The Brain Eaters ** (1958, Ed Nelson, Alan Frost, Joanna Lee, Jack Hill) – Classic Movie Review 2,486

Hairy alien parasites from the centre of the Earth attach themselves to the backs of the bodies of citizens in a small Illinois town to take over their minds, in the 1958 tingler film The Brain Eaters.

Director Bruno VeSota’s silly 1958 black-and-white tame tingler film The Brain Eaters is more science fiction than horror movie. It rejoices in a mundane plot about hairy alien parasites from the centre of the earth attaching themselves to the backs of the bodies of citizens in the small Illinois town of Riverdale to take over their minds.

A mysterious, three-storey-tall, cone-like object has appeared outside town and a team of local scientists discovers the alien parasites when they investigate. The first victims whose brains have been taken over are the town’s leading citizens!

You’d think few people would notice and even fewer would care. But luckily scientist Dr Paul Kettering (Ed [Edwin] Nelson, also the film’s producer) does, and he fights with the stubborn military who, naturally, refuse to believe his dire warnings. 

This variant on the similarly premised Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is interesting in that it evokes a sense of 50s paranoia, but it is pretty poorly done in all departments. It doesn’t help that it was made on a shoestring budget of $26,000.

Actor Bruno VeSota wanted to direct a film and showed the script to producer Roger Corman, who helped him to raise the low budget and arranged distribution through American International Pictures, filming in just six days. Corman acted as uncredited executive producer.

Gordon Urquhart’s screenplay is based, distantly and without permission, on Robert A Heinlein’s 1951 novel The Puppet Masters. Heinlein sued for plagiarism, asking for $150,000. Corman vowed that he was unfamiliar with Heinlein’s work but saw the similarities once he read the story, so he settled out of court for $5,000. Heinlein demanded no screen credit, as he found the film ‘wanting’.

It halted actor John Payne’s plan to produce a movie based on the novel. But The Puppet Masters was finally filmed in 1994, directed by Stuart Orme and starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Keith David, Julie Warner and Andrew Robinson. Oddly, and unexpectedly, The Puppet Masters was a critical and commercial failure, grossing only $8.6 million against a $15 million budget.

There is a brief appearance as Professor Cole by Leonard Nimoy whose name is misspelled in tenth place in the credits as Leonard Nemoy. Also in the cast are Alan Frost, Joanna Lee, Jody Fair, Jack Hill, David Hughes, Robert Ball, Doug Bans and Henry Randolph.

The score by Tom Jonson consists of large excerpts from symphonic works by Dmitri Kabalevsky, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich.

The film is made by Corinthian Productions and was released by American International Pictures in October 1958 as a double feature either with Earth vs the Spider (’50 TONS of creeping black horror’)  or with Terror from the Year 5000.

Ed Nelson created the parasites himself using little wind-up toys covered with fur from an old coat and pipe cleaners for antennae.

The cast

The cast are Ed Nelson (credited as Edwin Nelson) as Dr Paul Kettering, Alan Jay Factor (credited as Alan Frost) as Glenn Cameron, Cornelius Keefe (credited as Jack Hill)as Senator Walter K Powers, Joanna Lee as Alice Summers, Jody Fair as Elaine Cameron, David Hughes as Dr Wyler, Robert Ball as Dan Walker, Phil Posner (credited as Greigh Phillips) as the Sheriff, Orville Sherman as Mayor Cameron. Leonard Nimoy (credited as Leonard Nemoy) as Professor Cole, Doug Banks as Doctor, Henry Randolph as Telegrapher, Saul Bronson as Professor Helsingman, and Hampton Fancher as Zombie.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,486

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