Monstrosity (1964)

Director:

Joseph V. Mascelli

Writers:

Dean Dillman Jr. (writer)
Sue Dwiggins (writer)

Release Date:

December 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Bodies for sale!

Plot:

A rich but unscrupulous old woman plots with a scientist to have her brain implanted in the skull of a sexy young woman.

Plot Keywords:

Brain | Old Woman | Experiment | Eye | Cat

Cast

Marjorie Eaton	...	Hetty March
Frank Gerstle	...	Dr. Otto Frank
Frank Fowler	...	Victor
Erika Peters	...	Nina Rhodes
Judy Bamber	...	Beatrice 'Bea' Mullins
Lisa Lang	...	Anita Gonzalez
Xerxes	...	Himself - The Cat

Also Known As:

The Atomic Brain (TV title)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cinema Venture

Trivia:

Shot in ten days.

Quotes:

Narrator: Where were the live, fresh bodies he'd been promised?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Atomic Brain (#6.18)" (1993)

A title that is not only descriptive but accurate.

Movies like this were what drive-in managers lived for back in the 1960's. Originally co-billed with THE BEACH GIRLS AND THE MONSTER this is one fine example of gonzo filmmaking at its best. Directed by Joseph Mascelli, who was director of photography on Ray Dennis Steckler's THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED UP ZOMBIES, the very ineptness of this picture is what makes it attractive to lovers of B-movies. Wealthy Mrs. March (Marjorie Eaton) wants her brain transplanted into a young body so she hires Dr. Frank (Frank Gerstle) who has so far succeeded in transplanting the brain of a dog into a man and creating a . . .well . ..a dog-man and lets him install a nuclear reactor in her basement. When three beautiful au-pair girls from Europe show up its obvious one of them is going to lose her mind, literally! I just love movies that involve brain transplants. GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, RETURN OF THE APE MAN, THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL and this film to name only a few, all depict brains being switched back and forth with relative ease and without having the shave the patients head! Before the 66 minute running time has gone by a girl gets the brain of a cat (sadly she and the dogman never get to fight each other), one girl gets her eye gouged out and Mrs. March finally gets her brain switched, but not exactly the way she had planned. Oh and that nuclear reactor in the basement? You just know that's going to provide a bang-up of an ending! The cast is good, no of them betraying just how ridiculous the plot is. Judy Bamber, who plays the Cockney girl, was in Roger Corman's A BUCKET OF BLOOD. You can spot Marjorie Eaton in ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU (1957)and NIGHT TIDE (1962); and Frank Gerstle played the FBI agent in KILLERS FROM SPACE (1956). Once a staple of late night TV (and deservedly so!) ATOMIC BRAIN can be had from several mail order video sources. See it, you'll be glad you did.