La droga maledetta

EEG machines had been used on humans for around 30 years, when this mixed up little film was made. I'm sure they weren't that well-known then and thus for many, a futuristic concept, through which a convoluted thriller might just have its genesis. With the benefit of almost 65 years of hindsight, the whole thing now does look somewhat dated and a bit silly.

For the first half of this film, I had high hopes the Elizabeth Allan female doctor would surprisingly prove to be the dominant character and a heroine in her own right. But half way through, she sadly just becomes another damsel in distress who needs to be rescued by her estranged and rather boring husband. For this to occur, we have to suspend disbelief, that: (a) He wouldn't share any of the information he receives about his wife's kidnapping with the police (Even though another character asks him this question, which he essentially ignores). (b) The police with their resources wouldn't get that information any way.

It's a movie like that; starting out somewhat intriguingly in the first act, but rapidly running out of any original ideas and common sense and happy to slip back into very pedestrian predictability, from which it never recovers. Overall, we are left feeling that The Brain Machine has short circuited out well before the intended climax.

Moody Maxwell Reed plays a man with a brain sickness that could turn him into a murderer. Elizabeth Allan plays a doctor who regresses him to remember the source of his mental hurt. She is kidnapped by him and taken to his railway arch den. She discovers a stash of cortozone there. Her doctor husband goes in search of his endangered wife. There is plenty of action and suspense. I reckon the best scene is when Reed closes in on his intended prey towards the end. We see that the husband still loves his wife even though their divorce is imminent. There are hints that she may have fallen for her latest patient. This is definitely for fans of 1950s British crime thrillers. There is very little Sci-Fi interest as the title would suggest.

The most bizarre aspect of this competent minor British kidnap thriller is its completely inappropriate packaging as science fiction. The 'Brain Machine' of the title refers to an electroencephalograph which is used by psychologists to identify brainwave patterns characteristic of psychotics. That is indeed a futuristic concept, but the eponymous machine actually only features in the first ten minutes or so. The title sequence is very techy, and the theme tune is the same as the TV serial version of 'Quatermass and the Pit'. Indeed, the opening scene, where the brain machine is introduced to us, is highly reminiscent of scenes in Quatermass, 'X the Unknown' and similar pictures. But after that, the whole thing settles down into thriller mode, with a traditional nick o' time climax. Enjoyable, but misleading.

To watch this film you have to remember it's set in the '50's and the idea at the start of the picture was revolutionary. Using an ECG a couple of doctors are able to diagnose a person's mental health. On one occasion they bring in a deranged killer to get a reading. Then later, they have an accident victim who they scan for brain damage. upon checking his scan they see he has some alarming similarities with the killer. Before they can question him he leaves the hospital. The story then starts to take a weaving path to its conclusion.

It's this path that makes the movie watchable as you wonder what's happening and what will happen next. It's the pace of the movie and the acting which hinder the movie somewhat. The bad guy, Frank Smith (Maxwell Reed) just doesn't have the aura of a psychopathic madman - he sure does know how to shout though. It would have been a lot better had he run a gamut of emotions to show his mental breakdown.

I also liked the fact that the female Doctor Philippa Roberts (Elizabeth Allan) is a strong woman that knows and says her mind. Unfortunately, she loses this confidence when she is kidnapped by Smith. Again, this would have been great had she retained this and not regressed into screaming woman. But this was made in the '50's so has their ideals.

I reckon this story would still make a good movie today, even a great one if the issues are addressed as I can still see the issues used in the story being relevant today.

If you like your old black and white mysteries, then you may like this. But be aware, this is not the best of it's kind. Definitely, one to watch when sick in bed... though remember to keep the remote handy for when things get shouty.

One can only assume that the distributors,RKO Teleradio Pictures,wanted to utilise some of the success enjoyed by The Quatermass Experiment by tacking on a 10 minute sequences at the beginning which justify the use of a title which really hasn't got anything to do with the rest of the film.Elizabeth Allen plays the leading role and is clearly not a woman to be tricked with.In real life she sued MGM because they took away from her the leading roles in The Citadel and Goodbye Mr Chips.She lost on appeal and never worked in Hollywood again.The film develops as a routine crime film.However Maxwelo Reed has an intriguing revolver which fires 12 times without reloading.