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Creature with the Atom Brain is a 1955 American zombie horror science fiction film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Richard Denning.[1]
| Creature with the Atom Brain | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Edward L. Cahn |
| Screenplay by | Curt Siodmak |
| Story by | Curt Siodmak |
| Starring | Richard Denning |
| Cinematography | Fred Jackman Jr. |
| Edited by | Aaron Stell |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Clover Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 69 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
American gangster Frank Buchanan (Michael Granger) forces former Nazi scientist Wilhelm Steigg (Gregory Gaye) to create zombies by resurrecting corpses through atomic radiation in order to help him exact revenge on his enemies.
Creature with the Atom Brain was released as the bottom half of a double feature with It Came from Beneath the Sea.
Plot
A hulking zombie breaks into a mansion and kills a gangster named Hennesy. The bloodstains left behind at the crime scene are radioactive, and the killer's fingerprints are of a man who had died days before the murder; the police are baffled.
Crime boss Frank Buchanan, who had been forced to flee the United States before he was deported, was betrayed by his own underworld gang members. While traveling in Europe, he finds ex-Nazi scientist Wilhelm Steigg (Gaye) trying to reanimate the dead to provide a menial labor pool that is easily exploited. Buchanan funds the research and brings the scientist to America with the unstated goal of sending Steigg's zombies out to murder those who ousted him; one by one, they are killed in the same fashion.[2]
The police eventually discover the common connection between the murdered gang members and Buchanan. They try to put the remaining three into protective custody, but Buchanan uses a reanimated dead cop to kill one of them and a reanimated dead police captain to kill the remaining two. When the zombie captain is captured, police doctor Dr. Chet Walker (Denning) discovers an atomic-powered remote control brain implant and deduces what has been going on. When the zombie captain returns to Buchanan's hideout, they follow him.
When the police and army troops converge on Buchanan's lead-lined mansion, he kills Steigg and then sends out his unkillable zombies to battle them. Walker, however, is able to get into the mansion, but Buchanan attacks Walker and tries to shoot him. The still-animated zombie police captain breaks in and grabs and strangles Buchanan before he can fire a shot. Walker then smashes the atomic-powered equipment that controls the zombies; after doing so, they all collapse.
Cast
- Richard Denning as Dr. Chet Walker
- Angela Stevens as Joyce Walker
- S. John Launer as Capt. Dave Harris
- Michael Granger as Frank Buchanan
- Gregory Gaye as Dr. Wilhelm Steigg (as Gregory Gay)
- Linda Bennett as Penny Walker
- Tristram Coffin as District Atty. McGraw
- Harry Lauter as Reporter #1
- Larry J. Blake as Reporter #2 (as Larry Blake)
- Charles Evans as Chief Camden
- Pierre Watkin as Mayor Bremer
- Lane Chandler as Gen. Saunders (uncredited)
Production
The film was made by Sam Katzman's Clover Productions for Columbia Pictures Corp.[3]
Reception
In The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle wrote, "Good '50s fun abounds, with all the twisted gender ideology and antiseptic social ideals that that implies, packed in a tightly-wrought action film with strong (if entertainingly dated) conceptual support".[4] David Maine of PopMatters rated it 6 out of 10 stars and called it "a thoroughly enjoyable, noir-ish SF chiller, if you can get past the dingbat wife and cutie-pie kid".[5]
Home media
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on Region 1 DVD in October 2007 as part of the two-disc, four-film set, Icons of Horror Collection: Sam Katzman, which also included these Katzman-produced films: The Werewolf, The Giant Claw, and Zombies of Mora Tau.[6][7]
Influence
Creature with the Atom Brain inspired the name of the Belgian rock band Creature with the Atom Brain, as well as the 1980 Roky Erickson & The Aliens song of the same name, and the song Return of the Creature with the Atom Brain about George W. Bush by the band The Celibate Rifles.
Director Cahn would go on to make Invisible Invaders (1959) using the same basic concept (in the later film, invading aliens inhabit the reanimated corpses of humans).
See also
- List of American films of 1955
References
- "Creature with the Atom Brain – Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) – Film". CineMagia.ro. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
- Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York City: Facts on File. pp. 276–277. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- Schallert, Edwin (July 28, 1954). "'Can Can' Buy Inspires Cast Conjectures; 'Atom Brain Creature' On Way". Los Angeles Times. p. 15.
- Dendle, Peter (2001). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0-7864-9288-6.
- Maine, David (2013-08-29). "Don't Open That Door! #54: 'Creature with the Atom Brain' (1955)". PopMatters. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
- "The Giant Claw (1957) – Fred Sears – Releases – AllMovie".
- "DVD Savant Review: Icons of Horror Collection: Sam Katzman".
Bibliography
- Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties, 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009 (First Edition 1982). ISBN 0-89950-032-3.
External links
- Creature with the Atom Brain at IMDb
- Creature with the Atom Brain at the TCM Movie Database
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