Nothing But The Night

This British production, released in the UK in 1973, did not get reviewed earlier, as it did not show up on lists of sci-fi films. It did show up on lists of horror films, or as a crime/mystery drama. However, at the urging of a reader that Nothing But The Night (NBTN) really was a sci-fi, it is hereby added to the study. Granted, 95% of the film amounts to a murder mystery, but there is a sci-fi connection revealed near the end. Christopher Lee stars as the primary law enforcement official, Colonel Bingham. Peter Cushing stars as the pathologist, Dr. Mark Ashley. NTBN was released in America in 1975, and is sometimes shown with the title The Resurrection Syndicate.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Several trustees of a wealthy trust (which runs an orphanage) are killed, but made to look like suicides. A young girl named Mary is on a bus full of the orphans, that is involved in a crash. Three more trustees died in the crash. While at the hospital, Mary talks in her sleep of strange visions of being burned in a big fire — but the bus did not burn. Dr. Peter Haynes wants to keep Mary for observation, fearing she’s in some danger. The orphanage insists she be returned. A tabloid reporter, Joan, sensing a story, digs up Mary’s biological mother (who lost Mary due to a long criminal record), in an attempt to wrest custody. Anna is a bit psycho, threatening to kill the doctors for not letting her see Mary. Joan and Peter are brusque and caustic to each other, but manage to forget all that and have a night of whoopee. This is when Joan learns of Peter’s tapes of hypnosis sessions with Mary. Anna tries to abscond with Mary, but fails. Peter is found dead, stabbed with one of Anna’s hat pins. Mary is returned to the island orphanage. Anna follows. Police discover her car, so everyone assumes Anna killed Peter and will kill others to get Mary. While on a ferry ride to the island, Bingham and Ashley see the orphanage’s nice motor yacht blow up. Five more trustees on board are dead. Some dynamite from a construction site was missing. People suspect Anna. An island-wide search ensues, but Anna evades them. She gets to the house, but gasps. Joan convinces Ashley to listen to Peter’s tapes. It’s clear that her hypnosis nightmares are the memories of the trust’s founder, Helen Van Traylen. Ashley reexamines the brain tissues of the dead yacht victims. They were dead before being blown up. The local doctor points out that two of the orphanage’s doctors were a biochemist working on the chemical link between the brain and personality, and the other a gifted brain surgeon. Joan and Ashley rush to the orphanage. Meanwhile, at a Guy Fawkes bonfire celebration, the children are dressed as adults — suits, army uniforms, african dignitaries, etc. Mary is dressed to look older (black dress, pearls). The Guy Fawkes effigyy is the body of Anna. Bingham rushes up to warn the children of dynamite in the effigy, but the children tackle and capture him. The remaining adults explain that Helen had her personality surgically transferred into Mary, as did most of the others into other children. This is their ticket to immortality. Bingham refuses to be an accomplice. The children pull him to the fire. Before he is burned, a helicopter with Joan and Ashley arrives. The prop wash causes Mary’s dress to catch fire. She screams, says they’ve ruined her plan. She jumps off the cliff, to die in the sea below. The other adult-dressed children solemnly jump off the cliff too. Bingham is left alone. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
As a suspense/thriller, the story in NBTN is convoluted enough to keep a viewer guessing. The absence of gratuitous gore helps keep the film more cerebral than bestial. Both Lee and Cushing are fun to watch, even when their roles are written rather staid.

Cultural Connection
Symbol of Rebellion — The setting for the last act of the film will probably be unfamiliar to American audiences, but very familiar to British viewers. The bonfire and effigy, the chanted poems and fireworks were a Guy Fawkes celebration. All that began in 1605 when a group of militant Catholics plotted to blow up Parliament and King James I (for whom the King James Bible is named after). A man named Guy Fawkes was apprehended on the morning of November 5th, while guarding the gunpowder stockpiled beneath the Parliament building. He and his co-conspirators were executed. England then celebrated the 5th of November as a sort of victory. The king was not killed. Celebrations came to include a bonfire, upon which an effigy of Fawkes was burned. Children would make the effigy, and gather round the fire to chant poems. “Remember remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason, should ever be forgot.” To the British of the early 70s, Guy Fawkes was still regarded as a villain rebel. This lends some symbolic undertones to trustees as conspirators.

Interestingly, the ‘face’ of Guy Fawkes has come to symbolize rebellion in a different way in the 21st century. The Guy Fawkes mask has come to symbolize a sort of antiauthoritarian rebellion — used by the hacktivist group Anonymous and by some in the “Occupy” movement. The mask image was popularized in the 2005 film, V for Vendetta, in which the protagonist who struck back at the dystopian tyrants wore such a costume. The popularized image was drawn by David Lloyd in 1988, for a graphic novel of the same name. Guy Fawkes has become part of American culture too. How that sense of rebellion (against mortality?) fits the film, is food for thought.

Notes
Based on the Book — The screenplay for the film was based upon the 1968 novel (of the same name) by John Blackburn. He published a different novel in 1966 entitled “Children of the Night”, but the two stories are unrelated. The film is based on the ’68 novel. While it is said that the movie follows the book rather closely, the film has no actual occultism / satanic sub-plot. In the film, the sinister ‘miracle’ is described as coldly scientific and almost matter-of-fact. The work of the Trusts’s Dr. Tittle is that of biochemist, exploring the chemical link of personality in the brain, and Dr. Yeats, a brain surgeon. Neither of these two get much exposure in the script. No devils or demons appear, thought the Guy Fawkes bonfire, etc, might look satanic to non-British eyes.

A Pinch of Science — The script implies (but does not explore or explain) that the two doctors somehow managed to isolate a person’s identity, their memories and personalities, via chemistry. Once isolated, they were able to transfer the essence of the person to a new brain via surgery. Thus, the identity of Helen Van Traylen was extracted and inserted into young Mary. Her psychopathic tendencies (killing Dr. Haynes, young Sidney and perhaps even her mother, Anna) could be seen as Helen’s adult self-preservation agenda filtered through the emotionally underdeveloped girl in Mary. Perhaps knowledge and memories transferred, but maturity did not.

Quest for Immortality — The notion of a brain transplant to achieve ‘immortality’ is an old a trope as Frankenstein. The narrower notion of someone (old) wanting to cheat death by stealing someone younger’s body is also not new. She Demons (’58): The doctor is extracting “youth” from pretty young women in order to restore/maintain his wife. Womaneater (’59): The doctor extracts “life” from pretty young women via strange tree, so that he can cheat death. The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (’63): The doctor looks for a hot new body for his girlfriend’s brain. The Atomic Brain (’64):The doctor is hired by an old woman to transfer her brain into the body of a pretty young woman. The examples are numerous, as the notion is both old and common.

Red Herring — The character of Anna Harp was written as a red herring in the novel, but director Peter Sasdy exaggerates her role visually. More typically seen in the “blonde bombshell” idiom in her prime, Sasdy had her in a brassy red wig. When Anna is on the island, trying to get to Mary, she’s dressed in a red leather coat too. She was a very red Red Herring. Sasdy used editing juxtaposition to keep viewers thinking Anna was the murderer. For example: a clip of Anna walking through the brush, a clip of the discovery of the missing dynamite, followed by another clip of Anna walking.

Rushed Ending — A criticism of Sasdy’s handling of the story, is that he did his job a bit too well in the first 9/10ths of the film, that the last tenth almost fails. He built up so much focus on the red herring, that not enough suspicion remained for the trustees. They still came off somewhat innocent in the end. Speaking of innocence, Sasdy did such a fine job of portraying the children as simple innocent children that the final reveal (that they were all neo-resurrected adults) did not fit well. Add to those misfits how little running time went into the denouement (a scant few minutes), that viewers seem likely to be confused. Why, for instance, would all those neo-resurrected people just jump off the cliff in the end? They were so obsessed with NOT dying that they took the extreme measure of ‘killing’ a child in order to inhabit their body. Then, when the truth is discovered, they just quietly leap to their deaths? Sasdy seemed so intent on delivering a shocker twist ending that he let story-cohesion slip.

Bottom line? NBTN is engaging enough as a mystery/thriller film. The pacing is okay, though it seems to take a long time for it to develop. The acting can seem wooden to modern American audiences. The sci-fi element appears only very near the end, so the film doesn’t have a sci-fi feel. Still, it is reasonably well done and entertaining.

The Last Days of Man on Earth

Robert Fuest, produced, directed and wrote the screenplay version of the mid-60s novel by Michael Moorcock, The Final Programme. This ran in the UK in late '73, then in American early in '74, so it's a fitting place to start a review of 1974's sci-fi films. When it ran in America, it was retitled as The Last Days of Man on Earth (LDME, for short). The American version trimmed several of the scenes. Jon Finch stars as Jerry Cornelius. Jenny Runcare as the bossy Miss Brunner.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Caveat: -- Moorcock's story was not so much a plot as a framework for wordsmithing and commentary. Fuerst's film version dabbled heavily in fragmented, pop art, psychedelic style of the late 60s. The "plot" given here is not so much what the movie was about as just the shape of that framework.
Jerry Conrelius attends the funeral (pyre) of his father, who was an esteemed scientist. An associate of his father, a Dr. Smiles, says that his father left some microfilm back in his mansion which was vital to their ongoing project. Jerry's evil brother Frank has control of the house. Jerry agrees to take in the scientists and the scheming Miss Brunner, mostly to save his sister, Catherine, whom Frank is keeping drugged. They get int, despite many booby traps and defenses, although Jerry accidentally kills Catherine. Miss Brenner thinks she has Frank over a barrel (drug withdrawals) and forces him to give her the microfilm. Frank was faking and runs off with it. Miss Brenner figures out that Frank has fled to Turkey. She recruits Jerry to take her there and find him. They eventually do. Frank and Jerry have a protracted gun babble with air-dart pistols. Jerry eventually kills Frank. Miss Brunner asks Jerry to come to Lapland with her. There, she's been working on his father's project: DUEL -- a super computer into which has been fed all human knowledge. Once in Lapland, Jerry learns that the Final Programme is to feed all the info in DUEL back into a human brain. No one brain can handle it, so part of the project is to merge two bodies, two brains, into one new General Purpose Human Being. Miss Brunner is one half. Jerry has been brought along to be the other half. In the solar radiation chamber, the two are merged. What emerges is one caveman who says he's the new messiah. His parting words, "A very tasty world." The End.

Why is this movie fun?
LDME reeks of 70s hipsterism -- that vague flamboyant phase between the hippy era and disco.

Cultural Connection
Art Film & Rebellion -- Fuest was not a particularly avante garde director, but tried his hand at "designing" an artsy film. There is a blend of the lack of structure, or continuity, etc., as artistic rebellion against the "staid" rules of traditional cinema. Fuest mixes in "psychedelic" colorful visuals. He also directs his main character (who is more anti-hero than hero) to be haughty and disdainful of all authority. Jerry is the arrogance of youth, despising anyone and everyone who tries to tell him what to do. As such, the rebellious art-film style fits the character, which fits the times it was released in.

Notes
Based on the Book -- Fuest based his screenplay on the 1969 novel, "The Final Programme" by Michael Moorcock. As is almost always the case, the written form can do things which film simply cannot. Fans of the book appear to be divided on Fuest's film version. Some love it and think it does a good job. Others denounce it as a travesty, nothing at all like the book. Moorcock himself was not pleased with Fuest's adaptation. Fans of Moorcock's books have noted that the Jerry Cornelius character, other characters and plot tropes show up in other writings by Moorcock, most notably, the Elric series.

Dystopic Undertones -- Somewhat incidental to the "plot" are suggestions that the world (as we know it) is on the verge of collapse. Several times, the Professor Hira character talks of the impending "end of the age." Snippets of radio stories or details suggest that order is breaking down, though almost everyone remains oblivious to it. Jerry himself comments that: "The end of the world has been going on for years, but everyone has been so bloody busy watching the commercials that they haven't noticed."

Übermensch -- The "Final Programme" itself was the attempted creation of a super human. Unlike Neitzsche, who imagined man "evolving" into this super status, Moorcock fancied that science could zap one up if it had a super enough super computer. Several times in the story, this new person is lauded as the new messiah. This has an amusing irony to it, in that Neitzsche fancied that God was dead. Instead, mankind would elevate itself into deity. This calls to mind the Bible verse which says that "every knee shall bow." Even secular, humanist, ego-centric man recognizes the role of a messiah -- they just imagine theirs to be just like themselves. Adding to the irony is that in the final scene, "super" Jerry is a caveman. Progress?

Sexual Obsession -- Perhaps typical of the later 60s and the "Sexual Revolution," Moorcock seemed obsessed with sex, of all types. Jerry and Catherine: incest. Jerry and Hira, homosexual. Miss Brunner and Jenny: lesbian, etc. In fact, the big selling point Miss Brunner uses on Jerry, to convince him to do the body-melding thing, is that it would create a "hermaphrodite" being that could self reproduce. The whole point of this vaunted final computer program was to create a being which could have sex with itself. It seems questionable whether this is "progress" that science needs to pursue.

The Best Brains -- In an apparent nod to that 50s sub-genre of the "brain movie," Fuest gives viewers several brains in aquarium tanks. They're hooked up by tubes. They bubble and pulsate. The intent was probably parody or self-parody, but it was also very 50s.

Super Micro Computer -- Super computers were typically shown as massive things. Think the Krell underground city in Forbidden Planet or the usual roomful of blinky lights and spinning tape drives. Moorcock and Fuest may have intended their supercomputer, DUEL, to be humorously ironic. It was a plain box about the size of a photocopier. 70s audiences may well have chuckled. Yet, it turns out to have been prophetic, given how small computers have been getting.

Bottom line? LDME is not a particularly easy film to watch, owing to its artsy free-form style and numerous unexplained elements. In this, it's rather akin to A Clockwork Orange and Slaughterhouse Five. Those films at least took themselves seriously. LDME seems always on the verge of self-parody, which diminishes the overall effort. There are some interesting sci-fi elements, but they are a scant few raisins in a large bowl of bran flakes.

The Mind Snatchers

This indie film gets listed as a sci-fi, though The Mind Snatchers (MS) is more of a drama with a dystopic hint of science. Mostly, it's a drama. A very young Christopher Walken stars as the troubled young man. Joss Ackland stars as the understated Frankenstein who seeks a scientific way to wipe badness out of the human condition. The title seems a direct allusion to Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56). MS was based on a stage play, "The Happiness Cage" by Dennis Reardon. That is also one of the alternative titles to the film. A later re-release of MS got the misleading title "The Demon Within".

Quick Plot Synopsis
James Reese (Walken) comes home to a cocktail party already in progress. He acts like such a jerk that everyone decides to leave. He has some beef a female guest that he punches out some item of furniture. Later, a pair of MPs come to arrest him for assault. Private Reese resists, gets a broken arm, but is taken to an army hospital. There, he is evaluated as a good candidate for a Dr. Frederick's work. Reese is driven to a rural mansion which the Army has set up as a research hospital. There are only three patients: Reese, Miles and Tommy. The later has his head bandaged and screams periodically. Reese continues to be a petulant jerk, but eventually gets to know Miles. Tommy is wheeled away to surgery, but dies on the table. Miles is a loud mouthed braggart, but a lonely man afraid to die (he has terminal cancer). Dr. Frederick is conducting some brain experiments to ease brain ailments such as schizophrenia. Reese is exceptionally rude to Anna, a dowdy red cross nurse whose job it is to entertain the patients. After Reese leaves, Miles comforts the upset Anna, but he succumbs to his horniness and fear of death. He gropes her, then drags Anna away to rape her. Later, upset at his own bad behavior, Miles agrees to the brain probe. Dr. Frederick insists that only Miles can push the button. He does, and quickly becomes an addict, pushing the button continuously. Reese barges in and rips the wires from MIles' head. Miles dies without his pleasure-probe. Reese, now the only patient remaining, refuses to take the probe. He runs away, but is caught and subdued. The probe is inserted into his brain. He refuses to push his own button. The Army Major in charge of the experimental program grabs the button and pushes it. Reese drops. Later, at a press conference, a tidy and vacuous Reese is presented to reporters. He says he feels fine. (the Major is secretly pressing the button). Sociopathic Reese has been cured and is now a mild, polite, tidy young soldier. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
As with many dystopia films, MS is more thought-provoking than "fun." Walken's acting is skillful, even if the character is annoying.

Cultural Connection
Army-phobia: The hippy era's youthful distrust of authority morphed, via the unpopular Vietnam War, into a general mistrust of the military. Disrespect, if not outright condemnation of the military became quite fashionable in the early 70s. The mistrust/villainizing central to MS (and other movies) became popularized to the point that average citizens (of a left-leaning political persuasion) would vent their disapproval of all things military on the individual soldiers returning from duty. The ramifications of this lingers yet today.

Notes
Forced Conformity -- Many other movies also deal with the loss of individualism to the state's enforced norm. Orwell's 1984 had rebellious Winston broken into a docile party drone. Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56) had emotionless pod-people replace the 'real' people. Kubrik's A Clockwork Orange had violent Alex subdued by State science. In 1975, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest would also use the format of a 'mental' facility and the anti-authority criminal Mac ultimately subdued by The System's science.

Jerk: The New Normal? -- While Walken's character, Reese, is described as a sociopath, he comes across more as an arrogant jerk in need of a good beating (or two). To 21st century eyes, Reese did not seem mentally ill so much as he was just egotistical (all that mattered was him). Were people in 1972 so much better behaved that a simple jerk stood out as a "sociopath?" Have people of the 21st century become so accustomed to jerks ("bad boys" such as Brad Pitt, et al.) that it's become accepted the norm?

Adolescent Manifesto -- Near the end of the film, Dr. Frederick tries to persuade Reese that his probe will clear up all his bad behaviors and unhappiness. Reese argues what sounds like a rebellious adolescent's manifesto to justify his jerk-hood. He says his violent, lonely, confused, frightened and unhappy qualities aren't sicknesses to be cured. "You can't burn 'em away like warts. You can't just cut 'em out…. I don't like pain, but it defines me. It's part of what I am. Who are you to erase that?…You can't change me. You wouldn't know where to begin. I am James. H. Reese. I am unique." A bit later, Reese laments the ultimate fear of the ego-centric, that his epitaph would read, "Here lies what's-his-name. He wasn't so unique."

Bottom line? MS is a bit obscure, and perhaps not worth great effort to find. It is fairly slow for 90% of its runtime. It can be very talky, with little action. The payoff is nearer the end, when Miles accepts the brain probe, then when Reese is fights it, but becomes a dutiful zombie. The implications are not new new to sci-fi, but still thought provoking. Fans of humanity-snatching films will enjoy it. Viewers accustomed to action films or laser battles will likely be bored.

The Giant of Metropolis

An interesting digression from 1971's Omega Man, is 1961's The Giant of Metropolis (GoM). Both films carried strong warnings about the dangers of science and doom. While the former film is well known, the latter is quite obscure. GoM is an Italian production, but starred American bodybuilder, Gordon Mitchell as the hero, Obro. The english-dubbed version played in America in 1963 -- perfect second-feature fodder for drive-ins. The film is a curious mix of sci-fi and the sword-and-sandal genre. Between the story, screenplay and dialogue, the film had six writers. The result is clearly a soup from many cooks.

Quick Plot Synopsis
20,000 years BC, a band of men trudge over a barren landscape. Their leader falls ill, but before he dies, he tells his son, Obro, (Mitchell) to continue their quest to warn the people of Metropolis to stop tampering with nature or nature will take revenge. He dies. Some men turn back, but Obro and his three brothers continue. In Metropolis' king, Yotar, plans to implant some brain tissue from his dead father, Egon, into the brain of his pre-adolescent son, Elmos. This, so Elmos can live forever and have the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of his dead father. As Obro and brothers approach Metropolis, the city's scientists send magnetic storm to kill them. It turns the brothers into skeletons, but Obro survived. Yotar has him brought before him. Obro's amazing strength may be of use to Elmos too. Yotar puts him through tests. Obro fights a big brute of a man, and wins. Obro fights a gang of cannibal pygmies. They win, but Yotar spares Obro. He tortures Obro with heat rays and freeze rays. Meanwhile, Egon has been brought back to life by the miracles of Metropolis' science. He's not happy to hear why. The queen, Texen, is also not keen on having her son experimented upon. She and Egon conspire to have Obro escape. Egon convinces Obro to periodically raid Metropolis as "a terrorist" to disrupt the experiment. Periodic scenes of hammy fighting are interspersed. Some other scientists warn Yotar that magma beneath Metropolis is rising. Yotar discovers Texen's complicity in Obro's escape. When he confronts her, she takes poison and dies. She never really liked Yotar anyhow. Yotar's daughter, the princess Mercede, runs away, upset at her step-mom's suicide. Guards capture her, but Obro beats up the guards and carries Mercede off to his hideout cave. She now has doubts about her father's ideas after all, and kind of likes hunky Obro. The experiment presses on, despite warnings from his scientists. A storm brews. The city is filled with low dry-ice fog. A power outage stops the transplant experiment before completion. Obro and Mercede rescue Elmos from the table. Pandemonium ensues as the citizens revolt against Yotar, the sea begins to flood the city, and buildings begin to collapse. Yotar says he's sorry, but it's a bit late for that. People are swept into the sea. Metropolis blows up and sinks into the sea. Obro, Mercede and Elmos wash up on a beach somewhere. Hugs, smiles, The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It's hard to get bored with this film. GoM is such a curious mix of genre that it defies prediction. B-grade Italian acting -- especially when dubbed into english -- has it's own bizarre quality that is entertaining. Fighting a gang of cannibal pygmies? Too odd to be boring. Some of the sets and matte art scenes have a hint grandeur beyond the overall low-budget flavor of the film.

Cultural Connection
Perhaps influenced by the sword-and-sandal genre, there are none of the Cold War themes or tropes. Instead, GoM is a mix of good vs. evil with a layer of the Frankenstein theme -- a cautionary tale about scientific hubris.

Notes
Where's the Giant? -- One of the curious features of GoM is that there really wasn't a giant in Metropolis. There was the big brute that Obro defeated in the arena, but that hardly seems title-worthy. There is a giant statue of Atlas in the city square, but it does nothing. Perhaps Yotar is the "giant" villain? Or, Obro is the "giant" hero? Or, perhaps the producers had a cool title first, but the screenplay veered off in its own direction.

Alias Atlantis -- Even though never called by that name, Metropolis is really just a rebranded Atlantis. A city of (supposed) marvelous advances, is lost when it sank into the sea.

Peplum Parentage -- The "peplum" genre, also called sword-and-sandal, was popular in the late 50s to mid-60s. Like westerns, the costuming didn't take much, and barren outdoor location shots were inexpensive. Peplum usually featured a super-strong hero -- Hercules, Samson, Ursus, etc. -- who rescued a beautiful princess from some evil ruler. Single-handed battles against many guards or soldiers were requisite. A few odd monsters thrown in now and then, kept interest up. GoM was clearly an offspring of peplum.

Frankenstein redux -- The sci-fi half of GoM is the traditional Frankenstein theme, but without a monster. True, Yotar's father, Egon, is brought back from the dead, so he's functionally like Frankenstein's monster. Although, Egon isn't hideous, can talk just fine, and even has a kind heart. Yotar is the classic mad scientist, though. His goal was to swap brains and cheat death, the same as Victor. In the end, like most evil scientists, Yotar is killed as a morality message about tampering with nature.

Monotheistic Moment -- Writer #5 or #6 must have thought the script wasn't spiritual enough, so inserted some non sequitur dialogue. While Obro and Mercede are chained the column in the cave of doom, he says that they, and Metropolis are in the hands of the Superior One. Mercede admits she's never heard of this lone god, but quickly becomes a believer. Nothing more is said of the Superior One, but then, they were mostly running for their lives and being thrown into the sea.

What's in a Name? -- Obro isn't regular italian, but it is word in other romance tongues, such as Catalan, Galacian and Spanish, meaning "I build", or "I produce" or "I work." Thus named, the hero is a worker, a maker, symbolic of creative power. At one point, near the end, Egon berates Yotar by telling him that all he knows how to do is kill, he has never created anything. Yotar is symbolic of destructive power. This is all a bit fancy sounding for such a cheap film, but it's fun to muse over.

Bottom line? GoM is a strange little film that resists easy classification. Fans of cheesy sword-and-sandal films will find most of the usual features. Fans of obscure B-grade sci-fi will find some curious nuggets to muse over. The film can be found on some free internet viewing sites. Thanks to blog-reader Paulo for pointing out one of those sites. (Click Here). ---

Project X

Paramount released a nice, if modest, William Castle sci-fi thriller that seems to have gone largely unknown. Project X (PX) might have been better known if it hadn't been release in the spring of 1968, when blockbusters like 2001 (MGM) and Planet of the Apes (Fox) drew all the limelight. Christopher George stars as the square jawed hero. Greta Baldwin plays the later love interest. Henry Jones plays Dr. Crowther. Use of ample stock footage lends the film a 50s flavor, despite the rather 70s-TV sets and directing.

Quick Plot Synopsis
In the year 2118, Hagen Arnold is a dead spy who is kept cryogenically frozen after dying in a plane crash. He was returning from a secret mission inside "Sino-Asia" -- the "other" global super power. His last transmitted message said the West would be destroyed in 14 days. His memory had been wiped clean by a drug spies take in case they're captured. The authorities order him thawed and his mind probed to tease out what his message meant. Dr.Crowther (Henry Jones) leads a team who use "lasers" to read images from his mind. They create a remote farm house in 1968 (handily enough) and a fake identity for Hagen as a bank robber hiding from the police, so he'll stay at the house and get his mind layered when he sleeps. A mysterious other man lurks in the woods. During the mind probes, they learn details of his mission, his meeting George, his partner, and getting captured. The sinister Sen Chu boasts of his super weapon, but reveals no details. George breaks Hagen out of an undersea prison complex. In between laser-readings, Alan is not quite accepting his fake identity. He escapes the farmhouse and meets a pretty woman who knows nothing of 1968. The lurking man is actually George, who frightens her off with a laser blast. Alan returns to the farmhouse, tells of the pretty woman he met. The authorities pick her up for questioning. She knows nothing, but they keep her. George sneaks in to Karen's room and tells her that he's trying to rescue Alan from Dr. Crowther, who is really an agent of Sen Chu. The Colonel orders Crowther to probe more deeply into Alan's mind to learn the secret. The overdose of lasers causes Alan's mind to create an angry-faced red tornado that is his subconscious. Everyone is scared. George sneaks in to Karen to recruit help, but the angry red tornado tortures and kills George. Karen screams a lot. Karen tells the Colonel what George said about Crowther. He is arrested. But wait, what if they use their laser probes on dead George's brain? They do, and read the true story. George was the double agent, not Crowther. He injected Hagen with bacteria from all the world's famous plagues. They have a 14 day incubation period. Hagen was to be the carrier of bio-doom. The 14 days are up, everyone feels gloom and doom, but wait. Hagen was frozen for seven days after he died. They still have seven days left to distribute vaccines and antitoxins. Yay. Crowther fashions yet another new identity for Hagen, as David, a technician type, and husband of Karen. She wants to have children. Kiss, Happy music, Roll credits. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
For the most part, the story keeps moving and shifting. There are ample active sequences, so it's never boring. The plot twists add some cerebral interest. The colorful "mind reading" sequences offer some typical late-60s oversaturated visuals. Greta Baldwin, who plays Karen, is not hard to look at either.

Cold War Angle
The whole East vs. West mindset of the Cold War is projected, pretty much unchanged, 150 years into the future. That shows how permanent people thought the Cold War world was. The two big players still plot to annihilate each other by nasty terrible means.

Notes
Pre-Matrix -- Way before the famous films of that name, were humbler dabbling in the topic. The authorities create a set of fake memories, and fake environment for their subject. Unlike the Matrix movies, the fake world is still physical. Yet, Crowther refers to all this fabricated identity as "a new matrix."

Dark Glimpses -- Sprinkled throughout PX are references to a dark, brave new world, come 2118. Characters boast of how "all sickness" has been cured, yet whatever they did, it really just made them more vulnerable. They boast of how there is no more crime (such that there are no bank robbers), yet their capacity for abusing each other and killing each other seemed unabated. There is talk of overpopulation. Some women are "Steri" and unable to bear children. Yet Karen (the hot young ones) are still fertile. "Ferties"? Darkest, perhaps is that science is able to reprogram people's minds to whatever the authorities like.

Id Beast 2 -- Like the Id monster in Forbidden Planet ('56) the screenplay of PX presumes that the human mind can somehow actually spin off a separate "being" made up of powerful energy. Not much is made of this new energy life form and it's quickly forgotten about. Is it still out there somewhere? Is it still "haunting" Hagen?

Fleeting Beauty -- The female eye candy of the film is Greta Baldwin. This was her only prominent movie role. She did no other movies after this. Looking beautiful and sexy was easy for her. Acting did not seem to come quite as easy.

Traces of Quest -- Hanna-Barbera provided the many animated sequences. Many of them were vague and atmospheric effects for the mind reading. Some of the animated bits looked an awfully lot like clips from Jonny Quest, a TV series that Hanna-Barbera produced in the mid-60s.

Ming Returns -- The sinister Sen Chu looks vaguely like Flash Gordon's old nemesis, Ming the Merciless. Asian stereotypes ran deep.

China Rising -- The Soviet threat seemed to have cooled somewhat in the popular imagination by the mid-60s. China, however, was looming larger. A couple of similar examples include Bamboo Saucer ('68), and Battle Beneath The Earth ('67).

Bottom line? PX has it's somewhat hokey moments, but overall offers some sci-fi value. Cut PX some slack on the special effects because of its limited budget. Instead, let the complex story entertain you. ---

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

Released in late 1969 in the UK, but early 1970 in the USA, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (FMBD) is the beginning of 70s sci-fi for American audiences. FMBD marked the fifth film in which Peter Cushing plays Baron Frankenstein, still up to his old dream, but now as a poor outcast. This film makes more sense when viewed after the previous four. Terance Fisher returned to direct. As usual for the Hammer series, the focus is much more on Victor than on his creations.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A doctor is decapitated on the streets of London. A burglar breaks into a house, but finds inside a macabre lab. The decapitator comes back and finds him. They fight, trashing the lab. Burglar flees. The decapitator is Dr. Frankenstein. He quickly disposes of bodies and parts and flees. The police eventually follow up, but find the lab abandoned. Victor, under the pseudonym of Mr. Fennel, takes up lodging in the rooming house of Anna Spengler. He discovers that Anna's fiance, Karl, has been sneaking out cocaine from the asylum he works for. They sell it to pay for Anna's mother's nursing care. Victor finds out and blackmails them into helping him. Victor wants Karl to smuggle out a Dr. Brandt who has gone insane. Before insanity, Brandt had developed a process for freezing brains without damage. Victor plans to put Brandt's brain in a good body, cure the insanity and get the formula. Karl and Anna help, under duress. They steal equipment to make a new lab in Anna's basement. A night watchman is killed by Karl. Karl barely manages to get Brandt out of the asylum. A doctor Richter becomes the host body. They operate and transplant Brandt's brain. Victor also repairs the damage. Brandt's body is buried in the garden. Police search but find nothing. A water main breaks under the garden almost exposing the body. Mrs. Brandt recognizes Victor and finds him at Anna's. Victor, Karl, Anna and New-Brandt flee by carriage to an abandoned mansion. Brandt wakes up sooner than expected. He startles Anna who defends herself with a long scalpel. She stabs Brandt, who staggers off. Victor discovers Brandt's missing, and causes Anna to stab herself (dead). Brandt travels to his home to see his wife. She rejects him as a mad man. Victor, figuring where Brandt would go, follows. Brandt has, meanwhile, doused much of the house in lamp oil and gathered a bunch of lit oil lamps. Victor comes in demanding the formula. Brandt throws lamps creating walls of fire. Victor manages to get into the study and get the formula. He runs outside, but runs into Karl who fights him over the death of Anna. Victor wins, but Brandt knocks him out and carries him back into the well-engulfed house. The End.

Sci-fi Connection
There is far more horror than sci-fi in this hybrid. There is a bit of surgery, and the requisite brain in a tank of water. There is little of the massive electricity (sparky things). There is Victor's monologue about cryogenics -- his dream being to be able to save the brains of great people when they die, freeze their brains for later, and then transplant them into fresh bodies for the benefit of all mankind. FMBD has a background theme about the dispassionate march of "science" even if under the banner of altruism. Is killing men okay if it's for some supposed benefit for "mankind"?

Saga Connection
Even though the stories of movies three, four and five do not closely follow that of movies 1 and 2, we do have a sort of overview image of Victor Frankenstein. He began as a young, idealistic, (if a bit ruthless) rich man. He had to flee his home for England, but was still apparently well-off. In movie three, he's less well-off. In movie four, he is penniless. Even then, in film three he had an able and idealistic cohort. In movie four, his cohorts are an alcoholic doctor and a peasant. By the time we find Victor in movie five, is alone as a penniless shadow in the underworld.

Notes
Hammer-dämmerung -- Some Hammer fans consider FMBD as the last great Frankenstein film. It is a very full film, and well directed by Terrance Fisher (again). Yet, within all the Wagnerian majesty of the tale, lurk the telltale traces of the twilight of Hammer's reign as the Kings of Horror. They could not compete in the market's race to the bottom -- explicit sex and violence movies and the rise of gore movies whose sole (apparent) motive was to gross out their audiences. Hammer tried to stave off their twilight by injecting more sex, violence and gore, but they couldn't compete. Two notable cracks in Valhalla are cited below.

The Rape Scene -- After most of the film was shot and in the can, Hammer executives decided they needed more sex and violence. (That was what they figured audiences wanted). So, they insisted that Fisher film a rape scene. Cushing and Carlson seriously disliked the scene, but did as their employers wished. It was quite a departure for a Hammer film. The scene adds nothing to the plot. In fact, in all subsequent scenes Anna acts like it never happened -- because in the original shooting, it hadn't. Ironically, the American release was said to have omitted that scene.

Gore For Gore -- The gore factor was ramped up in FMBD. We have a violently decapitated bloody head rolling around and lots of red paint splattering But, note how the sounds of grossness are cranked up. Victor cuts with a scalpel and there is quite the ripping-squishing noise. Then Victor saws open the skull with plenty of scraping gritty saw sounds. Fisher and Hammer were going for gross. This is a tough field to compete in. Many far cheaper films could be far more gross.

A Touch of Shelley -- The screenplay offers a touch of Shelley's novel, in that the "monster" is intelligent and articulate. He is not the customary mute and lumbering "monster." There is a trace of Shelley in the pathos of how Brandt (in Richter's body) can never return to his wife. He is doomed to a life alone. He is also aghast at Victor for what he's done and seeks to destroy him.

Comic Relief -- Interlaced within the very dark story of Victor and brain transplants, are scenes of the pompous police inspector Frisch, played by Thorley Walters, who played Victor's accomplice, Dr. Hertz, in the previous film.

Bottom line? FMBD has much of what Hammer fans enjoyed. As a film, there is plenty of action and some effective set pieces. The extra gore and rape scene tarnish an otherwise engaging film. Horror fans will find enough of what they like. Sci-fi fans will find far less.

Revenge of Frankenstein

Hammer Films quickly followed up the success of their 1957 hit Curse of Frankenstein the next year with a sequel: The Revenge of Frankenstein (RoF). Again, Peter Cushing stars as Dr. Victor Frankenstein. RoF is a direct sequel, picking up the story line exactly where the first film stopped. It is one of the better sequels, in that it was, in many ways, as good as the first film.
Despite the posters, the new monster is not green. Nor is it nearly as sensational as the poster suggests.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Victor is led to the guillotine by the priest. The executioner and hunchback Karl exchange a glance. The blade falls. Later, two grave robbers dig up Frankenstein's grave. Inside, is the headless body of a priest. (Flash forward) In the city of Carlsbrück, a mysterious Dr. Stein has set up practice. The local physicians complain that Stein refuses to join their guild, AND has also taken half of their rich patients. He also does charity work in the poor hospital. (this where he gets his body parts, btw) A delegation of doctors come to investigate, but are rebuffed. A young doctor lingers. Hans recognized Victor from the funeral (first movie). Hans wants Victor to take him on as a pupil. He agrees. Victor has already assembled a new body. Karl, the crippled hunchback, volunteered to be the brain donor to get a perfect body. After the operation Victor and Hans taken New Karl to an attic at the poor hospital, so they can tend him regularly. Hans tells New Karl that he'll be famous and studied by thousands. New Karl is aghast at the bar-less prison of fame. Later, a pretty volunteer at the charity hospital learns of the special patient in the attic, so goes up to bring him cheer too. New Karl convinces her to loosen his straps. She leaves her address to help him find a job when he's better. Later, Karl has freed himself, dressed and escapes out a window. He goes to Victor's lab to dispose of his old body. A janitor catches him. The cruel janitor beats up Karl, which damages his brain. Karl becomes savage and kills the janitor. Meanwhile, Victor and Hans go looking for Karl. He's nowhere to be found. Later, at dinner party at the Countess's estate, Savage Karl busts through a window. His arm is paralyzed, his leg is gimpy again. His hunch is back. He implores, "Frankenstein, help me…" but dies. Now everyone knows Victor's true identity. All his rich patients are gone. His poor patients turn on him, mercilessly beating him. Hans rescues him, but the injuries are too great. "You know what to do," whispers battered Victor. After putting Karl's brain in his new body, Victor made another body with a face that looked like himself. Hans transplants Victor's brain into the new body. The police arrive to arrest Victor for murder. Hans shows them his dead, battered body. (flash forward) London, and the office of Dr. Frank. Hans, and Dr. Frank (Peter Chushing with a mustache and monocle) go out to greet a rich patient. The End.

Sci-fi Connection
There is more of the medical/surgical element in BoF than there was in CoF. Brains were a popular topic in 50s sci-fi. Check out some of the other Brain-themed titles here: Brain Films. Check out some of the story lines. You'll see that brains were big. That popularity shows in RoF. We get a couple good views of brains floating in jars of water. The sparky, buzzing equipment from CoF returns to Victor's new lab. As a horror film, BoF is rather mild. It's almost more of a steampunk sci-fi film.

Saga Connection
RoF picks up exactly where CoF left off. The two films are really Part 1 and Part 2 of a single thread. Karl, the hunchback and the priest replace the two guards walking Victor to the guillotine. Christopher Lee is no longer the monster, of course (acid bath).

Notes
Where's the Revenge? -- Even though Victor says, at one point, that he'll have his revenge, RoF is noticeably light on the usual revenge. None of the people who either sentenced him to die are "venged" upon. None of the doctors who persecuted him are venged either. Even his supposed proof-of-genius project (Karl) goes wrong, so there's no professional vindication either. Perhaps the "revenge" is more along the lines of outsmarting his enemies. This comes in the form of his identical "new" body, thereby cheating his enemies of true victory.

Dr. Not-So-Bad -- Victor in CoF was cold-hearted, obsessed and self-absorbed. In RoF, he's not quite so evil. He seeks to help poor Karl, rather like how Dr. Niemann promised to put hunchback Daniel's brain into a good body in House of…. But without the duplicity of Niemann. Dr. Stein among his genteel clients seems affable and charming. Even though he was stealing body parts, Dr. Stein was managing to help the poor too, even if just as a byproduct. In his monologues, Victor reclaims some of the misguided altruist flavor of Universal's Henry and even Mary Shelley's Victor.

Blood Sisters -- Hammer shot RoF at the same time it was shooting it's Dracula remake, starring Christopher Lee as the Count. A sharp-eyed viewer will note re-use of several interior sets. The spiral columns of Dracula's castle the easiest to spot. Dracula's crypt (same barred door) becomes Victor's lab, etc. There are many other smaller recycling too, between these two sister films.

Bottom line? RoF is a watchable enough movie in its own right. It is a fine followup to the first film. Even though famous as one of Hammer's Horror Collection, there is little of the gratuitous blood and gore that would mark the genre later. It is more of a gothic horror tale in the old school. Sci-fi fans can enjoy some of the moral/ethical puzzles common to some sci-fi movies.

Evil Brain From Outer Space

The intent of this study was to focus on theatrical (cinema) sci-fi movies and not so much television series or made-for-TV movies. This tends to be somewhat fuzzy line, producing exceptions. One such exception is Evil Brain from Outer Space (EBOS) was a made-for-TV movie, assembled from three late 50s Japanese theatrical Super Giant serials produced by Shintoho. This makes EBOS akin to Crash of the Moons ('54) created from several "Rocky Jones: Space Ranger" episodes, or Satan's Satellites ('58) was created from episodes of the Commando Cody serial Zombies of the Stratosphere ('52). Also, evil brains from outer space are almost a 50s sci-fi tradition. The superhero, played by Ken Utsui, was modeled after Superman. He is called Starman in the American dubs. He was "Super Giant" in the Japanese originals. EBOS is the fourth TV movie from Super Giant episodes, and the least coherent and most confusing of the four.

Quick Plot Synopsis
(Note: This running narrative cannot capture all of EBOS's random events)
Through narration, we're told that s supposedly great thinker on the planet Zemar, Balizar, was assassinated, but quickly created machines to keep his brain alive. The experience turned him evil and he plots to rule the universe, starting with Earth. The high council on the Emerald Planet decide to send Starman to earth to stop him, lest he use nukes and contaminate space and other planets (like theirs).
A young lab assistant stole Balizar's brain from Dr. Kurikawa's lab, but lost it when police mistook him for a robber. Dr. Sakurai is charged with inventing something that can kill the brain. Meanwhile, the sinister Dr. Kurikawa has a Zemarian base under his house. The masked leader of a group of minions in black tights and hoodies says a new mutant will deal with Sakurai. A fanged man-thing with brain-like cap and filigree "ears" tries to get Sakurai, but Starman intervenes. The two fight, but Filigree escapes. Some trench-coated Zemarian clones rob jewelry stores and throw needle darts to kill people. They steal some plans bound for Sakurai, but two kids see them. They try to get the kids, but Starman intervenes. Starman follows the trenchies to their HQ. Starman fights the black hoodies there. The police arrive, arresting the hoodies. The Zemarians plot to kill various earth leaders, but Starman is one step ahead of them. Several trenchies are arrested too. Next comes a witch mutant who kills a couple of women with a touch of her claw-nails. An earth traitor delivers plans for the Zemarian attack to Dr. Okawa (brother of Kurikawa). He and his white-hooded minions prepare for the final attack. Starman and legions of police surround the house. Okawa produces the witch to fight Starman. They fight, but Starman wins. Okawa is found dead. Starman takes a nuclear device up into the sky so it can explode harmlessly. Meanwhile, Filigree tries to get Sakurai, despite police guards. Just as Filigree defeats the police, Starman intervenes. After a bit of fighting, Filigree escapes. Starman follows him to the cave HQ of the black hoodies. There, Starman fights and defeats Filigree. The masked leader turns out to be Kurikawa. Balizar's brain is found in a locked room. Sakurai's acid-poison kills the brain. The earth is safe for little children. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
The carefully managed fights read like martial arts ballet. Trying to identify which footage came from the three different films used to make EBOS has a certain entertainment value, if in a sort of forensics sort of way.

Cold War Angle
With most Japanese sci-fi (whether cinema or television) the nuclear topic is never far away.

Notes
Some Assembly Required -- EBOS was edited together out of the last three Super Giant movies. The three previous TV movie edits used two-part Super Giant episodes, so had enough footage from a common story line. The last three Super Giant episodes were standalone stories, each with their own monster(s), plot and villain. Footage from all three were cobbled together to create a new story. Some longish exposition by a narrator attempts to bridge gaps in the new story.
Super Giant 7: The Space Mutant Appears (April '58) provided key footage. SG 7 had an evil scientist (with hawk on his shoulder) who created an evil brain. This episode contributed the brain-monster (with curious filigree "ears") and the cave laboratory full of black hoodied minions with the skull and bat wing logos on their chests.
Super Giant 8: The Devil's Incarnation (March '59) featured an evil scientist with his face burned during WWII. He, too, has a brain-thing in a bell jar. He creates a witch from his dead daughter. The witch murders women. SG 8 contributed scarface, the witch (sold as yet another Zemarian mutant) and the white-hoodied minions in a dungeon lab quite similar to SG7's lab.
Super Giant 9: The Poison Moth Kingdom (April '59) was about an arab terrorist (how ahead of its time!) who plans to assassinate Japan's crown prince. SG 9 contributed lesser amounts of footage.

Supa-san -- Super Giant was Japan's first screen superhero. Modeled after America's Superman (tights, cape, super powers, flying, etc.) Supa Jiantsu was the first of a line of colorful japanese heros, and filled much the same role in popular juvenile fiction. It's not hard to see the roots of the ubiquitous "Power Rangers". Super Giant wasn't physically large. The "Giant" was more akin to "Great" than "Huge".

Choreo-battles -- Notable in the Super Giant films were the well choreographed "fights" in which the lone hero held off a whole crowd of evil minions with his quick martial arts moves (and occasional gymnastic moves). As in many subsequent asian fight films, the minions obligingly wait their turn to be defeated. In EBOS, Starman takes on all of the baddies in choreo-battles: the black hoodies, the white hoodies, the trenchies, the Filigree monster and the witch. Attentive viewers will even see some fight footage repeated.

Bottom line? EBOS is not for those who expect a coherent story or even logical progression. It is a fourth story told with cuttings from three other stories. Confusion and breaks in continuity cannot help but follow. Much patience and willingness to let loose ends lie, is required. Fans of martial arts films my be amused by the early roots of the cinematic fighting style.

The Atomic Brain

Yet another low-grade mix of horror and sci-fi, The Atomic Brain (TAB) was the lower half of the bill with The Beach Girls and the Monster. As a drive-in set, the bar was set pretty low to begin with. Even then, TAB is a jumbled mixture of pre-existing tropes, patched together with some pretty blatant exploitation. Yet, buried within all that low-brow pulp fiction approach and low production value, are the kernels of some thought. The work was originally titled "Monstrosity."

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Otto Frank is experimenting in the basement of a mansion. His goal is to transplant brains into different bodies. He robs nearby graves (taking dead pretty women) to experiment on. Most of his experiments have failed. He wants live bodies. His financial backer is a rich old woman. She wants Frank to succeed so she can transplant her brain into the body of a healthy young woman, then have her estate willed to her new self. Three foreign girls are interviewed for a housekeeper's job, but old Ms Marsh is just sizing up their bodies. She rejects the Mexican girl, Anita, because of a birthmark. Dr. Frank uses Anita to test a live brain transplant between her and his cat. This succeeds. Anita-cat catches and eats a mouse. Nina and Bea discover Anita's disappearance, so plan to leave. Bea tries to sweet talk Victor (Mrs. March's gigolo) to get the car keys. While alone in the gardens, Anita-cat scratches out one of Bea's eyes. This clinches Nina as the body replacement. Mrs. March makes the legal arrangements. Nina convinces Victor to help her escape, knowing that his usefulness is ended. Mrs. March discovers his disloyalty and stabs him. Dr. Frank prepares for the final transfer, but also realizes that after it's done, his funding will be gone. He transfers Mrs. March's 'brain' into the cat's body. When Dr. Frank goes into his atomic chamber the March-cat locks him in and turns on the rays. Frank is reduced to a skeleton. In the chaos, Bea awakens. She helps Nina get free. Bea reaches for the jar with her severed eye, but touches high voltage and dies. Nina flees the house just before it is engulfed in flames. She now inherits Mrs. March's wealth. March-cat follows her, thinking to get revenge eventually. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The plot and flood of subplots of TAB are so odd an eclectic, that there is a fascination there. A couple of the plot threads would have made decent movies on their own, in more capable hands. Marjorie Eaton is amusing as the greedy old crone.

Cold War Angle
This was the older dangers-of-science theme, and the traditional noir badness-of-mankind theme. There was little Cold War involved.

Notes
Beyond Frankenstein -- Dr. Frank does what all misguided surgeons have done since Victor Frankenstein: try to transplant human parts to make a better human. Like Victor, he monologued about how he thought his work would be a benefit to mankind. Dr. Frank tries working with dead bodies (as did Victor), using the magical/mythical properties of "atomic power" to reanimate them. This produces only zombies, so he has to work from living specimens. Dr. Frank produces his monsters. Hans the dog-man, Anita the cat-girl, Margie the zombie girl and Mrs.March, the evil cat-woman.

Too Many Cooks? -- TAB is a patchwork of themes and plots. It is part exploitation (scantily-clad young women). It is part sleaze and noir. There is a strain of zombie-horror and a dash of gore-horror. There is just enough sci-fi (with the atomic angle) to qualify for this study. One reason for all this "diversity" may be that the movie had four writers who were also the producer team. Jack Pollexten was the more experienced of the four, with over 20 movies to his credit. None of them were big league, but he did do the screenplay for Captive Women ('52) (originally titled "1000 Years from Now") He also directed The Indestructible Man ('56). It was on that film that he worked with co-writers Sue Dwiggins and Vy Russell. Jack, Sue and Vy added Hollywood outsider Dean Dillman Jr. (more of an investor who insisted on dabbling?). All four are listed as producers (or associates) and writers. This may explain the scattered themes. Pollexten was not credited as a writer (didn't want his name on it?) so he may have aided the other three with technical help rather than content.

New & Improved! -- The trope of installing an existing brain (person) into a fresh new body was particularly new by 1964. In The Brain That Wouldn't Die ('62), Dr. Bill looks for a hot bod onto which he can install his fiancee's head. The Madmen of Mandoras ('63) were presumably looking for a young body onto which to transplant the head/brain of Hitler. In Creation of the Humanoids ('62) people would "save" their consciousness so that upon death, they could be transferred to a fresh new body. A variation on the trope was in She Demons ('58) in which the sinister Dr. Osler was extracting the 'beauty' hormones from young women to restore his wife to beauty. Yet, while TAB was not breaking new ground, it did give the trope a starkly carnal spin. The idea would get spun a few more times in the future too.

Brainless -- Despite the later title, and script use of the word "brain", we don't get to see any brains. In fact, no physical surgery is even implied. A dog's brain might fit into a man's skull, but a woman's brain would not fit inside a cat's skull. Instead, Dr. Frank's magical process seemed to transfer the consciousness of the victims. The writers did not seem troubled by physical facts, but focused on memory-personality as the transferrable element.

Pulp Noir -- Written in the style of cheap pulp detective stories, TAB teems with bad people behaving badly. Mrs. March is the alpha baddie -- greedy and ruthless. Dr. Frank robs graves and does anything to fund his monomaniacal work. Victor is the opportunistic old gigolo with lust for the babes. Bea is a shallow-headed bimbo. Hans is the killer dog-man. Poor Anita becomes the nasty cat-woman. The zombie girl is mild, but, well, dead. Only Nina comes off as not-bad, but a curse of being pursued by the vengeful Mrs.March (as a cat) puts a dark cloud over her too. The lines scripted for the narrator suggest the low-life nature of the characters, such as when Victor learns of the pretty zombie Dr. Frank made, the narrator says "...not having a brain might have its advantages..."

Bottom line? TAB will bother people not tolerant of low-production values. Fans of evil scientist flicks or even noir fans, will have an easier time. The complicated fragments of what could have been interesting stories unto themselves, does make for some entertainment.

Madmen of Mandoras

If Roger Corman's "X" was 1963's sci-fi high point, Madmen of Mandoras (MMoM) is its low point. This ultra-low budget film is a low grade B movie with only the slightest claim to being sci-fi. There were some doctors in white coats, and some surplus electrical equipment among the props, but no real attempt is made to use science to explain anything. The premise is bizarre, yet not without precedent. The plot has an almost Indiana Jones potential. All this is stymied by a lack of budget, a bland, confused script and flat directing. Nestor Piava, who plays Mandoras' sweaty police chief, was the boat captain in Creature From The Black Lagoon.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Professor Coleman tells a small group of Generals and secret agents how he, and only he, has the antidote for the toxic "G Gas." The professor and his younger daughter are kidnapped. A tall shadowy hispanic man tells a CID agent and wife Kathy that they've been taken to Mandoras. Drive-by hoodlums shoot him dead. Phil and Kathy fly to the tiny South American country in search of them. Camino, the son of the slain hispanic above, tells the back story of how his father witnessed an operation in the bunker in Berlin in which Hitler's head is cut from his body and saved so he can be immortal. In a stereotypic cantina, a gunfight breaks out. Young blonde "nazis" killed a creepy assasin/police agent, but Phil is arrested for it. In the palace basement "jail", Phil, Kathy, Suzanne and the professor are reunited. The professor's former assistant, Dvorak, now in a minimal nazi uniform, pontificates about world conquest. He shows them Hitler's head in a big glass bucket. Back in their cell, the police chief and el presidente come in and announce that they oppose the nazis. They escape with the help of friendly guards and scheme how to foil the nazi plot. The deadly gas is to be released at midnight, but this fails. Dvorak drives Hitler's head (in a big black Mercedes) to meet two German Generals who are flying in. World conquest will follow. Our plucky band of resistance fighters get to the canyon in time to throw hand grenades. These kill the half dozen soldiers, the generals, blow up the plane and engulf the black Mercedes in flames. Hitler's head melts like wax in the flames, leaving only a skull. In the happy post-Hitler world, Suzanne marries Camino, Phil and Kathy exchange flirty innuendos. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It might be more appropriate to say fascinating. The script is a confusing mash-up of stock tropes, stereotypes and non-sequiturs. The writer clearly had some grand tale to tell, but contracted severe laryngitis. It's more puzzle than story, yet its bizarreness has a fascination to it.

Cold War Angle
The world-domination theme is clearly present, but blaming the nazis diminishes any Cold War theme.

Notes
Not Dead Enough -- In the late 14th century, reformer John Wycliffe upset the Catholic church so much that they wanted him dead. Wycliffe died of natural causes as an old man, but that wasn't enough. The Catholic leadership hated him so much, that some 30 years after Wycliffe died, they dug up his bones and burned them. Wycliffe wasn't dead enough to satisfy them. Hitler, the penultimate villain, did not die enough in 1945 to satisfy many people. MMoM, reminiscent of Wycliffe's bones, burns Hitler's head in a rather long scene. Hitler seems to be a character cannot be dead enough.

Evil Twin -- Easily lost between the many cracks is how we end up with Hitler's head in a jar in the first place. You see, back in the 40s, Hitler feared for his life and wanted immortality. He had genius scientists create clones of himself (we see two) to act as body doubles. Nevermind that they're taller and fatter than him. (Clones eat too well). One is dispatched to the bunker to commit suicide and be found by the Allies. The other just wanders off, apparently. The clones look like Hitler (sort of) but do not have his keen mind. In a quest for immortality, the doctors cut off Hitler's head and preserve it because only a head-sized package can be flown out of Berlin. Later, and elsewhere, other doctors will figure out how to get real-Hitler's keen mind into a new clone. It almost makes sense.

10 Years Later, More is Less -- In 1972, Crown International wanted to re-release MMoM as a TV movie, but it was too short (74 minutes). A typical TV movie, running two hours, needed a run-time of around 90 minutes. New footage was shot on even less of a budget than the original, using UCLA film students. The new footage was grafted onto the beginning and recycled some old footage from Thunder Road. The new footage padded the story with more cloak-and-dagger and tried to set up a spy plot in Mandoras better. The re-release was titled: "They Saved Hitler's Brain," which was a much grabbier title than the original. The resulting film, however, only added to the confusion. The 70s clothing and hairstyles are flagrantly different than the original's 1963 attire.

Brains on the Brain -- MMoM is yet another in the sub-genre of movies that featured brains. Donovan's Brain ('53), The Brain From Planet Arous ('57), Colossus of New York ('58), Evil Brain From Outer Space, etc. It also belongs to a smaller sub-genre of disembodied (but still living) heads. The Man Without A Body ('57) which turned out to be Nostradamus. Then there was poor Jan in The Brain That Wouldn't Die ('62). Hitler in MMoM was just the latest talking head.

Don't Need No Body -- The writers did not seem concerned with biology. What kept Hitler's head alive in his jar? At least Jan's head in The Brain That Wouldn't Die was hooked up to tubes and pumps to supply what her missing body would have. In MMoM, heads can just keep on living without bodies. It talks and goes for car rides, sitting all snug in a glass jar.

Plot Holes Aplenty -- The script is so full of disconnects, non-sequiturs and holes that it feels like every third page was somehow lost, but they kept shooting anyway. Where did all this G-Gas come from? Couldn't the source be stopped? This one professor is the only source of an antidote? An antidote to poison gas? The only man with the antidote (in his mind) that can save the world, is kidnapped and only his son-in-law rides to the rescue? The matchbook signal was important enough for Camino's dad to use his last breath to explain it, yet it never gets used for anything important. If the gas kills off almost everyone in the world, why does Hitler still want it? What does the Chiquita dancer have to do with anything? Vasquez is an assassin or a policeman or part of the nazi ring? He dies before doing anything beyond looking shifty. And finally, even though not all, why did burning Hitler's head stop the other cells that El Presidente spoke of from executing their part of Plan G?

Stuffed With Stereotypes -- The unimaginative writer filled his cast with almost-cliche stereotypes: A big sweaty south american police chief, in a white suit, a shifty pointed-beared killer, lazy minions, screaming women, a tall, dark, handsome (I guess) latin love interest, and of course, cardboard nazis. They swagger, wear tall black boots and have a vocabulary limited to: Mach Schnell, Dumbkopf, Schweinhund, Raus and Verboten.

Bottom line? MMoM or They Saved Hitler's Brain are too bizarre and poorly done to qualify as purposeful entertainment. Sober sci-fi fans will likely be annoyed at the lack of science. Cinema fans could be annoyed at the swiss cheese of plot holes. MST3K fans could not find a better "bad" movie to enjoy. Those who think Hitler didn't die enough in 1945 may enjoy the fiery ending, though.

The Brain that Wouldn't Die

This is one of those films which developed a reputation as being "so bad it's good." The Brain That Wouldn't Die (BTWD) is certainly a low-budget example of B-grade sci-fi / horror movie. Despite its release in 1962, it's also a solid product of the 50s, being filmed in 1959. (note the '59 Mercury and '58 Ford) There are blatant lowbrow elements where the producer and director (also the co-writers) dabbled in cheap exploitation gimmicks. Yet, there is also a more earnest attempt by the script to re-explore the classic Frankenstein story with more from the monster's point of view. There is also a noir-like quality in which no one seems noble.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Bill Cortner is a rogue surgeon who experiments in techniques to bring dead people (or limbs) back to life. His surgeon father berates him for his reckless and a-moral approach to science, but Bill is supremely confident in himself. En route to a weekend getaway with his fiancee, Jan, Bill drives too fast and crashes. He is thrown clear, but Jan is killed. He takes her head on to the country laboratory. There, he does more science-magic and keeps Jan's head alive on a lab table. She can only last for a couple days this way, so Bill goes shopping for a new body for Jan's head. He tries a strip club. Two strippers get into a tawdry cat fight over him, but he leaves, realizing he'll be recognized. He picks up a blond acquaintance, Donna, but she has a friend nearby too. They go to a swimsuit contest for no good reason. Donna recalls a mutual acquaintance, Doris has "the perfect body" but a big burn scar on side of her face. She's bitter against all men because of it. Bill promises her breakthrough plastic surgery. She goes with him to his country lab. Meanwhile, Jan's head awakens. She finds she has a psychic link with a misshapen creature locked in a closet. She argues with Kurt, Bill's embittered assistant about ethics. She summons the creature to kill Kurt. He is incautious near the creature's door and it grabs him, ripping off his good arm. He eventually dies. Bill comes home with Doris and dopes her drink. Bill takes unconscious Doris to his lab. Jan lectures him on ethics. Bill scoffs. He, too, is incautious near the creature's door, gets grabbed and killed. In the struggle, a fire starts. Jan directs the creature to take Doris to safety. She laughs maniacally in the flames. Fade to black. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is much that might annoy a film snob, but the audacity of the script keeps it interesting. The remix of traditional Frankenstein themes is interesting.

Cold War Angle
BTWD is more of a classic science-gone-wrong tale. There is no political undertone.

Notes
Brain Power -- A recurring meme in 50s sci-fi was that the human brain, freed from the burden of a human body, would find amazing powers. We saw this in Donovan's Brain ('53) that developed ESP control over people. We saw it again in Colossus of New York ('58), in which Jeremy's brain, inside the robot body, developed special vision powers. Jan, via Bill's special serum, develops mind-communication powers with the creature in the closet.

Brains Gone Bad -- Hand in hand with the free-brain power meme is the notion that brains (intellect) freed from the restraint of the body (matter) will tend to drift into the Dark Side. Donovan's brain was never kindly, but it went really bad without his body. Jeremy's brain turned from kindly altruist to selfish maniac. Jan, similarly, went from loving fiancee, to vengeful banshee.

MonsterView -- Unlike the mute monster which Victor Frankenstein created (in the 1931 classic), Bill's monsters (Kurt and Jan) do a fair amount of talking about how they feel. Jan is full of hate for being kept alive in her inhuman condition. She and Kurt argue about ends justifying means. Kurt defends Bill's playing God. He's a monster who hopes his maker can finish/improve the work.

Gang o'Noir -- In the flim noir model, none of the characters in BTWD are noble. They all have very human failings and flaws. Bill is, of course, the oversexed, over confident evil scientist. Jan becomes the hateful monster master. Kurt is the selfish minion. Even Doris, who might be seen as the victim of the picture, is a man-hater for what one did to her. The two strippers are obviously base material. Bill's father isn't all that innocent either, as he turns a blind eye to his son's inhuman experiments.

Build-A-Babe -- In a sort of extreme extension of a male fantasy, Bill goes shopping for the 'best' female body. It's for Jan's head to live on, of course, but for HIM to enjoy mostly. The real Jan was, apparently, was apparently just a body to him -- maybe just a pretty face. Bill's tastes in women are pretty low and libidinal. He shops first at a strip club? Then prowls the streets?

Cheap Teasecake -- Viewers are 'treated' to a lite burlesque dance by the blonde stripper in her meshy costume. There's the cat fight with near spillover moments. There is the pointless bathing suit contest to parade some more babes before the camera. Little of these scenes adds to the plot. They're just teaser visuals for the (perhaps) mentally-light male viewer who could not keep up with the science-and-ethics dialogue.

Cat Fight! -- In an almost crass display of exploitation filmography, producer Rex Carlton and director Joseph Green have the two strippers slap, pull hair and roll around wrestling on the floor (with much of their ample assets exposed). This does nothing to advance the plot at all. It's a pure bit of pandering to the male ticket-buyers. A tip that the producer/director knows this, is the brief shot of two cat paintings on the wall, with a little "meow" overdubbed.

Bottom line? BTWD can be watched as a typical "bad" old movie and laughed at for all its overwrought (or just bad) acting. It can also be enjoyed for its noir flavoring and dabbling in the old Frankenstein theme closet.

The Man Without A Body

To round out this Digression Week, we go to 1957. Originally, this movie was left off the list as being horror and not sci-fi. But, as the tour of 1958 had included several outer-orbit movies, The Man Without A Body (MwoB) had just as strong (or weak) a cases for inclusion. So, here it is.
MwoB is one of those quirky low budget films which easily confounds the average viewer. It mixes some of the Frankenstein theme of medical science gone wrong, with the evils of the business world with a dose of film-noir. Like many film-noir movies, there are almost no heroic or noble characters. Just about everyone is flawed. W. Lee Wilder, who directed Phantom From Space ('53) and Killers From Space ('54) had some skill at directing low budget films, and does a fair job with MwoB.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Wealthy and rude, business tycoon Karl Brussard's medical troubles are due to an inoperable brain tumor. While getting a second option from a Dr. Merritt, Brussard learns of Merritt's experiments in brain transplants. Merritt has a process to revive long-dead tissue. Brussard, while touring Madame Tussaud's wax museum, gets the idea to use Nostradamus's head as the only one worthy of Brussard. He pays some men to steal Nosty's head, then smuggles it into England. Merritt is surprised, but sets about reviving the head with his special process. Meanwhile, Brussard's neglected paramour and Merritt's assistant, Lew, begin a romance. After 23 days, Nosty's head revives. The scientists enjoy a casual chat with Nosty about the wonders of the 20th century. Brussard tries to browbeat Nosty into becoming the new leader of the Brussard empire. Odette wants Lew to sabotage the head transplant so she'll be free from either Brussard (old and new). Nosty has his own scheme. He gives Brussard intentionally bad business advice that totally ruins him. Odette flees with her gift jewelry to Lew's apartment, but Brussard follows. Enraged, he strangles her. When Lew shows up, Brussard chases him, finally shooting him in the neck at Merritt's lab. Brussard also shoots at Nosty's head, damaging one of the hook-up tubes. Merritt, arrives, surveys the damage and decides to put Nosty's head on Lew's brain-dead, but otherwise sound body. The very heavily bandaged Nosty-Lew hybrid awakens as a moaning brute. Nosty-Lew pursues Brussard (and the other way around too) through the dark, wet, back streets of London. They end up at the top of a bell tower staircase. Brussard gets vertigo (the tumor?) and falls to his death. Nosty-Lew rings the bell a couple times, then Lew's body falls. Nosty's head remained tangled in the bell rope. Everyone leaves. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The convoluted plot keeps you guessing. Wilder's direction keeps the pace moving. There is enough of the noir side to keep things from getting shallow or trite.

Cold War Angle
There are no Cold War analogies in MwoB. It's film-noir-ish commentary on science and business and love.

Notes
Men Without Souls -- One of the driving themes in MwoB is the unscrupulous nature of both the business world, and the medical world. Brussard is almost a caricature of the greedy businessman. He ignored relationships, plundered a grave, and murdered. Dr. Merritt represented a passionless medical world. He objected only feebly to the theft of Nosty's head, then just got to work on it. No big deal. Later, he cooly takes Lew's head off his body and grafts on Nosty's. Old Dr. Alexander underscores the lack of medical morals with a matter-of-factness, "Hmm. I'd have done the same thing myself." Life is not something personal. People are just a collection of animated tissue. Mix match, add subtract, something is still alive, so the Hippocratic Oath is technically satisfied. Merritt is even "dead" to pretty Jean's romantic interest in him. Neither the medical men, nor the business men are portrayed as having any emotion or soul.

Paean to Nosty -- Nostradamus is given an almost worshipful treatment in MwoB. Through the main characters, the scriptwriters give him credit for predicting much of the wonders of the mid 20th century. Nostradamus's "Prophecies" enjoyed periodic popularity. Henry C. Roberts' book "The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus," in 1947 sparked a 50s wave of popularity. Nosty would fade again, but become popular again in the early 70s and 80s. Perhaps due to Roberts' english translation, viewers will note that Nosty's head in MowB speaks modern english. Handy for American audiences. Nosty was French. Did he even speak English? It would have been amusing if he spoke in the Tudor english of the 1550s.

Imperial Immortality -- For "Me Generation" viewers, it seems odd that Brussard is so keen to have Nosty's brain placed in his body. Brussard, as a personality, would die with his tumored brain. The writers are capturing part of the soulless man's grappling with mortality. For Brussard, his financial empire was almost synonymous with himself . As his creation, it mattered more that his empire continue and thrive. Monuments were the key to substitutional immortality. Therein is a telling little glimpse into the soulless man. Even his own mortality is taken matter-of-factly (rather like how Brussard scoffs at Odette's empty threat to slash her wrists).

Soulless Sexuality -- A recurring element in MowB is the dark side of sexuality. There is no pure and chaste romance element. Grizzled old Brussard is keeping a young tartish French girl (Odette) as a paramour. She wants Lew to sabotage the experiment so Brussard dies. Clearly no love there. She has been trading sex for jewelry. Odette, for her part, fishes for "love" anywhere -- even coming on to Brussard's chauffeur. Lew, the highly libidinous medical assistant, is all over Odette, even though she is clearly Brussard's "kept" woman. Pretty (and normal) Jane has unrecoited feelings for Dr. Merritt, but he has no feelings for her. Her love is frustrated. The Nosty-Lew hybrid monster even makes a sort of veiled rape attack on Jane. Even Nosty cannot be trusted. He's a beast within. No wholesome romance here.

Bottom line? There's nothing grand about MwoB. It's a B sci-fi / horror / film-noir movie. Yet, as "lite" as it is on the science, the rich it is in complex noir. In this, MwoB is still entertaining and might even spark some conversation.
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Fiend Without A Face

In December 1958 Eros Films, Ltd. had another British B sci-fi movie touring American. Fiend Without A Face (FwoF) ran as the B feature to "Haunted Strangler." Both were British productions being marketed in America by MGM. This is another example of the blurry line between sci-fi and horror. FwoF itself exists in that blurry zone. Mysterious, invisible "mental vampires" killing their victims takes up the bulk of the film. The final showdown with the creatures is classic monster movie. Yet, the tie-in to the customary misguided scientist and atomic energy keep FwoF in the sci-fi orbit.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A Canadian farmer is killed just outside of an American Air Force base in remote Canada. The villagers were already up in arms over the mere presence of the base (jets frightened their cows) so are convinced there is a mad GI on the loose. Major Jeff Cummings befriends the slain farmer's sister, Barbara. The base tests their super radar system again, but like before, it falters just as it seems to be succeeding. Something is draining off the atomic energy. More murders stir up the towns folk to revolt. Jeff is certain that a reclusive genius, Professor Walgate, is the key. Yet more murders occur, each preceded by a rhythmic thumping and squishing sound. Eventually, Walgate confesses that he was working on Thought Materialization -- telekinesis. He needed more power, so fabricated an energy hijacking device to siphon off the air base's transmitted power. (that's why the tests always failed) The extra power worked, but created separate beings rather than intensifying Walgate's own thoughts. The invisible beings escaped his lab and began to 'feed' on townsfolk by sucking out their brains. They need the reactor's power to exist. Jeff rushes to blow up the control room. The reactor is going into overload, so the beings become visible. Dozens of the brain and spinal cord things surround the house. They break in, kill a few people, but can also be killed. Many are. Just as one of the beings has got Barbara, the reactor is shut down. It falls limp. The brain things dissolve into foam. Jeff kisses Barbara. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The monster murder mystery element is fairly well played so it keeps interest up. Once visible, the brain-things have some interest too. As a monster movie, it has some merit. Killer brain-creatures are quirky enough to stay interesting.

Cold War Angle
The Cold War provides a backdrop, but isn't the focus. The Air Force base's mission is early radar detection of Soviet aircraft coming over the pole. One could see the brain-things as manifestations of deadly atomic energy. (the invisible killer)They seem to fit better the usual science-gone-wrong theme.

Notes
Bad Doctor -- Dr. Walgate fills the archetypal role of the naive scientist. He meant well with all his research and work. But, like many naive scientists who had gone before him, his assumptions prove wrong. His work gets away from him and becomes a force of destruction, not one of good for mankind. It has been fairly customary for the naive scientist to die at the hands (or whatever) of his creation. Walgate makes the noble sacrifice at the end, letting the creatures attack him while Jeff gets away.

Bad Thoughts -- The brain-creatures are akin to the "Id Monster" in Forbidden Planet. Man's most basic thoughts, if given independence, prove primal and ruthless. As a nuclear cautionary tale, the brain-creatures, man's primal thoughts, prove deadly if given atomic power. The stop-motion animation of the brain-creatures is not too bad. It's not Harryhausen, but it works.

You Are What You Eat -- We're told that the brain-creatures suck out the brains and spinal cord of their human victims. So, it interesting that the brain-creatures are depicted as brain shaped. They have a segmented spinal column which they use inch-worm-style for locomotion. They ARE what they eat.

Nuclear Naivety -- The brain-creatures break the atomic reactor's control rods so people can't shut it down (the creatures need the radiation to exist). It is curious that screenwriters solve the problem with good old dynamite. Jeff blows up the control room to shut down the reactor. ?? The reactor core was already out of control. Why would less control help?

Bottom line? Most of FwoF is a fair horror flick with "mental vampires" and agonizing victims. Things get more interesting when the brain-creatures surround the house. Sure, the movie has its flaws, but is an entertaining 50s sci-fi.