The Brain from Planet Arous

Poster tagline: FANTASTIC! FEARSOME! THE INCREDIBLE SPACE BRAIN INVADES A HUMAN BODY WITH ITS DESTRUCTIVE EVIL POWER! Nathan Juran was a contradictory filmmaker. He could be skillful when he wanted, as evidenced by his collaboration with special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, with whom he made proficient films, but when he was given an assignment, he didn’t enjoy it very much and would do it half-assed. This film is one of those, and the lack of budget is a beauty to behold. Juran made do with one house, a cave in Bronson Canyon near Los Angeles (where many low-budget films were shot, including the legendary Robot Monster) and one room where all the "threats to humanity" take place. The script is appropriate to the nature of the genre of the time: the protagonist, an atomic scientist, is attacked by an "evil" alien in the form of a floating brain with glowing pupils (transparent front projection) that possesses him by mental control, turning him into a sexually aggressive "brute" with a lust for power and control of the universe (lol), he then destroys two transport planes and triggers an atomic explosion (the famous footage of an atomic test used in many films of the time). Then there’s the "good" alien, also a flying brain, who, with the help of the scientist's sweetheart, tries to stop his colleague’s plans. You cannot judge it through the lens of today's times, otherwise you'd have to tear the remains of your hair out from the naivety and slight stupidity, but the hour is quite survivable, thanks to the charismatic acting of then B-movie star John Agar, and also due to the fact that Juran almost completely abandoned the overuse of blatant rear projections. It's the kind of inoffensive crap that fits right in with the times. (09/14/2013)