Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.5

The Brain from Planet Arous Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 16, 2022

Commentator Tom Weaver delivers another pretty cheeky analysis of a cult item on this disc, and he is quick to alert viewers that if they're coming to The Brain from Planet Arous to see mind boggling special effects, they'd best keep moving, as there is next to "nothing to see here". The lack of visual wonderment may be a disappointment for at least some, but The Brain from Planet Arous manages to have a few ostensible aces up its sleeve (and/or medula oblongata), though it's arguable that all of them are intended. This is a near perfect example of a patently ridiculous and largely forgotten film that provides a decent supply of "WTF were they thinking" laughs as it documents the travails of a scientist named Steve March (John Agar), who has the misfortune to be "possessed" by an alien entity known as Gor (voiced by an uncredited Dale Tate). Gor's physical manifestation looks for all the world weirdly similar to that seventies toy phenomenon known as Weepul, albeit in glorious black and white. Gor is able to "ditch" his massive brain body (with goo-goo-googly eyes) to inhabit March, and Gor's desire to dominate the Earth (and, later, the Universe, of course) transforms the mild mannered March into the very model of a modern mad scientist.

If the film itself is an exercise in ludicrous writing and hyperbolic performance styles, the Blu-ray disc has some rather interesting information on it, courtesy of the aforementioned commentary by Weaver (which includes a number of "guest stars"), and a couple of featurettes on director Nathan Juran, who was evidently so unsettled by the finished version of The Brain from Planet Arous that he asked for his name to be changed to Nathan Hertz on the credits, which I guess sounded better (that's an audiophile joke for those who care). But Weaver in particular gets into the background of producer and cinematographer Jacques Marquette as well, detailing how Marquette actually got into producing in order to be a cinematographer, as odd as that may seem, since those all important union rules meant that a producer could only hire an as yet uncredited Marquette as a cinematographer if all other union DPs were already working, and so Marquette simply decided he'd produce and hire himself. As slipshod as at least some elements of The Brain from Planet Arous inarguably are, the cinematography is actually decently handled, and while never able to escape its obvious micro-budget, the general production finesse is at least at acceptable levels.

The story is frankly laugh out loud absurd at times, with Gor turning out to be a wanted alien criminal who is soon tracked down by another denizen of Arous named Vol (also voiced by Dale Tate) who decides he (it?) wants to inhabit the dog of Steve's girlfriend Sally Fallon (Joyce Meadows). Meanwhile, Gor has infiltrated Steve's consciousness (one kind of funny sidebar is that Steve seems to be almost a masher with Sally after having been "possessed"), though Gor needs to "escape" from time to time due to supposedly "scientific" reasons that are supported by some kind of hilarious boning up Sally does in a variety of reference volumes. With a fairly brisk running time, things are never really developed very well, with Steve becoming an almost comical villain prone to laughing hysterically while telling the poor Earthlings that things are going to be the way he (it?) wants them to be. Things devolve into a patently hilarious finale which sees poor Gor meet his fate, and then Steve and Sally engaging in one last clinch as if to suggest Steve's amorous bent wasn't entirely due to Gor's influence.

The Brain from Planet Arous Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots 1 through 13 are from the 1.85:1 version. Screenshots 14 through 19 are from the 1.33:1 version, and I've attempted to duplicate some of the same moments so that those interested can see what the framing differences look like.

The Brain from Planet Arous is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in either 1.85:1 or 1.33:1. The IMDb lists this 1957 production as (understandably) having been exhibited in 1.85:1, and I found that framing to be generally the more appealing of the two, though I have to say at times the "widescreen" version looked tight (if never overly problematically so), though that aspect (no pun intended) is counterweighed in the "full frame" version by some obvious "roominess" toward the top of the frame in particular. I think grain may look a bit more tightly resolved in the 1.33:1 version, for what that's worth. This was culled from the collection of Wade Williams, whose name will be familiar to diehard collectors of cult items, and so I'm assuming a print (rather than an IP or negative) was utilized, which does result in a pretty gritty grain field, as can be easily seen in the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. That said, I didn't notice any actual resolution problems, and while heavily "textured", especially in the 1.85:1 version, things look nicely organic. Detail levels are generally good as well, with some of the midcentury modern fabrics offering complex patterns that resolve without problem. There is quite a bit of damage on display, including some rather large and at times long lasting scratches and the like.

The Brain from Planet Arous Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Brain from Planet Arous features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that reveals some signs of thinness and brashness in the upper registers in particular, though the fun score by Walter Greene (which almost prefigures some of Johnny Williams' great work for Irwin Allen's sci fi tv series in the sixties) sounds reasonably full bodied. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and while there's some minor background noise in quieter moments, there's really no major damage to report. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

The Brain from Planet Arous Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Not the Same Old Brain (HD; 11:40) is a fun piece with Joyce Meadows.


• Audio Commentary with Tom Weaver also features David Schecter, Larry Blamire and Joyce Meadows. Weaver is always entertaining and delivers another nice combo platter of production information and anecdotal tidbits.


• The Man Before the Brain: Director Nathan Juran (HD; 11:42) is the first of two pieces devoted to Juran, with Justin Humphreys providing some biographical background.


• The Man Behind the Brain: The World of Nathan Juran (HD: 13:52) offers more information on Juran, with C. Courtney Joyner offering his thoughts.

The Film Detective also provides an insert booklet with an interesting essay by Tom Weaver about Jacques Marquette.

The Brain from Planet Arous Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As Tom Weaver gets into in his commentary, The Brain from Planet Arous may be appreciated as one panel of a very strange triptych which also includes Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman and Teenage Monster. There's a kind of charming innocence to all three films, however unintentionally camptastic they may seem to jaded contemporary sensibilities, and those with a certain tolerance for lo-fi escapades involving a googly eyed disembodied brain should find The Brain from Planet Arous at least intermittently diverting. Technical merits are generally decent, though I recommend parsing through the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review to get a feel for how things look. The supplements on this release are very well done, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.