The Brain from Planet Arous
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''The Brain from Planet Arous'' is a 1957 independently made American
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
science fiction film, produced by Jacques R. Marquette, directed by Nathan H. Juran, that stars
John Agar John George Agar Jr. (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', '' Fort Apache'', and '' She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''. In h ...
,
Joyce Meadows Joyce Meadows, born Joyce Johanna Burger (born April 13, 1933) is a Canadian-American film and television actress. Life and career Meadows was born in Arrowwood, Alberta, moving with her family to Montana and then California. She worked as a ...
, and Robert Fuller. Distributed briefly by Howco International in late 1957, the film appeared in 1958 on a double feature with ''
Teenage Monster ''Teenage Monster'' is a 1958 independently made science fiction- horror Western film. It was produced and directed by Jacques R. Marquette, and stars Anne Gwynne and Stuart Wade. The film had a first screening on December 25, 1957, in Los Ang ...
''. The storyline features themes of alien possession and world domination by an alien named Gor. Another alien, Vol, has been sent to Earth to capture the criminal Gor and return him to their home world.


Plot

An outer space terrorist from a planet named Arous, a brain-shaped creature named Gor (Dale Tate), arrives on Earth and possesses young scientist Steve March (Agar). Gor proceeds to use his vast, destructive powers to bend the world to his will, threatening to wipe out the capital city of any nation that dares to defy him. Meanwhile, Vol (Tate), another brain creature from Arous, arrives and eventually inhabits the body of March's fiancee's dog. Vol goes on to explain that Gor is a wanted criminal on their world. His only physical weakness is the human body's fissure of Rolando, and Gor is only vulnerable during the brief period when he needs to exit his host to absorb oxygen.


Cast

*
John Agar John George Agar Jr. (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', '' Fort Apache'', and '' She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''. In h ...
as Steve March *
Joyce Meadows Joyce Meadows, born Joyce Johanna Burger (born April 13, 1933) is a Canadian-American film and television actress. Life and career Meadows was born in Arrowwood, Alberta, moving with her family to Montana and then California. She worked as a ...
as Sally Fallon * Robert Fuller as Dan Murphy *
Thomas Browne Henry Thomas Browne Henry (November 7, 1907 – June 30, 1980) was an American character actor known for many guest appearances on television and in films. He was active with the Pasadena Community Playhouse and was the older brother of actor ...
as John Fallon *
Kenneth Terrell Kenneth Jones Terrell (April 29, 1904 – March 8, 1966) was an American western and action film actor and stuntman best known for playing Joe Marcelli in the 1956 film ''Indestructible Man'' and Jess in the 1958 film ''Attack of the 50 Fo ...
as Colonel in Conference Room *
Henry Travis Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
as Colonel Frogley * E. Leslie Thomas as General Brown * Tim Graham as Sheriff Wiley Pane * Bill Giorgio as Russian * Kenner G. Kemp as Military Man at Meeting * Dale Tate as Professor/Voices of Gor & Vol (uncredited)


Production

The special effect for Agar's eyes was achieved by using special contact lenses lined with metal foil. These were used a decade later by actor
Gary Lockwood Gary Lockwood (born John Gary Yurosek; February 21, 1937) is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the '' Star ...
during the second '' Star Trek'' TV series pilot episode "
Where No Man Has Gone Before "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series, ''Star Trek''. Written by Samuel A. Peeples and directed by James Goldstone, it first aired on September 22, 1966. In t ...
". Stock footage of unoccupied houses being flash-incinerated in above-ground atomic bomb tests was used to demonstrate Gor's psychic powers. The plot of an alien interstellar policeman is pursuing a dangerous, space-faring criminal who must slip into and possess the bodies of Earth lifeforms is similar to the classic
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
novel '' Needle'' by
Hal Clement Harry Clement Stubbs (May 30, 1922 – October 29, 2003), better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre. He also painted astronomically oriented artworks under ...
that was first published in 1949 as a multi-part serial in '' Astounding Science Fiction'' magazine. The 1987 film '' The Hidden'' also shares similar story elements without being a direct adaptation of Clement's novel. Director
Nathan Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for ''How Green Was My Valley'', ...
was unhappy with the final film and changed his screen credit to the pseudonym "Nathan Hertz".


Reception

''The Brain from Planet Arous'' currently holds a score of 20% ("Rotten") at the film
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website
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, with an average rating of 3.6/10 based on 5 reviews. In his review of the movie, although film critic
Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...
wrote "Those looking for a movie to laugh at will find no end of mirth herein," he also reports that the "direction of this minimal budget picture is nothing to be ashamed of" and "Producer/Cameraman Jacques Marquette can be proud of his sharp b&w photography." Writing in
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
, critic Steve Simels described the movie as "fairly standard power-mad-alien-wants-to-have-sex-with-earth-women nonsense," but that the film was "redeemed by a few loony plot twists ndnice tongue-in-cheek performances."


In popular culture

Although its B-movie status gave it poor reviews upon its initial release, the film has since become a
cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
. It has been parodied on American television: The comedy series '' Malcolm in the Middle'' uses a segment of ''The Brain from Planet Arous'' as part of its opening credits. A clip was also used in the opening scene of the
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
'' Ernest Scared Stupid'' that featured a collage of horror films. ''The Brain from Planet Arous'' is also featured in the film '' The Butcher Boy'' (1997), which is viewed by the main character at his local movie theater. In 1983, Stephen King told ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' magazine that his novel "'' Carrie'', for example, derived to a considerable extent from a terrible grade-B movie called ''The Brain from Planet Arous''. The voice clip: from the film was used in the 1997 Jay Weinland track "Sound Stage Strut" as part of the ''
Need for Speed II ''Need for Speed II'' is a racing video game released in 1997. It is a part of the ''Need for Speed'' series and is the second installment, following '' The Need for Speed''. Gameplay Like its predecessor, ''Need for Speed II'' allows pla ...
'' soundtrack. The same clip was used 2001 in Frank Klepacki's track "Brain Freeze" as part of the '' Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge'' soundtrack, together with another voice clip from the film in the song "Drok". The credits track for the film ''
House of the Dead 2 is a horror-themed light gun shooter arcade game and the second game in '' The House of the Dead'' series of video games. The direct sequel to '' The House of the Dead'', it was developed by Sega for arcades on the Sega NAOMI board in Novembe ...
'' also used a vocal sample of the film, as did a 1991 ''
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'' ad, which asked, "Were you watching this when the '' Beverly Hills 90210'' Christmas special aired"?, prompting multiple viewers to respond "''The Brain from Planet Arous'' was the better choice". The electronic musician
Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produce ...
used the following voice sample from the film in his track "Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff" from the album ''
For Lack of a Better Name ''For Lack of a Better Name'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian electronic music producer Deadmau5. It was released on September 22, 2009 in the United States and Canada by Ultra Records and Mau5trap and internationally on 5 October 2009 b ...
'': This sample was also used in 1997 by DJ Buzz Fuzz in the track "Jealousy (Is A M.F.)", which appeared on volume 17 of the '' Thunderdome'' series. This same sample has also been used by
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
gothic metal band
Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial crea ...
in the track "Lucy" from a
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album '' Skeleton Skeletron'',
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gothic metal/ Darkwave band The Crest in the song "In This Cage" from their debut 2002 album '' Letters from Fire'', Alien Vampires track "You'll All Die", as well as
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
industrial metal band
The Kovenant The Kovenant is a Norwegian industrial metal band from Hamar. The band originally formed as a symphonic black metal act known as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish elect ...
in the track "Acid Theatre" from a 2003 album ''
SETI The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other pl ...
''. It also has been used by Japanese musician Toshiyuki Kakuta (known by his DJ name as L.E.D.) in many of his original tracks for the
Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...
music game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...
, ''
Beatmania IIDX is a series of rhythm video games, that was first introduced by Konami in Japan on February 26, 1999. ''IIDX'' has since spawned 31 arcade releases and 14 console releases on the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to the '' beatmania'' gam ...
''. It has even found its way into psychedelic trance, in the track "Shockwave" by Azax Syndrom. The line: "you must find strength", spoken by Vol, is used in the beginning of the
Crossbreed A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to mai ...
song "Pure Energy", as well as in the ''
Strapping Young Lad Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, '' Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing ...
'' song "Decimator".
Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime series, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has wri ...
also used the sample on the track "Autumn in Ganymede" composed for '' Cowboy Bebop''.
The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...
sample the line, "Your feeling of helplessness is your best friend, savage" on their album ''
Chill Out Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...
''. The song "Rule The Universe" by
Bass Mekanik Bass Mekanik (b. Neil Case, Jamaica) is a Miami bass DJ first released in 1994 on Pandisc Records. Bass Mekanik has been active for over two decades, producing 10 studio albums, 3 singles, and a DVD. He then started his own record label in 2009 ...
features the sample multiple times.
Dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
producer Datsik in his song "Light The Fuse" and Cigue band in their track "Dear Hatred" have also used the first part of this sample, "After I'm gone, your Earth will be free to live out its miserable span of existence,...". The sample of Gor's introduction has also been featured in various songs, including "Maid-san Para Para" by Pilko Minami and in L.E.D.'s remix of the Anubis Final Battle theme for the album '' Zone of the Enders ReMix Edition''. In 2002 for their song "Perfekte Droge", from their album ''
Herzwerk II ''Herzwerk II'' ("Heart-work II") is the fourth studio album by German industrial metal band Megaherz. It is the last album to feature singer Alexx Wesselsky before he left with Noel Pix to form Eisbrecher. The final track, "Es brennt" ("It Burns ...
'' the German band ''Megaherz''. used Gor's laugh and a sample of: Dialog samples taken from ''Brain from Planet Arous'' are available in Sony's royalty-free sample library pack, ''Methods of Mayhem: Industrial Toolkit''. The film was the inspiration for the Zontar episode of '' Second City Television''. (source: SCTV Remembered Part 2, DVD) In 2022, actor Joyce Meadows played both herself and also Sally Fallon (her character in ''The Brain from Planet Arous'') in a 13-minute short film that was part-promotional movie and part-comedy for The Film Detective's Blu-ray/DVD release of a restored version of the original 1957 movie. Titled ''Not the Same Old Brain'', it was written, directed, and filmed by David Schecter of the Monstrous Movie Music soundtrack CD label. (source: The Film Detective)


See also

*'' Donovan's Brain'', an earlier film dealing with "brain" possession


References


Bibliography

* Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties'', 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009 (First Edition 1982). .


External links

* * *
Original soundtrack for ''The Brain from Planet Arous''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain From Planet Arous 1957 films 1950s science fiction films Alien invasions in films Films directed by Nathan Juran Fictional extraterrestrial characters 1950s monster movies American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films