THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1957) Blu-ray Review

The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) d. Nathan Juran (as Nathan Hertz) (USA) (71 min)

“Recognized nuclear scientist” Steve March (John Agar) and his way-too-young assistant Dan Murphy (Robert Fuller) pick up some troubling radiation activity on their, ahem, Nucliometer, and determine that the source of the Geiger-jiggering is none other than the ominously named Mystery Mountain (where viewers have seen a bright floating light land and explode during the opening credits). They pack up their equipment and drive out into the blazing hot desert to investigate – leaving Steve’s fiancee Sally Fallon (Joyce Meadows) to clean up the dishes from lunch – and encounter a flagitious floating flock of megalomaniacal gray matter calling itself Gor (voiced by Dale Tate). Seems Gor has escaped from his (despite its limited anatomy, this is very much a male presence) home world of Arous and is now bent on dominating ours, starting with the overtly hostile act of frying Dan and then taking over Steve’s body in order to a) threaten the world’s leaders with annihilation and b) sexually assault Sally every chance he gets. Meanwhile, Arous has sent another airborne brain, the intergalactic police officer Vol (also voiced by Tate), who allies forces with Sally, her father John (Thomas B. Henry), and their faithful dog George to deal with the mental menace from beyond the Milky Way. May the best frontal lobe win!

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL (1957) Blu-ray Review

Monster from Green Hell (1957) d. Kenneth G. Crane (USA) (71 min)

Dr. Quint Brady (Jim Davis) and colleague Dan Morgan (Robert E. Griffin) are performing the usual 1950s cinematic scientist duties of space exploration, researching the effects of cosmic radiation on a few animal test subjects (including wasps, monkeys, and crabs) by firing them in three, count ’em, three rockets into the stratosphere. Unfortunately, one of the capsules goes off course, disappearing from the radar although the “computer” determines that it will probably land somewhere “in Africa.” Sure enough, six months later, there are reports arising from an area known as Green Hell, already treated with much apprehension from the locals, that SOMETHING has arrived so unnerving that birds refuse to nest in the trees and herds of elephants (and other stock footage wildlife) steer clear. Oh, and one of the tribe has been killed by a predator that injected so much venom into its victim that resident white doctor Dr. Lorentz (Vladimir Solokoff) is stumped. Brady and Morgan FINALLY mount an expedition to track down their stray rocket to see if there is a connection. Surprise, surprise, there is, to the tune of mammoth radiation-mutated wasps buzzing, stinging, and strangling their helpless prey, and it’s up to our heroic Western eggheads to clean up the mess.

VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST (1974) Blu-ray Review

Voodoo Black Exorcist (1974) d. Manuel Caño (Spain) (88 min)

Despite trying to cash in on the name of William Friedkin’s possession classic (and the quickly fading blaxploitation era), this is really a mummy movie in disguise. Things kick off “2000 years ago” with two men fighting over the love of a woman on Caribbean island… all sporting black face (and body) paint. After one kills the other, there is a big ceremony wherein the woman is beheaded and the high priest is mummified while topless women dance around the fire. That’s the first five minutes, folks.

EEGAH! (1962) Blu-ray Review

Eegah! (1962) d. Arch Hall Sr. (USA) (90 min)

“Love Breaks the Time Barrier!”

Arch Hall Sr. produced and directed this deliriously delightful train wreck under the pseudonym of Nicholas Merriwether, and then cast himself in a major supporting role under another aka of "William Watters." One assumes this was done to not call attention to his relation to the film’s nominal star, Arch Hall, Jr., who zips around in his dune buggy, squints and smiles a lot from under his zany blonde pompadour, and croons a couple of tunes to his girl Roxy (Marilyn Manning, The Sadist) – usually with other girls’ names as the titles.