"El Barón del terror" aka. "The Brainiac" is a bizarre and moody and wonderfully cheesy Mexican Horror film that no true cult cinema lover should miss. While Chano Urueta's 1962 film is not en par with the true highlights of contemporary Mexican Horror, such as "Misterios De Ultratumba" ("The Black Pit of Dr M", 1959) or "La Maldición De La Llorona" ("The Curse of The Crying Woman", 1963), it is certainly a highly entertaining, and, at times, quite original little film that is unique in several aspects.
In 1661, Baron Vitelius D'Estera (Abel Salazar) is condemned to burn at the stake for witchcraft, necromancy and other crimes. Before being burned, the baron, who was not intimidated by the Inquisition's instruments of torture, sees a comet passing, and vows to come back take revenge on the descendants of his judges. 300 years later, the same comet passes Earth again... Even though the film obviously took a lot of inspiration from one of the greatest Horror films ever made, Mario Bava's masterpiece "La Maschera Del Demonio" ("Black Sunday", 1960), it does deliver many genuinely unique moments. The 17th century opening scenes are very well-done in a great Gothic atmosphere. Afterwards, it gets a lot cheesier, but in a wonderful manner. The film's strongest point is its uniquely bizarre villain, who is definitely unlike any other horror creature, at least as far as looks go. As opposed to the common blood-sucking we're used to, the film also introduces an utterly new kind of 'vampirism'... I don't want to give away too much, but I really think that most of my fellow Horror/cult-cinema fans should like this. The film is sometimes plain hilarious, and will make the viewer laugh out loud at some points, and then again it also has a nice, uncanny atmosphere. "The Brainiac" is a bizarre piece of Gothic Horror with Mad Sci-Fi elements that greatly entertains and furthermore has one thing that is always appreciated - originality. Highly recommended to cult-cinema enthusiasts.
In 1661, Baron Vitelius D'Estera (Abel Salazar) is condemned to burn at the stake for witchcraft, necromancy and other crimes. Before being burned, the baron, who was not intimidated by the Inquisition's instruments of torture, sees a comet passing, and vows to come back take revenge on the descendants of his judges. 300 years later, the same comet passes Earth again... Even though the film obviously took a lot of inspiration from one of the greatest Horror films ever made, Mario Bava's masterpiece "La Maschera Del Demonio" ("Black Sunday", 1960), it does deliver many genuinely unique moments. The 17th century opening scenes are very well-done in a great Gothic atmosphere. Afterwards, it gets a lot cheesier, but in a wonderful manner. The film's strongest point is its uniquely bizarre villain, who is definitely unlike any other horror creature, at least as far as looks go. As opposed to the common blood-sucking we're used to, the film also introduces an utterly new kind of 'vampirism'... I don't want to give away too much, but I really think that most of my fellow Horror/cult-cinema fans should like this. The film is sometimes plain hilarious, and will make the viewer laugh out loud at some points, and then again it also has a nice, uncanny atmosphere. "The Brainiac" is a bizarre piece of Gothic Horror with Mad Sci-Fi elements that greatly entertains and furthermore has one thing that is always appreciated - originality. Highly recommended to cult-cinema enthusiasts.