The Brain Eaters
Director:
Bruni VeSota
Year: 1958
Rating: 5.0
The poster
and title of this film are probably the best thing about it. And in retrospect,
an appearance by Leonard Nimoy (spelled Nemoy in the credits) who is only
recognizable by his voice. This is so low budget ($26,000 and six days of
shooting) that they could not even afford to hire John Agar as the lead.
An independent film distributed by AIP and with the involvement of Roger
Corman. It was later sued by Robert A. Heinlein for plagiarism of his novel
The Puppet Masters, but it reminded me more of the 1953 Invaders from Mars
and falls neatly into the sci-fi category of paranoia, brainwashing and loss
of identity with the subtext of Communism or the Red Scare underneath it.
In the small town of Riverdale before Archie, Jughead and Veronica, a large
metal cone appears on the outskirts in the woods. The local scientists can't
figure out what it is and nothing seems to damage it. A Senator from Washington
shows up but due to budgetary restraints, no one else. People in town start
dying or becoming violent. Dr. Kettering (Ed Nelson) discovers that parasites
have attached themselves to the neck of people and can control them. If the
parasite is removed, they die. And they are spreading. Considering the budget
and one week production time, this isn't bad at all. It creates an eerie
mood and for what its worth, the paranoia strikes deep. Directed by Bruno
VeSota (Female Jungle and regular in Corman films).
