Monstrosity (1963)

I love this movie so much

Good concept, poorly executed.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Marjorie Eaton is Hetty March, an embittered old lady who longs to be youthful again. This granny look-alike ain't carrying around no birdcage with a tweety bird in it and a black and white "putty tat" following her with a knife and fork. She is pure evil, living in an evil looking mansion with an evil looking gate, and is surrounded by an evil looking aging gigolo, an even more evil looking mad doctor, and a very evil looking black cat. Like the legendary Elizabeth Bathory who allegedly drank the blood of young virgins after torturing them in order to keep herself young looking and beautiful, Hetty is determined to find the perfect body to have her brain transfered into so she can live another 70 years and continue to live an evil life until once again she has to find another young body to transfer that old, demented brain of hers into.To say that this is a wonderful piece of camp celluloid is an understatement. It is obvious that Eaton is having a wonderful time being so dastardly, yelling constantly for each of the three foreigners she has hired as "maids" to do her bidding, humiliating the kept man she really has no future use for (after her plans are finalized) and finally barking last minute orders at the doctor as he prepares to strap her into a gurney. The old hag isn't even above murder to make sure her evil plans are accomplished. I thought the choice of the name "Otto Frank" for the doctor, however, to be disrespectful to the memory of his daughter Anne and the famous diary. It would have been simpler and with better taste to simply have chosen another name for this character. At only just over an hour, this seemed more like one of those old fashioned stage melodramas which traveled around community theater barns in the 1930's and 40's, and in the wake of "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and subsequent "frightening old lady" horror epics might have worked in a higher budgeted version with someone like Tallulah Bankhead or Judith Anderson as the evil millionairess. The narration of the piece gives us the insinuation that she is just one of many wealthy old people looking for younger bodies to transfer their brains into. That part of it is extremely hokey and dominates much of the narrative, but a twist at the very end is outrageous and left me shaking with laughter. My wish for the ending, however, would be for the old hag in a new body to be accused of murdering herself and the last shot of her (in the new body with the old brain) being strapped into an electric chair with a genuine look of horror (but no atonement) on her face as she realizes her next stop will be the firey pits of Hades.

I grew up in the pre-Star Wars days and therefore do not demand that every movie be a 50-million dollar, effects laden, all-star extravaganza. If you want that junk, visit the jerks at LucasFilm, Pixar or Disney. Yech! If you also grew up in the pre-1977 era, you will remember that "little movies" were the norm and only rarely did a big, "important" film come along. You will also remember something called NEIGHBORHOOD THEATERS and DRIVE-IN THEATERS! Unlike today's airplane-hanger movie mausoleums, neighborhood theaters had a box office ticket taker right on the street so that pedestrian traffic could look at posters & stills in the windows and ask the ticket-taker about times and prices. Then you just walked into the attractively furnished lobby, bought popcorn & chocolate and climbed the burgundy-carpeted stairs to the balcony. Et voila! If you had a heavy date and felt like making out, but didn't have any privacy at home, you simply saw the late show at the drive-in. Here you could relax in your big flashy car with speaker propped in window, food & drinks on glovebox door and hot-shot heater on the trans-hump. Thrillers were especially effective at the drive-in because sitting in a parked car in a dark lot is enough to make anyone a little paranoid about their safety.So it is in this time and context "Atomic Brain" was made. And it succeeds. It is creepy, atmospheric and at times gross. Perfect for late-night viewing, the entire film has a dream-like quality that makes it easy to believe the impossible is possible.Sexy actor Bradford Dillman lends his sexy voice to the film's opening narration. If this fascinating, well-delivered soliloquy doesn't get your attention and quickly draw you into the proceedings, you have no imagination whatsoever. Dillman's voice is as sardonic as the script and he seems to relish the cynical editorials he makes on the characters and their motives.There are many memorable moments in the film, made so by their irony, truth or shock value. One of most subtle comes when Mrs. March subjects her three new-hires to a THOROUGH "medical examination." One of the girls is so offended by this, she immediately gives notice. Unfortunately, she is bound by contract and Mrs. March won't let her break it.This film is great as the second half of a double-feature with another underrated B film, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die." Get a DVD projector and park your tail-fin convertible in the backyard some night to see how these films played back in the early 1960s. I did and you should, too.

Three good-looking immigrant girls are hired into a majestic mansion, where a surprise awaits them.I got this flick as part of a package called "Best of the Worst". Up to this one, the others really are terrible (Eegah!, Track of the Moon Beast, et al.). However this 60-minutes isn't half-bad and doesn't belong with the others. Of course, it's a really cheap production, but the screenplay also has some imaginative touches, along with a few good performances. I'm thinking particularly of Janet Leigh-look-alike Erika Peters, and Lisa Lang whose impersonation of an angry cat is jolting. Too bad the familiar Frank Gerstle looks in pain at times. But then he does get top billing for maybe the only time in his sturdy career. On the other hand, the old witch Marjorie Eaton certainly looks the part, even as her performance varies. There's also a pretty good skin show for the guys, especially Judy Bamber who's got a knockout figure.Sure, the concept is hokey: using atomic power to transfer brains, but that's really just a variation on the horror classic Frankenstein (1931). Too bad a spooky noir director didn't get the material. The visuals could really use more shadowy lighting to heighten suspense. Naturally, there are the expected snickers from a drive-in special like this, but there are also a few unexpected jolts not typical of the genre. Anyhow, the little flick has more compensations than expected for a barrel bottom production. Overall, the 60-minutes is certainly better than a 2.5 rating.

The longest voice over introduction award belongs to THE LUCIFER COMPLEX and clocks in at about 22 minutes of voice over before the movie starts. That film also is mostly stock footage for that same amount of time. This movie deserves some credit. This movie has about 8 minutes of voice over set up.Atomic Brain is a poor title for this the original title Monstrosity is a good one. But there is an atomic element here.Either buy the premise or not. If you do there does seems to be genuine hatred between the scientist and the creepy old lady out for a new body. And yes the scenes of her checking out the girls to put her brain into is disturbing and that's the way it's intended to go. There is/are elements of exploitation here which at the time were probably pretty racy, lots of bare backs and even a scantily covered first woman in the atomic chamber who is wearing nothing but the slimmest of metal bands to cover her naughty parts.The plot goes places you won't expect, the women look pretty good and what happens to most of them is fairly disturbing and in one case both disturbing and funny. The makeup is occasionally graphic, and yes there is a monstrosity running around the garden.There is funny comic music theme to go along with one girl who claims to have the same measurements as Marlyn Monroe.I say give this movie a chance it's low budget, occasionally no budget but if you can forgive that there are a few flashes of style and fast paced horror mad scientist fun to be had. There are things in this movie you will never find anywhere else, give it points for that. This movie works in the way it's supposed to for the most part, give it a shot.