El barón del terror

It turns out that all the word of mouth about the Mexican horror flick "The Brainiac" (1961) is absolutely correct: It IS one wild and loopy film experience! This picture tells the story of the necromancer Baron Vitelius Destera (played by the film's handsome producer, Abel Salazar), who is burned at the stake in 1661 by the Inquisition in Mexico City and swears vengeance on the descendants of his tormentors. Good to his word, the Baron falls to Earth in 1961 on a comet (the phoniest-looking comet ever shown on film, perhaps) to begin his homicidal agenda. Destera has the ability to transform himself into a giant-headed, pointy-nosed, fork-tongued monster, and his ability to hypnotize with a glance and bend others to his mental will makes his nefarious plans that much simpler. Oh...did I mention that the Baron uses his Gene Simmons-like tongue to suck his victims' brains out? Oh, man! Sounds pretty cool, right? Truth to tell, though, this film has been made on the cheap, with loads of ersatz-looking backdrops, lousy FX, and reams of unexplained happenings. Why, for example, does the Baron need to keep a stemmed dish of brains around for snacking purposes? How do the film's detectives ultimately crack the case of all these homicides? Why is fire able to harm the Baron in 1961 but not in 1661? Where DID that blasted comet disappear to? This movie has so many head-scratching moments, so many outrageous situations, so many admittedly cool murder scenes, such egregiously artificial backdrops and such strange humor (brain tacos, anyone?) that the net result is one of absolute lysergic surrealism. So yes, the movie is a hoot, and features a monster you won't soon forget. Unlike the Baron himself, the film is NOT a brain-drainer, but a genuinely exhilarating cult item. I, for one, was sufficiently impressed to check out director Chano Urueta's next effort, 1962's "The Witch's Mirror"...

In 1661, in Mexico, the Inquisition sentences the Baron Vitelius d'Estera (Abel Salazar) to be burned at the stake for witchcraft, necromancy and seduction of wives and damsels of the lords. He is unsuccessfully defended by the noble Marcos Miranda (Rubén Rojo). The Baron curses the descendants of the four Inquisitors - Indalecio Pantoja (Germán Robles), Baltasar de Meneses (René Cardona), Reinaldo Miranda (Rubén Rojo) and Contreras (Miguel Brillas) - promising that he will return in three hundred years to eliminate them while a comet passes in the sky.

In 1961, the astronomer Prof. Saturnino Millán (Luis Aragón) sees the passage of a comet with his assistants Reinaldo Miranda and Victoria Contreras (Rosa Maria Gallardo) in the sky of Mexico. The comet brings Baron Vitelius d'Estera in the form of a brain eater monster. When the baron finds Sebastián de Pantoja, Luis Meneses, Marcos Miranda and Victoria Contreras, who are descendants of the Inquisitors, his vengeance begins.

"El barón del terror", a.k.a. "The Brainiac", is a trash Mexican horror movie directed by the unknown Chano Urueta. The story is non-sense, with a man returning to Mexico in a comet in the form of a cheesy monster and inviting prominent people that do not know him to a party. There are also two police inspectors that are investigating the death of the monster's victims and are also invited to the same party. Therefore the Baron intends to kill the descendants of the Inquisitors and brings the police to his house that he has apparently rented with a butler. Anyway, if you enjoy trash movie, forget the logic, shutdown your brain and enjoy this flick. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Following «Santo vs. the Vampire Women», another cult oddity came to Mexican cinemas in November 1962, surpassing the tale of wrestlers and female vampires in weirdness and kitsch value. Director Chano Urueta had previously released the classic «El espejo de la bruja» and then came «El barón del terror», probably the title for which he is most remembered among the horror genre fans for its bizarre concept. The story has a similar beginning as Mario Bava's «La maschera del demonio», in which Baron Vitelius d'Estera is sentenced to be burned alive by the Inquisition, accused of being a warlock and seducer. He curses his judges and 300 years later he returns to take revenge, as a hideous monster who eats people's brains. He kills the inquisitors' descendants, has enough cerebrum delicatessen at home to eat, but for no discernible reason Baron Vitelius also viciously kills innocent persons, among them pretty Ariadne Welter. Produced with a very low budget by Abel Salazar, who also took the title role, the money must have been spent in the top cast. The curious thing about «El barón del terror» is that everybody agrees that it is a trashy movie but none can deny the strange fascination it exerts.

What we have here is a bizarre mix of Gothic horror and Sci-Fi. Brainiac may not be the best Mexican horror film ever made, but it's a fun and interesting little flick, and I doubt that any fan of cult horror will regret watching it. The film takes influence from across the horror spectrum, with cult horror films such as Mario Bava's Black Sunday and I, Vampiri being mixed with any number of American Sci-Fi classics involving evil sprouting from a comet coming down to Earth. This hodgepodge of ideas has 'nice try' written all over it, but somehow director Chano Urueta manages to pull it all together into a somewhat fluid and invigorating film. The plot focuses on Baron Vitelius; a man put to death by fire in 1661 for a catalogue of anti-social crimes. He swears vengeance on his punisher's by stating that he will return the next time the comet passing over returns - and he does! 300 years later in 1961, Baron Vitelius comes back to Earth as 'The Brainiac', a monstrous brain-hungry creature that sucks the brain fluid out of the descendants of the people who killed him...

It's abundantly clear that the film was shot on a low budget as the special effects are very simple and mostly done with camera trickery, while the 'Brainiac' creature is so obviously just a man in a mask that it's almost painful. It's lucky, then, that the director manages to tell his story very well and this is often a big enough distraction from the film's shortcomings. The plot isn't particularly deep, but it has direction and flows well. The majority of the film is taken up by seeing the Baron turned Brainiac getting his revenge on the descendants of those that killed him, but somehow it doesn't get old too quickly. One of the most remarkable things about this film is the fact that it's all completely serious! With special effects this cheap and a plot so thin you've got to expect an ample dose of humour, but for some reason this film doesn't seem to have one! The atmosphere is good, however, and the black and white cinematography excellently compliments the central plot and style of the film. Overall, this is far from being brilliant - but it still comes highly recommended to avid cult collectors because it's so much fun to watch!

The Brainiac was one of the many monster and horror films to appear on Chiller Theater in New York in the early 60's. I also remember the photo of the "Brainiac" with that elongated tongue on Famous Monster trading cards of the same era. Poor special effects and cheesy dubbed dialog, but what the heck, this is one of those flicks you stayed up to watch for scares as a little kid and laughs as you got older. The Mexican horror/monster movie of this era is truly a lost film genre. Fun stuff!