The Brain Eaters

I found this movie amusing for its low budget effects and several flaws in its continuity. The most frequent flaw was the splicing of scenes in which it would appear to be day and then night and back and forth. Despite, or perhaps because of its flaws, I liked it. It does help if you like 1950's "B" sci-fi films and Shostakovich to start with.

In addition to the plot strongly resembling Robert Heinlein's "Puppet Masters", the music was also not original. I could find no evidence that there ever was a "Tom Jonson" who wrote any music for this film or anywhere, ever. Most of it was taken, uncredited, from Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies 1, 5, & 10. I also recognized an excerpt from Sergei Prokofiev's music score for the Russian language film Alexander Nevsky. At the time Brain Eaters was distributed these composers were not as frequently performed in the US and their music would not have been familiar to almost all movie goers. Both composers were from the Soviet Union (Prokofiev died in 1953). They were perceived as Communist and there was a certain amount of prejudice and/or fear about performing it. During the cold war it would also have been difficult for Shostakovich to pursue legal action against the film company if he even knew his music had been used. I suspect this is exactly why this music was used.

I also would not be surprised if it turns out that the source of the performances were records purchased at a record store and the musicians were not compensated either. The credits do not list any orchestra(s)/conductor(s). The editing of the background music was also poorly done. There were several places where the music did not transition smoothly to the next scene or even within the same scene.

This is one of a series of vintage AIP horror titles released some time ago as part of an R2 DVD collection entitled "The Arkoff Library", though the copy I watched was actually culled from an AMC TV broadcast (with constant streaming advertisements of upcoming shows and pictures!); others include THE SHE-CREATURE (1956), BLOOD OF Dracula (1957) and HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER (1958) – all of which I have acquired in time for my ongoing Halloween challenge. Thematically, the film is a variation on the classic INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) with a small town gradually taken over (though not by an alien organism but rather a vanished – and, typically, superior – civilization); despite the sensationalistic title, the creatures – 'possessing' their victims through small punctures at the back of the neck – are never actually seen, leading to a wonderful POV shot (perhaps the film's highlight) depicting an attack on the hero's girlfriend. The leader of the 'invaders' is actually a bearded old man – only ever shown in silhouette – residing in a cone-shaped rocket! The end result is not too bad though hardly a classic of its familiar kind or genre and obviously cramped by the low budget and necessary compactness (running a mere 56 minutes); interestingly, the film's director is the burly Orson Welles-lookalike sleazeball from DEMENTIA (1955).

I have seen The Brain Eaters a couple of times and is quite enjoyable, despite the low budget and reading some bad reviews about it. This movie was first released on video in the UK as part of the Drive-In Classics series, of which I own a copy. It has since been re-released on video and now DVD.

A strange alien cone shaped craft of unexplained origin appears in the small town of Riverdale. Some scientists and government officials are sent to investigate the craft and at the same time, some of the local residents start acting strange and then die. All of the people who have died have bite marks on the back of their necks and it turns out these are the work of parasites from the cone. These turn out to be millions of year old aliens who want to rule the world and have been living underground all this time. Some of the people enter the cone and are attack by more parasites and are defeated in the end.

The movie's cast is mostly made up of unknowns, although Ed Nelson has appeared in several drive-in movies of this kind including Attack Of the Crab Monsters and A Bucket Of Blood. Also look out for a then unknown Lenard Nimoy, some years before he played Mr Spock in Star Trek.

This is a worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of 1950's science fiction like me.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

I read your post re: The Brain Eaters. I have done extensive research on the music and have also come to the conclusion that there never was a Tom Jonson. I have identified much of the score but the piece that eludes me is the Main Title. Does anyone have any idea what that's from? Your help would be greatly appreciated. It's driving me crazy.

In the meantime , this is a fun film (if derivative). The biggest mistake might be the Pipe Cleaner antennea on the little monsters. The idea the creatures are subterranian in nature was very different for the period. All in all a good fun romp. The classical score does add a weirdness that somehow compelling.

It's only about 60 minutes long, and the special effects (what little there are) are substandard, but some real imagination went into this one, with a plot based on `The Puppet Masters' by Robert Heinlein. A strange Earth-drilling craft surfaces in a small town and disgorges a horde of fuzzy little parasitic creatures who fasten themselves to the necks of the townsfolk and control their brains. Scientist Ed Nelson (who is also the film's producer) battles the invaders. Watch for a scene in which the hero enters the drill craft and confronts a bearded old man . . . played by Leonard Nimoy!

If you just LOVE 1950s sci-fi, here's an obscure little curiosity for you. If not . . . well, try the Sci-Fi Channel.