The Brain Eaters (1958)

Director:

Bruno VeSota

Writer:

Gordon Urquhart (writer)

Release Date:

September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

Crawling, Slimy Things Terror-Bent on Destroying the World!

Plot:

Strange things are happening in Riverdale, Illinois. A huge, seemingly alien structure has been found jutting out of the earth...

Plot Keywords:

Zombie | Parasite | Sheriff | Mayor | Brain

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 26

4:30 AM

AMC

Cast

Ed Nelson	...	Dr. Paul Kettering (as Edwin Nelson)
Alan Frost	...	Glenn Cameron
Cornelius Keefe	...	Senator Walter K. Powers (as Jack Hill)
Joanna Lee	...	Alice Summers
Jody Fair	...	Elaine Cameron
David Hughes	...	Dr. Wyler
Robert Ball	...	Dan Walker
Greigh Phillips	...	Sheriff
Orville Sherman	...	Mayor Cameron
Leonard Nimoy	...	Professor Cole (as Leonard Nemoy)
Doug Banks	...	Doctor
Henry Randolph	...	Telegrapher
Saul Bronson	...	Prof. Helsingman

Also Known As:

Keepers of the Earth
The Brain Snatchers
The Keepers

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

To save money on his own film, Ed Nelson, who also produced, wears the same coat he used in Night of the Blood Beast (1958).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Leonard Nimoy's name is misspelled in the opening credits as "Leonard Nemoy"

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Leonard Nimoy: Spock and Beyond" (1996)

It's no classic, but I can think of worse ways of wasting away an hour.

One of B-movie legend Bruno VeSota's three directorial efforts, 'The Brain Eaters' shows enough promise to make one wish he had split his time more evenly between acting and directing.

We are once again in the realms of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' and 'I Married a Monster from Outer Space', with aliens trying to take over the population of an isolated American town. The spaceship turns out to have burrowed up from beneath the earth's surface, letting loose vindictive slug-like creatures which attach themselves to peoples necks, taking over their minds. Lots of Communist paranoia/infiltration undertones as usual.

The plot manages to lose itself despite a running time of only 60 minutes, but at least 'The Brain Eaters' recognises its limitations. The film prevents the normal ridicule caused by feeble special-effects by not having any and within the boundaries it sets itself, there is nothing to offend.

Like most releases from American International Pictures the film is primed for entertainment value, if not artistic merit, and it is none the worse for that.

I remember a particularly good scene where the camera follows one of the malevolent slugs point-of-view as it stalks its victim ready to latch onto the neck - an early influence on Spielberg for 'Jaws' maybe ??