Monstrosity (1964)

User Rating:

2.2/10   

Director:

Joseph V. Mascelli

Writers:

Dean Dillman Jr. (writer)
Sue Dwiggins (writer)

Release Date:

December 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Bodies for sale!

Plot:

A rich but unscrupulous old woman plots with a scientist to have her brain implanted in the skull of a sexy young woman.

Plot Keywords:

Brain | Old Woman | Experiment | Eye | Cat

Cast

Marjorie Eaton	...	Hetty March
Frank Gerstle	...	Dr. Otto Frank
Frank Fowler	...	Victor
Erika Peters	...	Nina Rhodes
Judy Bamber	...	Bea Mullins
Lisa Lang	...	Anita Gonzalez
Xerxes	...	Himself - The Cat

Also Known As:

The Atomic Brain (TV title)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cinema Venture

Trivia:

Shot in ten days.

Quotes:

Narrator: As with the other bodies stolen from cemeteries, the nerve endings of the brain were too far gone to receive a proper transplant. The experiment failed to produce anything more than a walking, breathing zombie-like creature. But the doctor permitted her to wander about the laboratory - she was harmless and
[leering tone]
Narrator: at times even amusing.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Atomic Brain (#6.18)" (1993)

Queerly Disturbing D-Grader

I enjoy bad movies. There is such a wicked delight in watching something that fails on many levels. Because of this enjoyment, I had originally intended to regularly review a movie from the Treeline 50 Sci-fi movie collection. But that was until I watched "The Atomic Brain" (aka Monstrosity).

It all came to fruition in a particular scene which made me uncomfortable with my whole bad movie fascination; like finding out that your first girlfriend has since turned into a lesbian.

But first, a quick précis of the film.

Given that its a black and white film called the Atomic Brain (aka Monstrosity), you should be guessing that you are about to watch a movie with obvious D-grade plot, photography, acting and script. And you would have made an excellent guess.

But what differentiates this film from other D-grade fodder are two unique aspects.

The first is the voice over. This film must have the longest voice over introduction in history. The only voice you hear for the first 15 minutes of the film is the voice-over guy. Normally, the voice-over guy is a device to setup a film, then he vanishes, to maybe reappear at the end, if everyone has died, with an "I told you so".

But this voice-over is unique. Firstly, the delivery is akin to the "You will follow the great leader" type you might associate with mass hypnosis cults. Except, instead of delivering the facts, the voice-over not only paraphrases the feeling of the main characters, but in places provides disparaging editorial comment on the actions taken by the main characters. Its all quite strange.

The second aspect relates to the uncomfortable scene mentioned earlier. Essentially, voice-over guy in his first 15 minutes establishes that the old lady wants to transplant her brain into a new young body. So, later in the movie, we have this scene where the old lady is asking the young women to model some underwear (so she can also check out her shape), and our friend the voice over guy reappears, and you sense lewdly enjoys telling us what she thinks, with comments such as "she is so nicely rounded in places men like".

Basically, listening to a disturbed voice-over guy explaining the desires an 80 year old women has for the body of a 19yr old girl is not something I would like to experience alone again. Especially when the old lady has the same name as your first girlfriend.

Worth only watching so that when you view the Mystery Science Theatre version, you actually begin to see how clever those MST guys must be to make it enjoyable.