The Brain from Planet Arous

Whose that guy with the big head?

The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), directed by Nathan H. Juran Starring; John Agar, Joyce Meadows and Robert Fuller.

I told you I'd review this movie. Why because it stars John Agar from my previously review Zontar the Thing from Venus, which was inspired by my exposure from SCTV. But it doesn't stop there. Clips from this movie also feature prominently in the opening credits of Malcolm in the Middle and Ernest Scared Stupid.

Fall down, go boom!!!

So with that being said let us take a look at The Brain from Planet
Arous and find more about this cult classic.
The film opens with a shot of Mystery Mountain (Yes that's what it's called in the movie) where a strange explosion takes place.

Wow that's meta!!!

The cataclysmic activity is noticed by local scientist Steve March (John Agar) and his assistant Dan Murphy (Robert Fuller).

According to the lab's Nucleometer (Is that a made up word?) there appears to be an increased amount of radioactivity recorded in the facility where it sporadically appears and disappears. Curious as to the nature of the anomaly the two set out to Mystery Mountain to investigate, right after lunch of course.

I have a gun,
and I'm not afraid to use it!!!

It is at this point we are introduced to Sally Fallon (Joyce Meadows) happily barbecuing said lunch. Later as the two men make towards Mystery Mountain they discover a freshly excavated cave with radiation readings going off the scale, so naturally they leave... no that wouldn't advance the plot so they decide to go and investigate. Of course both men are armed... I mean what respectable scientist is NOT a gun toting badass right?

Look, it's Grumpy Cat!!!

As they poke around trying to find the source of the energy spikes (It's bloody radiation man!!! Go back and gets some Hazmat suits or something!!!),  they naturally run into the title character of this piece. A giant, disembodied, floating brain... any surprises?

A week later, Steve reappears and Sally is somewhat disturbed by his aggressive behavior, she is also perplexed about the absence of Dan, whom Steve claims is on vacation in Las Vegas.

Gakk!!! 3-D vision taken too far!!!

In his lab Steve finds out that the alien brain is named Gor, and that he is using Steve's body to travel
freely amongst humans, since he is a leading scientist with access to government installations. He coerces Steve to co-operate by threatening Sally's safety and warns him that he cannot be hurt through traditional means. Gor also has the means to inflict harm on humans by causing pain which can eventually burn his victims alive... sucks don't it?

Sally is convinced that her fiancé is in distress and decides to take her father (Thomas Brown Henry) into her confidence. After failing to be able to talk to Steve Mr Fallon and Sally decide to investigate the cave that started this whole affair in order to find out what's going on and to settle the mystery of Dan's absence.

Sit Ubu, sit. Good dog.

As they retrace the steps taken by the two scientists they discover Dan's body inside the cave. Additionally the two run into another alien brain named Vol (aliens never seem to possess a last name). This second brain is an enforcer sent to Earth to capture Gor and bring him to justice. The alien brain makes plans to visit the Fallon's at their home the next day and tells them to keep his presence a secret.

Meanwhile Gor is busy making plans to demonstrate his power to the human race. He gets Steve to invite himself to a nuclear bomb test on his behalf and decides to celebrate by getting together with Sally.

Vol is also making plans of his own as he decides to hide hie consciousness inside George, the

A brain that big
could feed a family
of zombies for a week!!!

Fallon's family dog in order to track Gor's movements without arousing suspicion. He then tells his allies that Gor's weakness is that he occasionally must leave his host every 24 hours to assimilate oxygen and that his vulnerable spot is located in the part of the brain known as "The Fissure of Rolando" (or the Central Sulcus).

As Gor becomes more accustomed to his human host, he begins to demonstrate his powers by destroying a passenger plane flying by. We all know that Gor is up to no good and he seems to be unstoppable. Oh the humanity!!!

At the heart of it all The Brain from Planet Arous is a competent B movie feature that is quite entertaining and a fun movie that stands above the usual creature features of the day. John Agar turns out a much better performance than his character from Zontar, The Thing from Venus and the brain creatures look pretty cool too, even though both creatures look exactly alike (You can only do so much with brains that have eyes).

It was all a dream Toto!!!