The Brain from Planet Arous

Now this is the ultimate in 50s low budget drive-in outer space silliness. A rogue Brain from planet Arous comes to Earth to overtake body of an good boy atomic scientist and (surprisingly) conquer the Earth! Later, second Brain arrives to stop him, overtaking the body of poor doggie. Special effects look like the ones from Attack of the 50ft Woman (see-through monsters etc.) and the plot is similarly goofy. John Agar´s performance as an atomic scientist turned fiend is overacted as ever, which but adds to whole goofiness of the film. Recommended to any 50s B-movie fan.

The concept, though not brilliant, could have worked -- but the amateurish treatment spoils the effort. While conducting field work in the desert, scientist John Agar encounters a huge floating brain which turns out to be a sadistic, power-hungry alien name Gor, a fugitive from it's home planet. The alien can become translucent and fade into Agar's body, controlling him while it uses its telekinetic powers and delights in the pleasures of human flesh. But it has to come out every twenty hours to `re-oxygenate' (?). Admittedly the alien is not badly designed (the brain has strange glowing eyes with no pupils).

Whenever Gor/Agar is using his telekinetic powers, Agar's eyes become shiny black orbs (an nice bit of makeup). Gor/Agar demonstrates his mental powers of destruction for a group of generals and diplomats by `willing' an atomic explosion to occur in the nearby desert (great stock footage of buildings being destroyed by shock waves and heat flashes). Then Gor/Agar orders them to put Earth's population to work creating a space fleet so he can return to his own planet and conquer it.

Meanwhile, a second alien name Vol comes to Earth to save it from Gor. To spy on Gor, Vol takes control of Agar's dog. Vol/dog elicits the aid of Agar's fiancé (lovely Joyce Meadows). She's glad to help, because she already knew SOMETHING was wrong with Agar after he turned kinky and tried to rape her on a lawn chair.

Beware: the finale is a short and unexciting struggle between Agar (armed with an ax) and the floating Gor brain. And Agar's closing line to his fiancé' is painfully stupid. When she tries to tell him that a good-guy alien has been in control of the dog, John doesn't believe her. He just laughs and says, `Oh, honey -- that imagination of yours!'

If you're absolutely desperate for a 1950s sci-fi flick you haven't already watched to death, this one might be worth watching -- but only to laugh at.

'The Brain From Planet Arous' is a compelling tale of a scientist who becomes possessed by an alien with an attitude. The scientist is played by b-grade legend John Agar ('Attack Of The Puppet People' and dozens of other gems) and the alien is a giant floating brain with eyes. Did I mention that the alien is sex-starved and has the hots for Agar's fiancee good girl Joyce Meadows? Meadows and her Pop (Thomas Browne Henry) desperately plot to save Agar before he can a) jump her bones and b) enslave the world, their only help being another (good) alien who hides inside their faithful pooch. Yes, this is one ridiculously entertaining movie that will be enormously enjoyed by any bad movie buff. Highly recommended sci fi silliness!

That's right--"The Brain From Planet Arous" is _indeed_ John Agar's best science-fiction movie...but that's not saying very much. While it is undoubtedly _cheap_ (the giant alien brains in their natural form look a lot like balloons!), and while the storyline is sheer goofiness bordering on surrealism (one of the brains inhabits the body of a dog!), it _is_ somehow fun to watch, in spite of (or more likely because of) its low-budget limitations. And John Agar IS fun to watch; you can tell that he's doing his best here--in the scenes where he's possessed by the evil brain, he had to wear some very uncomfortable silver contact lenses--but the odd, yet by-the-numbers script doesn't give him much to work with. Still, if you're willing to put your own brain on hold for a little while, you might get a kick out this movie.

My friend, who's a John Agar fan, clued me in on this. I saw it on video the other night. It's one of those movies that is so bad, that it's pretty good (or at least not a complete waste of time). I especially like the scene where Agar's character, while driving a jeep through the desert, crashes into a huge rock that he couldn't possibly have missed, then says something like "well, I guess we walk from here." The ending is completely beyond belief; you have to see it to believe anyone would end a movie like that.