| The Brain from Planet Arous Directed by Nathan H. Juran ( U.S.A �1957) Whether it was intentional or accidental on the part of filmmakers, horror and science fiction features of the fifties were usually rife with symbolism and social commentary. Within the realms of these escapist films, the underlying message usually concerned the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) was a prime example, with lycanthropy serving as a metaphor for puberty and its related skin blemishes, ans strange new sporadic growths of body hair . Many a teen could relate to lead actor Michael Landon�s rather awkward situation. Fifties science fiction also shocked audiences with terrifying tales of interstellar invasion. Flickering big screen images of Martian marauders were usually thinly disguised parables warning us of the dangers of fifth column Soviet insurgents; or perhaps even a fully blown communist invasionary force. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) was possible the most overt of the red scare celluloid metaphors. The Brain from Planet Arous has a more sexual subtext. It is quite literally the tale of a man who is doing all of his thinking �with the other head�. It begins with several scientists investigating a cave inside the eerie Mystery Mountain, a deserted peak in the middle of the California desert. Something unusual has landed there, and the radiation readings are making their Geiger counters crackle off the scale. As Steve and Dan reach the back of the cave, an immense glowing brain floats out menacingly from the darkness. The giant piece of pulsating grey matter would have Stephen Hawking doing back flips in his wheelchair with envy. The brain is known as Gor. The glowing cerebrum is a prison escapee from the planet Arous, a small rock orbiting a distant sun. He�s a nobody on his home planet, but a potential malevolent ruler of the third planet from the sun. He promptly kills Dan, and floats toward Steve. Gor changes from a solid mass to a more intangible one, and enters the mind of the scientist. Now Steve is more possessed than the little pea soup spewing girl Regan. He returns back to L.A. alone, and visits his lovely fianc� Sally. She�s understandably worried as he knocks on her door. Steve and Dan have been gone for over a week. Sally asks her husband to be what they found inside the aptly named Mystery Mountain. �You know what we found? Absolutely nothing� he assures her dubiously. Then he plants one on her. Apart from the usual world domination plans, Gor has come to earth for other more simple pleasures. Just ask Albert Einstein; when you�re nothing but a big brain, getting laid can be tough. Now that Gor is inhabiting a body with all the necessary organs, he�s determined to become the Mickey Rourke of pulsating interplanetary brains. The floating brain is determined to sow his wild alien oats as soon as possible, and begins to rip Sally�s blouse off. Sally isn�t that kind of girl. Her mother always told her that if she gave the milk away for nothing, nobody would ever want to buy the cow. She tries to reject his tearing paws as best she can short of screaming �rape!�. Her faithful German Shepherd George attacks the possessed Steve as he�s about to succeed in tasting the cake before the wedding. Nothing kills the mood more than the prospect of having your throat torn out by a vengeful family pet, so Gor relaxes his grip on his fianc� and apologizes as she calls George off. The sexually frustrated �brain trapped in a man�s body� storms inside, and collapses in Steve�s best easy chair. Then Gor momentarily leaves the scientist�s body to explain the situation to his host. �I need your body as a dwelling place while I�m here on your earth� explains the pulsating translucent brain. �I chose your body very carefully; even before I knew about Sally� a very exciting female� the brain purrs in a state of cerebral arousal. �Leave Sally out of this� pleads the confused man of science. �Why?� asks Steve�s bemused new master. �She appeals to me. There are some aspects of the life of an Earth savage that are exciting and rewarding. Things that are missed by the brains on my planet Arous�. �Don�t you touch her� Steve warns. �It is you who are touching her. Even I must have some interest to spur me on. She�ll do nicely� Gor informs Sally�s horrified fianc�. Steve hurls a vase directly at the floating translucent cerebrum. It passes directly through the laughing alien. �None of your puny weapons can effect me� Gor rather needlessly points out. �As long as you are alive you will have me using your body. Turning your puny will on and off like a key in a lock�. Nancy runs to her father the eminent Professor Fuller for guidance after the awkward attempted deflowering situation on the patio, and tells the old man that her fianc� just isn�t himself. �Did it ever occur to you that Steve might have something on his mind?� he asks her in one of the more well timed puns in celluloid history. Gor doesn�t just have desires of the flesh; he also has a thirst for world domination. He destroys both a plane, and an entire city in the blink of an eye. World leaders sit up and take notice of him, and prepare to relinquish control of every nation in the world to the interplanetary tyrant. Fortunately for the Earth, help is at hand in the form of a brain bounty hunter from the planet Arous. He wants Gor dead or alive. This is thought provoking science fiction, with an intelligence that belies its meager budget and production values. Gor is bent on destruction and world domination, however the destruction seems to be a direct result of pent up sexual frustration, and his world domination desires are merely a stunt to impress Sally� hopefully enough to get her in the sack. In a way, Gor is living out Steve�s hidden desires. Is Steve really the civilized model fianc�? Is he a helpless pawn under the control of The Brain from Planet Arous? Or does he secretely share Gor�s animalistic urges. This is fifties science fiction at its most topical, and a film that has stood the test of time. Entertainment : 3.5 out of 4 Watchability : 3 out of 4 Overall : 3.25 out of 4 Reviewed by Blake |