-fi flick is a lot of fun. I get more laughs out of it than I do out of some contemporary comedies.