Ouch! As a fan of B-movies, I've seen quite a few groaners, but this one is uniquely bad in some ways, peculiarly good in others -- and so, definitely worth a look.

The premise is that two alien brains have come to Earth and they are able to invade life forms. One brain is a criminal and he takes over a scientist in order to amass power on our planet; the other is an alien law enforcement officer, and he takes over a dog, the scientist's German Shepherd! So far, high marks for creativity. Oddly, the criminal brain is quite lusty, and makes many overt remarks and passes at the scientist's wife. This is unusual for B-movies, but quite typical of the pulp literature of the time.

The special effects, as you'd expect, are abyssmal, but fun in a laughable way, and the science is horrendous. Still, the film is a jaw dropper and thus a must-see for fans of the genre.

No dvd extras except the movie's trailer.

Steve March (John Agar) is a nuclear physicist who is entered and possessed by an alien entity. The alien is a giant, floating brain with glowing peepers. It's name is Gor and it has come to conquer the earth. Enter Vol, the "good guy" alien, another floating brain sent to stop Gor's evil plot. Vol enters Steve's dog so he can keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Gor is causing mid-air explosions on jets and gathering all the nations' heads of state (which apparently amounts to about six countries) to explain his plan for world domination. Can Vol stop him before the flea and tick season? Let us watch and pray for humanity...

When I was a kid, John Agar's glazed over radioactive eyes and the floating transparent brain of the film's title really gave me the willies, I tell ya. This is still a wonderful silly movie that benefits from being short, with the monster introduced early on. Agar is good, contorting himself in pain pretty convincingly as the monster enters and leaves his body, and he's got the megalomanical laugh down pat. The special effects are primitive, especially when the alien monster is forced to assume his real shape and reveals himself to be a rubber blob bouncing around on a wire, but heck, you were expecting Industrial Light and Magic, maybe? Everything is low budget: small cast, stock footage, a nuclear research lab with no equipment, and a set that consists of the desert and someone's suburban home. And what other film mentions the "fissure of Rolando"? The extras on the DVD are virtually non-existent, consisting only of chapter search and the theatrical trailer. Biographical info of the performers, especially the supporting cast, would have been welcome. If you like sci fi B-movies, this certainly fits the bill perfectly. The transfer to DVD is excellent.

Horror movies of the 50s provide a rich vein for critics to explore the meanings of such often bandied about terms as 'great', 'awful', 'bad', and 'good.' Critics like to point at movies such as THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS and say on one hand that it is a 'bad' movie, but on the other immediately qualify the 'bad' with a fuzzily defined 'good.' When critics do that, they suggest that the subjective use of terms normally used to indicate quality or lack of it are not mutually exclusive.

There is much to pan in TBFPA: the cheesy special effects, John Agar's hammy acting, a script not believable even by the slovenly standards of the 50s, and the sexist idea that earth women are desired by offworld species. But what is it that separates moves like this one from others that offer nothing but an itch in the brain that vanishes the moment that the concluding credits begin to roll? I suggest that TBFPA is a perfect example of the movie that brings the audience to the very precipice of the gulf that separates momentary fun from a shocking statement that life in our universe and life in a movie exist only to cause pain to the viewer. Dirctor Nathan Juran presents the viewer with the premise that earth is being invaded by two aliens, a bad one (Gor) and a good one (Val). Gor lodges himself in the brain of a human, John Agar, who is clearly meant to represent mortal Everyman, exactly the outwardly handsome but inwardly ungiving sort that Shirley Temple did marry in real life. Val lodges himself in a dog so as to monitor the progress of the invasion. In a wacky sort of way, TBFPA prefigures a similar concept of good cop bad alien later to appear in I COME IN PEACE. Val successfully foils the invasion by causing a freed John Agar to defeat Gor, who is now able to bob about grinning evilly on some noticeably swinging wires. Despite the presence of all the shortcomings noted above, TBFPA has the sense not to cross the line that separates fun from a churning in the stomach that inevitably arises when any film disrespects both itself and the audience. Monstrosities like CALIGULA or I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE work only on crossing this line to exile the audience for the duration of the movie into a world of torment whose only purpose is to remind its captive audience that the power to harm is infinitely preferable than the power to heal. Good-bad films like TBFPA eternally serve to remind us that the enjoyment of any movie is a function of its staying only on the side of a cinematic chasm that has basic respect for human life and dignity.

"Nice guy" John Agar is transformed into a lecherous, nasty man, thanks to aliens from outer space. There's nothing really scary or shocking about this movie; I think it's really for John Agar fans, like me. There are some real tedious moments in it, as well. But is is fun to see his demented, grinning face when the alien takes over. And a German Shepherd saves the day!

Okay, but for better John Agar films, I reccommend "The Mole People", "Hand of Death" & "Tarantula."