Think You’re Smart?
Johnny Butane
|
An evil sorcerer condemned to death by the Mexican branch of the Spanish Inquisition escapes his stake burning by using some evil mojo to catch a ride on a passing comet. When the comet returns 300 years later, the warlock returns and seeks vengeance against the descendents of his inquisitors, all of who whom – lucky for him – live within a several mile radius of one another. To do this, and exactly why he does so is never explained, by transforming into a absurd-looking humanoid monster with a huge nose, pincers for hands, and a foot-long tongue that he uses to suck the brains out of his victims – the brains which are later seen neatly deposited in a container where the evil baron can spoon it out like he was eating bread pudding. Hopefully the Mexican police will break out the flamethrowers before the murderous mutant baron succeeds in his evil scheme.
What makes The Brainiac such an unsung classic is its constant teetering between being a lurid, atmospheric, sometimes surreal black & white horror flick while at the same time being a completely unhinged, loony, often unintentionally hilarious bit of b-movie schlock. This is the sort of movie that cannot really be called a good movie and yet dismissing it as a bad movie isn’t doing it justice either. There’s a lot of craft involved in its making. There’s also no shortage of goofiness. However one chooses to describe it, the end result is a highly entertaining bit of b-moviedom.
Folks, if you’ve never heard of 1961 Mexican monster mash that is The Brainiac then now is the time to get introduced. And if you’ve never seen The Brainiac then August 29th will be the day you should finally do so. One of the most gleefully insane horror movies ever made will finally be getting its ultimate DVD release through CasaNegra Entertainment, a relative newcomer to the world of DVD distribution that specializes in high quality DVD releases of classic Mexican horror movies, many of which have languished due to poor quality public domain DVD releases through the years. Case in point, The Brainiac (Original South of the Border Title: El Baron del Terror).
Now this isn’t going to be just another poor quality DVD release. Just as they’ve done with their previous releases of Curse of the Crying Woman and The Witch’s Mirror, CasaNegra is releasing the film digitally remastered and uncut onto DVD for the first time ever. Heck, just look at list of extras for this thing.
* Original Uncut Version
* Completely Re-Mastered Picture & Sound from Newly Restored Vault Elements
* Bilingual Menus in English & Spanish
* Essay: “Keep Repeating, It’s only the Most Bizarre Horror Film Ever Made” by Casamiro Buenavista
* The Official Brainiac Interactive Press Kit
* Audio Commentary by Kirb Pheeler, creator of the Brainiac Interactive Press Kit
* Original 1969 U.S. Theatrical Release Radio Spot
* Exclusive CasaNegra Loteria Card Game
* Cast & Crew Biographies
* Poster & Stills Gallery
This 77-minute monstrosity will be presented in 1:33 Aspect Ratio and be presented in its original Spanish language with optional English subtitles. Actually, that last bit kind of disappoints me because the English dubbing that distributor K. Gordon Murray originally gave the movie was so hideously awful it actually made the movie even more amusing.
The quintessential DVD release of The Brainiac will be unleashed to DVD on August 29th. Retail price is $19.99. I assure you it will prove to be worth it. This is one of those movies that you owe it to yourself to see at least once in your life. Trust me; you’ve never seen anything quite like it.
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Categorized:News
