The Brain Eaters ** (1958, Ed Nelson, Alan Frost, Joanna Lee, Jack Hill) – Classic Movie Review 2486

Director Bruno VeSota’s silly 1958 tame tingler is more science fiction than horror movie. It rejoices in a mundane plot about hairy alien parasites from the centre of the earth attaching themselves to the backs of the bodies of citizens in the small Illinois town of Riverdale to take over their minds.

A mysterious, three-storey-tall, cone-like object has appeared outside town and a team of local scientists discovers the alien parasites when they investigate. The first victims whose brains have been taken over are the town’s leading citizens!

You’d think few people would notice and even fewer would care. But luckily scientist Dr Paul Kettering (Ed [Edwin] Nelson, also the film’s producer) does, and he fights with the stubborn military who, naturally, refuse to believe his dire warnings. 

This variant on the similarly premised Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is interesting in that it evokes a sense of 50s paranoia but it is pretty poorly done in all departments. It doesn’t help that it was made on a shoestring budget of $26,000.

Actor VeSota wanted to direct a film and showed the script to Roger Corman, who helped him raise the low budget and arranged distribution through American International Pictures, filming in just six days. Corman acted as executive producer.

Gordon Urquhart’s screenplay is based, distantly and without permission, on Robert A Heinlein’s 1951 novel The Puppet Masters. Heinlein sued for plagiarism, asking for $150,000. Corman vowed he was unfamiliar with Heinlein’s work but saw the similarities once he read the story, so he settled out of court for $5,000. Heinlein demanded no screen credit, as he found the film ‘wanting’.

It halted actor John Payne’s plan to produce a movie based on the novel. But it was finally filmed in 1994, directed by Stuart Orme and starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Keith David, Julie Warner and Andrew Robinson.

There is a brief appearance as Professor Cole by Leonard Nimoy whose name is misspelled in tenth place in the credits as Leonard Nemoy. Also in the cast are Alan Frost, Joanna Lee, Jody Fair, Jack Hill, David Hughes, Robert Ball, Doug Bans and Henry Randolph.

The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Earth vs the Spider.

Nelson created the parasites himself using little wind-up toys covered with fur from an old coat and pipe cleaners for antennae.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2486

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