The Film Detective release the B movie classic,
The Brain from Planet Arous on Blu-ray. The company continues to impress with their stable
of underground, cult classics. Teenage monsters, juvenile gangs and deceitful
femme fatales have all made it into their catalogue and have provided an
excellent, wide range of pure entertainment. The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)
is no exception.
Nathan Juran’s wonderful piece of science
fiction hokum remains a firm favourite among B movie buffs. With a cast headed
by John Agar and Joyce Meadows, the story finds Professor Steve March (Agar) in
his laboratory with his assistant Dan Murphy (Robert Fuller). Both men are
troubled by some unusual readings and bursts of radiation coming from the
desert, specifically, the wonderfully
named Mystery Mountain. Both are eager to head out there and inspect the
situation as quickly as possible. Steve's fiancée, the domestic goddess Sally
Fallon (Joyce Meadows) is fully behind the boys, but refuses to let them leave
on empty stomachs, especially after preparing the perfect barbecue in the
garden - what a gal!
Steve, Dan and a bellies full of hamburgers
arrive in the desert to discover a newly-formed cave. As they begin to explore
inside they are met by a large, telepathic, floating brain. The alien lifeform
kills Dan and proceeds to enter the body of Steve. A week later, Steve returns
home, concocting a story about Dan taking a break and taking off to Las Vegas.
It soon becomes apparent that Steve is not acting in a normal manner , in fact, he’s become something
of a horny sex pest, especially towards Sally, who he practically tries to rape
at any given opportunity.
Steve has obviously become possessed by the
alien brain (called Gor) (and is incidentally voiced by the film’s associate
producer Dale Tate). The possessed Steve has become a power-mad tyrant who
gleefully blows passenger planes from the sky or deights in destroying entire
towns with his newly- found powers and abilities.
It’s all wonderful material and a complete
joy to absorb. Agar really seems to be enjoying this role. After so often
portraying the clean-cut, all-American hero, he appears to relish the
opportunity in playing the bad guy.
The Film Detective has provided a beautiful
4K restoration and the film looks incredible. There are two options to view it,
either in a theatrical widescreen (1.85:1) ratio, or a straight-forward full
frame (1.33:1) format. I would actually recommend the latter. After watching
both versions, the full frame version seems to retain a greater element of fine
detail, but of course this is down to individual choice. The contrast and depth offered in the black
and white photography really shines through, as does the lovely clean audio
track.
Extras on this special edition are also very
enjoyable, and this is where I believe The Film Detective really notches up the
fun factor. Their presentations always carry a firm tongue-in-cheek element.
These films were never going to be multi-Oscar winners, and The Film Detective
recognises that - but never without a lack of respect. There is a terrific commentary
track featuring the always enthusiastic and knowledgeable film historian Tom
Weaver, Monstrous Movie Music’s David Schecter (who released a great
re-recording of the score and whose CD I still recommend) and the lovely Joyce
Meadows joins in with the memories of making the movie. In fact, Joyce Meadows
also has her own featurette / introduction on the disc, ‘Not the same Brain’,which
finds her recreating her role as Sally, visiting locations and basically having
a great deal of fun with it all. There are also a couple more featurettes, ‘The
Man before the Brain: Director Nathan Juran’ and ‘The Man Behind the Brain: The
World of Nathan Juran’. Both are original Ballyhoo productions, and despite
some overlapping information between them both, they are nevertheless
insightful and enjoyable. Also inside there is an excellent 10- page booklet
featuring an essay by Tom Weaver, ‘The Brains Behind the Brain: The Sci-Fi Career
of Producer Jacques Marquette’.
The Film Detective are on a fine roll of
releases of late, and I only hope they continue on the same path. They have
captured a format that really works in both their choices of titles and their
presentation.
(Darren Allison is the Soundtracks Editor for Cinema Retro. Read his column in every issue.)
Click here to order from Amazon or click here to order directly from the Film Detective web site.