Monstrosity: The Atomic Brain 2003 Horror Movie Review

The Atomic Brain:  I saw this movie, or rather flipped through it, again, this time from the Alpha Video release.  The film is a lot cleaner than the Sci Fi Classics presentation I reviewed before, but the black & white is still pretty washed out. 


I can understand why they did not want to go through all that trouble to clean it up, though.


The plot centers around a mad scientist who is experimenting on brains and transplanting them to other bodies by “stimulating the brain cells with an atomic cyclotron”.  Groovy so far.


He is being supported with lots of money and an illegal lab by an old woman, played by Marjorie Eaton. 


She wants the best possible body, so she puts an ad in the paper for someone who is not attached, is an orphan and hopefully someone she can hang something over so they don’t squeal.  Not a nice gal.


The narrator in this film is a bit annoying but keeps the plot flowing.


Some partial nudity in the beginning with a woman strapped in a standing table, where the straps conveniently hide the good parts. 


The women in the piece are a strange lot and so I thought the heroine of the piece might have a listing in IMDB.  I could not find Lisa Lang in here.  Perhaps she quit acting after this.


The movie is so convoluted and poor that the video disc had the entire plot written on its cover:  rich old lady hires mad scientist; he doesn’t like her; puts her brain in a CAT.  WOW>


——————————————————————————-Trivia: ————————————————————


Dr. Frank is played by Frank Gerstle, a character actor who has appeared in one or two things throughout his career, such as McHale’s Navy, Gomer Pyle, USMC.


The crazy old lady was masterfully played by Marjorie Eaton, who has played in bit parts in such filmography as Zombies of Mora Tau (1957), One Step Beyond and even Mary Poppins! Mary Poppins (Disney Gold Classic Collection)


Directed by Joseph Mascelli, his only directorial film, thank the gods. 


Per IMDB he is best known as a cinematographer on:


The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964) (director of photography)

... aka Diabolical Dr. Voodoo

... aka The Incredibly Mixed Up Zombie

... aka The Incredibly Strange Creature: Or Why I Stopped Living and Became a Mixed-up Zombie (USA)

... aka The Teenage Psycho Meets Bloody Mary

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies


Judy Bamber, the sexy blonde in the piece, was apparently her last film.  She’s played in such TV classics as Peter Gunn, Hawaiian Eye and The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis.  She even appeared in a Roger Corman film, the comedy-horror piece, Bucket of Blood! A Bucket of Blood