Creature with the Atom Brain (1955 film)
| Creature with the Atom Brain | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Edward L. Cahn |
| Written by | Curt Siodmak |
| Screenplay by | Curt Siodmak |
| Story by | Curt Siodmak |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Fred Jackman Jr. |
| Edited by | Aaron Stell |
Production company |
Clover Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 69 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Creature with the Atom Brain was a 1955 B movie zombie film produced by Sam Katzman, directed by Edward L. Cahn from a screenplay by Curt Siodmak and distributed by Columbia Pictures as the bottom half of a double bill with It Came from Beneath the Sea. The cast included Michael Granger and Gregory Gaye as well as Richard Denning, who starred in a number of similar 1950s B movies.
Plot
Deported American gangster Frank Buchanan (Michael Granger) forces ex-Nazi scientist Wilhelm Steigg (Gregory Gaye) to create zombies by resurrecting corpses through radiation in order to help him exact revenge on his enemies.
Cast
- Richard Denning as Dr. Chet Walker[1]
- Angela Stevens as Joyce Walker
- Lane Chandler as Gen. Saunders
- Charles Horvath as Creature
- Michael Granger as Frank Buchanan
- Gregory Gaye as Dr. Wilhelm Steigg
- Pierre Watkin as Mayor Bremer
- Tristram Coffin as District Attorney McGraw
- Harry Lauter as Reporter #1
- Larry J. Blake as Reporter #2
- Richard H. Cutting as Dick Cutting, radio broadcaster
Production
The film was made for Katzman's Clover Productions.[2]
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."[3] 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."[4]
DVD release
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on DVD in October 2007 as part of the two-disc, four-film set Icons of Horror Collection: Sam Katzman, along with three other films produced by Katzman (The Werewolf and The Giant Claw and Zombies of Mora Tau).[5][6]
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.
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
References
- ↑ "Creature with the Atom Brain - Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) - Film". CineMagia.ro. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
- ↑ 'Can Can' Buy Inspires Cast Conjectures; 'Atom Brain Creature' On Way Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 28 July 1954: 15.
- ↑ Dendle, Peter (2001). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. 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".
External links
 |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Creature with the Atom Brain (1955 film) |
- Creature with the Atom Brain at the Internet Movie Database
- Creature with the Atom Brain at the TCM Movie Database