Evil Brain from Outer Space

As you would expect from an 88 minute feature culled from three 45-minute episodes, 'Evil Brain from Outer Space' is more than a little disjointed; combining scenes that resemble 'Flash Gordon' to those that wouldn't be out of place in a contemporary yakuza.

Our old friend Starman cuts a far more impressive figure disguised as a detective in a smart fifties suit than in that stupid costume, just as the Zemarian mutants look a lot sharper in the trench coats and trilbys they wear to mingle with Earthlings.

Hopefully she got more time in the original, but I would certainly have to have seen more of the witch-like dancing creature seen near the climax: an image truly worthy of classic Japanese cinema.

Just one question....how come there aren't ever any nice disembodied brains even when not from outer space? We watched this one last night on DVD. It might be a re-edited serial or TV show, I'm not sure. I had avoided those Japanese Starman movies over the years. He seemed a lesser version of Superman. Maybe I was wrong to avoid them. This story was obviously geared for children and gave two of them important roles in saving the earth. Yet, a few of the creatures seemed to be a bit too scary for younger kids.

The film had silly overly staged fight scenes, hokey costumes and corny dubbed dialog. In other words we really enjoyed it! Actually, to be fair, there were a few strange looking creatures in it that did freak out my wife when they were on screen. Sometimes they would flash on unexpectedly in closeup. Especially the demon like one with the weird ears and long nails. And the one that looked like a witch.

This film is worth seeing if you have an open mind.

I got this film in the Pure Terror 50 Movie Pack - which is suppose to be all horror films. Why this film is in the Pure Terror horror pack I'll never know. This film is pure science fiction action. It would be better off acquired in a sci-f film pack. LOL. I'm not complaining though because this is a weird but fun sci-fi film.

This one is childish but so much fun. If you like the older superhero TV shows and films then you might like this movie. The alien is more like a superhero than anything else.

I have to say this film is awful in a good way. It's corny enough to keep sci-fi and superhero fans entertained - fans of the older or classic films/shows.

4/10

This is a bad film, but enjoyable in a childish sort of way; I'm certainly willing to waste time on it after a hard night's work.

Most of the other comments on the film so far have been dead-on; it does look like a re-edited serial or TV show, it is a Japanese variant on the Capt. Marvel type serials of the '30s, it does include some of the same tonality as the later Kaiju films, and it is not very well made. But, as I say, it goes along at a pretty good clip, so its never really dull, and can be watched without using much mental muscle.

Historically, the most important thing about this movie is that it's right now the earliest example we have widely available in America of the choreography of martial arts in Asian cinema. (The IMDb date is clearly that of its American release, everything else says this was made in the early-mid-'50s.) The fight scenes are important - Capt. Marvel essentially brawls and wrassles when he fights, like every other Hollywood hero of his era; the fight scenes in "Evil Brain" are brief, well-choreographed dances; this actually makes it more advanced than similar American films of the period, and for this reason worth seeing at least once for all Martial arts fans.

A bird! Its a ... Wait a minute! Its a Japanese super hero! Yes, its Starman! The Japanese equivalent of Superman, Starman has gone through various incarnations over the decades. Ken Utusi was the original. Think of this movie this way ... Godzilla meets Buck Rogers. Kind of. This is, if you're the type of person that enjoys the old Godzilla movies and stuff like Gene Autry's Radio Ranch, camp. Given when this movie was made it is good, clean sci-fi fun. And the aliens and their costumes? Hilarious. Special effects? Not found wanting here. There is that old stand by, the one I never could figure out and that always fascinated me as a child ... Words go one way, mouths go another. How did they DO that?