NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Micitype Pretty Good

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

unbrokenmetal Steve (John Agar) and Dan (Robert Fuller) make important scientific discoveries and dangerous expeditions into the desert, because they are male, while Sally (Joyce Meadows), Steve's fiancée, just stays home in the kitchen and worries they may not be in time for dinner – that's the 1950s for you. When their Geiger counter shows strange radioactive readings which suddenly appear and disappear again, Steve and Dan go to Mystery Mountain where a cave has recently been blasted into the rocks. Soon they find traces of an alien, the brain from planet Arous, which looks like a painted balloon and is greeted by the Earthlings in the traditional way (with gunshots). When Steve returns later to Sally, he seems to remember nothing and acts strange. The big brain has an evil influence over him, obviously. Even Steve's kisses become threatening. Sally now goes to the cave with her father, where they find the body of Dan and another brain which politely explains it is chasing the first one because that brain is a dangerous criminal with plans to conquer the world...Typical B movie silliness, mostly good fun. The painted balloon aliens (superimposed, so you can see through them) are something to remember. Since the story is not simply men vs invaders, but also involves a helpful alien, the flick is more interesting than most of its kind.

Paul Andrews The Brain from Planet Arous starts as nuclear physicist Dr. Steve Marsh (John Agar) & his friend Dan (Robert Fuller) detect blasts of radiation coming from the nearby Mystery Mountain, the two decide to drive out there & investigate the unusual phenomenon. Once there the two scientists discover a large floating alien brain from the planet Arous named Gor, the alien brain Gor is evil & kills Dan with a blast of radiation & possesses Steve's body & takes complete control of his mind. Gor becomes infatuated with Steve's fiancé Sally (Joyce Meadows) as he plans world domination, Gor causes a passenger plane to explode & crash before ordering representative's from all leading nation's to a summit meeting where he demands all of Earth's resources be handed over to him so he can build the most fearsome invasion fleet the Universe has ever seen. Gor is power mad & will stop at nothing to rule his home planet Arous & destroy any other that tries to stop him...Directed by Nathan Juran under the name Nathan Hertz (Hertz was Juran's middle name) this is yet another ludicrous but entertaining sci-fi film that is silly, camp & unintentionally funny but also highly enjoyable in a cheesy & charming sort of way. I am sure most viewers will dismiss The Brain from Planet Arous as a cheap nonsense but if you have a fondness for infamously bad films such as Robot Monster (1954) & Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) then you have to see this as it's on par with both of those. The script for The Brain from Planet Arous is ridiculous, a giant alien brain with glowing eyes arrives on Earth (it's never explained how he gets here since he seems to need a spaceship to get back to Arous which he has to build) & possesses a scientist & develops lurid & sexual desires towards Sally while another giant alien brain who is good & here to capture Gor also arrives & possesses Steve's dog George! It all sounds silly & it is but I found it infinitely entertaining, at only just over 70 minutes long it moves along like a rocket, the dialogue isn't as bad as some other sci-fi films from the same period & there are one or two effectives moments. The character's are alright even if Sally & her father seem rather relaxed, unshocked & unconcerned about the giant talking alien brain they meet! There are also a few other howlers here, the idea that a scientist can say with 100% accuracy that no force on Earth could have made the plane crash & that aliens are responsible is lazy while Steve seems to know a lot about Mystery Mountain if he can tell a pile of rocks at the base weren't there a year ago! I mean a rock fall might have happened & did he memorise every rock at the base the last time was there a year ago? Wouldn't a nuclear scientist have better things to do? The for some reason Sally knew that the bodies from the plane crash were burned like Dan yet she was not allowed to see the bodies & told to go away at the scene of the crash so how did she know?The production values are alright, obviously a really low budget film the special effects aren't too bad considering. The giant brains look silly but because of what they are & the concept that they represent rather than because of bad special effects if you see what I mean. The only really bad effects shots are the planes exploding which are less than impressive. There's some stock footage of an atomic bomb going off & destroying a town & a wimpy crash at the start. The sexual advances & the way Gor talks about Sally must have been quite strong for it's day, he forces himself upon her a couple of times trying to rip open her top & take her bra off, George the dog comes to her rescue but get a kicking for it's trouble in yet another scene that seemed quite strong for it's day.Filmed in black and white on a budget of about $58,000 the ever popular Bronson Canyon was used as a location (maybe Gor's cave was the one that the mighty Ro-Man from Robot Monster hung out in...). The acting varies, John Agar is alright as are most of the main cast but some of the smaller roles are filled with really bad actor's.The Brain from Planet Arous is another highly entertaining film that I really liked, it's difficult to recommend it & give it more than five out of ten but I would rather watch this again than a lot of the crap that gets released these days. A top guilty pleasure.

carlso63 As a kid growing up on Long Island in the 1970s, I was lucky enough to watch TV shows like "Creature Features" on Channel 5 and "Chiller Theater" on Channel 11. Movies like "Brain from Planet Arous" were staples of these SciFi and Horror- themed formats....I have just ordered a copy of this movie and am anxiously awaiting seeing it for the first time in probably 30 years! I don't remember a ton of the plot details but I do remember that John Agars silver/black eye pupils were FREAKING CREEPY LOOKING, and the "Brain" monsters were pretty scary... at least to a 10 year old. Definitely a MUST SEE MOVIE for any serious SciFi buff!If I had to list the Top 5 Best / Scariest SciFi movies from when I was a Kid they would be:#5)"Fiend Without a Face / Night of the Blood Beast" - 2 different movies; one of these was pretty scary. (I just don't remember which one...)#4)"Attack of the Crab Monsters" - The giant crabs faces and voices were pretty scary, as I recall...#3)"Brain From Planet Arous" - As a kid, I used to imagine Gor (the evil Brain) was hiding in my bedroom closet, waiting to "get me"...#2)"The Killer Shrews" - our basement was dark, had a space under the stairs AND a wet bar; just like the one where the Killer Shrew hid and waited to bite his victim!#1) My ***All - Time Favorite Scariest B-Movie*** is "Terror From the Year 5000", with the mutant woman who fries you with her shiny Lee Press-On Nails and then steals your face!!! (Salome Jens, you totally hot mutant babe, you!)

aramm6 "The Brain From Planet Arous" is one of the best 50's sci-fi films of that genre. In the 60's and 70's it was on WOR, or WPIX TV about twice a month. If you are a fan of this film, you should absolutely buy the DVD. It's part of the Wade Williams Collection, and put out by Image Entertainment. The DVD transfer is excellent! One of the better things about this film, is that it is in B & W, not color. John Agars' performance is the ultimate campy overacting, but it fits in just great! There is a small, but good part played by a very young Robert Fuller in the beginning. This film rates up along with another from that time period. "Attack Of The Crab Monsters!" aramm6@yahoo.com