EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE (1966)

EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE (1966)

Tagline: Nope.

(Sci-Fi, Action, Cheese) [G]

Note: This movie was not given an MPAA rating and was actually made for TV, so I am going to say if it came out today it would have gotten a [G] rating. 

Already, many of the mutants, disguised as human beings, are walking the streets of Earth's cities.

So in this story, we have a group of aliens that are well aware Earth is about to be attacked by the Zemarians who are led by a ruthless evil leader that is really just a brain. The evil brain controls the Zemarians who can disguise themselves as humans but sometimes choose not to. If the evil brain succeeds in its mission, the earth will die. Because remember, if a brain comes from space, that thing is definitely evil. Fortunately, the good aliens have sent Starman and he is ready to freakin handle business. This hero is just going to punch and kick everything. 

First off the company that made this movie was basically made up of a bunch of people that defected from TOHO in 1947; they were actually financed by Daiei which was most famous for its GAMERA movies. Shintoho Film was short-lived and ultimately got taken over by a new successor that let’s just say took this studio in about the most opposite of kid friend direction they possibly could.  

This movie is pretty kid-friendly, but it does have a brain for the villain and a few dudes dressed like more ornate versions of the bat creature from TERROR FROM BENEATH THE EARTH, so just be aware of that. Starman (our hero played by Ken Utsui) is basically like BATMAN only he can fly and he’s an alien.

What we have here is basically a TV movie made up of 3 other Supergiant, The Devil's Incarnation, and The Poison Moth Kingdom. I know, having devils and demons in your kid’s movie titles sounds pretty counterintuitive, but it’s a different culture, etc., etc. The important thing to know is that it’s all pretty kid-centric. Some of the designs actually look like they could easily be thrown into your basic 60’s kaiju flick and work pretty well as kaiju. 

What adults will notice is how janky this thing is. The scenes are very choppy and feel thrown together because they are. The entire middle section of this movie feels like it’s a completely separate movie that would be filmed as a Public Service Announcement for superhero babysitters. Because of all this, the pacing is really off and only the beginning and ending kept my interest. The middle is very rough. The dubbing is actually pretty good and I did like the concepts. Who doesn’t love an alien invasion involving a brain and, a bat-like creature that can split in two or more, and a bunch of guys dressed like dollar-store Batmans? Huh? Tell me!

Do not walk into this flick expecting anything but nonsense and you might have a bit of fun. I typically stayed away from reviewing TV movies from the 50’s and 60’s that were spliced together, but I actually own this one as part of a larger sci-fi collection so it is what it is. 

EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE gets a 3 out of 7. It is watchable, but it’s definitely not solid. It’s just okay for what it set out to do. It's also not lost on me that Shintoho is a combination of Shin and Toho and that Toho worked on Shin Godzilla with Shinji Higuchi. I am not sure if Shinji had anything to do with the original Shintoho studio. 

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