Banditi atomici

I'm glad that Skin-amax aired this monster movie from the 50's. In my opinion, this is not your typical cheesy b-movie material for MSTK3000 because the plot is surprisingly good and the atmosphere is beyond cartoonish. Well, you can't ask for spectacular f/x (or even decent ones) but this movie delivers.

The acting is beyond regular. The cinematography and the plot are the strong points of this b-movie. I highly recommend it for fans of old monster movies.

The effort deserves a mention mainly because the plot is well crafted and actually delivers some chills. Not in the likes of "The Elephant Man" but still it makes you imagine scary things.

This is a b-movie that deserves some little respect.

Richard Denning is an actor who can turn any movie into a pleasant experience. Creature with the Atom Brain is one of those movies. This movie has been copied many times, but this is still the best. Written by Curt Siodomak (The Magnetic Monster) it deals with the resurruction of the dead with atomic energy.Sci-fi cult fans should really enjoy this one from start to end.

This is a pretty weird sci-fi/cop film, but because it is well written and carried off very well, it works. However, with such a strange plot, it could have easily just been a grade-z film.

The film begins with a robbery and murder. How the perpetrator was able to so easily snap the neck of the victim stumps the cops as well as the strange glowing trail left following the attack. A short time later, another man is killed in a similar manner. With the second murder, a pattern has emerged. Both men had testified years earlier in a trial of a mobster--who has since been deported to Europe. When a third man, also involved with this trial, is killed, it's certain why the killings are occurring--but how?! The police have a crazy idea that dead men are being reanimated using atomic power--making them robotic zombies!! As I said, it sure sounds like a plot that COULD have made for a dumb film.

Here are some of the reasons for the film working. First and foremost, the idea works because the writing is crisp and works well. Second, while the actors in the film are mostly unknowns (with only Richard Denning being recognizable to only a few discerning viewers), they did a great job--and the director did a good job eliciting good performances from all, though I must admit that the little girl in the film was a bit of a weak point--not terrible but not particularly good. Another minor problem is that the reanimated folks talk just like robots BUT no one seems to notice this!! After all, this is a dead giveaway that something is amiss, but time and again none of the living seem to notice! Overall, this is a great film for lovers of 1950s sci-fi/horror/cop films. The rest may just find it all a bit silly, but if you give it a chance you might be surprised to see it's pretty good. It sure ain't Shakespeare...but it is entertaining.

I first saw this film when I was about twelve years old on T.V., and at the time I didn't think it was anything special. I saw it again recently for the first time thanks to modern miracle of video. I must admit that I remember many scenes from this minor little picture more vividly than much better films I saw as a kid: atomized Karl "Killer" Davis busting into a room to break the back of a gangster, the scene where Richard Denning discovers his partner has become a zombie, and the films climax where an army of creatures with atom brains do battle with the police. Oh! and I almost forgot, the scene where walking dead "Uncle Dave" tears Richard Denning's daughters doll to shreds. In retrospect, the scene makes little sense, but it came as quite a shock.

Most of the cast is acceptable. Edward L. Cahn's direction is perfunctory but he keeps things moving. Seen today by younger audiences influenced by MST3K or cheaply cynical critics like John Stanley and Randy Dreyfus, CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN probably looks pretty bad. However, if one views this film in the right frame of mind, it is very entertaining.

Apparently CREATURE WITH ATOM BRAIN has effected a lot of people over the years. Clips from this film have turned up on few TV shows and movies. Roky Erikson (13 Floor Elevators) wrote and titled a song about this movie on his album "The Evil One". He even incorporated lines from the movie in his song "Creature With The Atom Brain."

I finally bought a copy of this movie off of eBay because I had heard the Roky Erickson song of the same name like a billion times. I expected a cheesey flick, but instead watched a good, solid feature. It's definitely a B-movie, but that didn't mean "bad" back then. It just meant unknown talent and lower budgets. This is a decent story about an exiled mobster and a German scientist who reanimate the recently deceased with atom rays, and control them to take revenge on those who once testified against the mobster. A well-done but obscure flick.