The title alien is a criminal otherwise known as Gor, and he comes to Earth, intending total world domination. In order to achieve his goal, he possesses the body of nuclear scientist Steve March (the iconic John Agar) and makes Steve do his bidding. Meanwhile, a *good guy* alien brain, Vol, comes in search of Gor, and as part of his big plan, possesses the body of a *dog* named George!
The wonderful thing about low, low budget, old genre movies like this is their penchant for wacky ideas. While "The Brain from Planet Arous" is hardly a "good" movie, that doesn't mean that it's not damn entertaining, especially whenever Gor (who chuckles maniacally, in the grand tradition of super-villains) or Vol are floating around.
It's to the cast members' credit that they take all of this nonsense seriously. Agar, in particular, just acts his heart out. The lovely Joyce Meadows plays Steves' loving girlfriend Sally (one can not really blame Gor for having the hots for her), and Robert Fuller is fine in very limited screen time as Steves' assistant Dan. Fans of B movies from this era will recognize two other familiar faces, Ken Terrell and Thomas Browne Henry.
Gor is such a damn hoot as an antagonist. Totally arrogant and eager to flaunt his incredible powers, he takes full confidence in knowing that he is rarely in a truly vulnerable position.
The ending is amusing when you realize that, despite everything, Steve is still going to be in an awful lot of trouble!
Directed by busy genre pro Nathan Juran, whose other credits from this decade include "20 Million Miles to Earth" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad".
Five out of 10.
The wonderful thing about low, low budget, old genre movies like this is their penchant for wacky ideas. While "The Brain from Planet Arous" is hardly a "good" movie, that doesn't mean that it's not damn entertaining, especially whenever Gor (who chuckles maniacally, in the grand tradition of super-villains) or Vol are floating around.
It's to the cast members' credit that they take all of this nonsense seriously. Agar, in particular, just acts his heart out. The lovely Joyce Meadows plays Steves' loving girlfriend Sally (one can not really blame Gor for having the hots for her), and Robert Fuller is fine in very limited screen time as Steves' assistant Dan. Fans of B movies from this era will recognize two other familiar faces, Ken Terrell and Thomas Browne Henry.
Gor is such a damn hoot as an antagonist. Totally arrogant and eager to flaunt his incredible powers, he takes full confidence in knowing that he is rarely in a truly vulnerable position.
The ending is amusing when you realize that, despite everything, Steve is still going to be in an awful lot of trouble!
Directed by busy genre pro Nathan Juran, whose other credits from this decade include "20 Million Miles to Earth" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad".
Five out of 10.