Evil Brain from Outer Space

This is remindful of the bad television shows that made up the majority of offerings of the fifties. It may have been the golden age but there was a lot of lead among the gold. This has a sappy superhero in tights (like Superman) who clicks with little kids. He doesn't seem to have any problem beating up 60 or 70 bad guys at a time. There is a threat from outer space and a brain that controls everything. It must be destroyed. The monsters are a collection of Japanese guys in weird costumes. They seem versed in the martial arts, but come to no good end. This isn't a show for adults and if you were to update it and substitute cartoon characters for the humans here, it would fit right in on Saturday morning. Hardly worth the effort.

A bird! Its a ... Wait a minute! Its a Japanese super hero! Yes, its Starman! The Japanese equivalent of Superman, Starman has gone through various incarnations over the decades. Ken Utusi was the original. Think of this movie this way ... Godzilla meets Buck Rogers. Kind of. This is, if you're the type of person that enjoys the old Godzilla movies and stuff like Gene Autry's Radio Ranch, camp. Given when this movie was made it is good, clean sci-fi fun. And the aliens and their costumes? Hilarious. Special effects? Not found wanting here. There is that old stand by, the one I never could figure out and that always fascinated me as a child ... Words go one way, mouths go another. How did they DO that?

The high council of The Emerald Planet—a motley collection of cardboard/papier-mâché extraterrestrials—are so embarrassed by their 'superhero' Starman (Ken Utsui) that they once again elect to send him billions of miles away to help the inhabitants of an insignificant blue planet called Earth who are under attack from Balazar, a disembodied brain, and his army of mutants.

Flying to wherever there is trouble with the aid of his clearly visible harness, Starman uses his amazing martial arts/dance moves to defeat the creatures without ever seeming to make contact (I imagine that they're more stunned by his hysterical attire than by any of his punches). Once again, Starman is aided in his quest by a couple of cute Japanese kids with whom the superhero sneaks in a few surreptitious hugs whenever possible (a strange, fully-grown man in a leotard getting pally with minors: I'm surprised he's not been picked up by the police for questioning).

If you've already been unfortunate enough to witness the horror of a Starman movie, you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect—choppy editing, diabolical dubbing, no sense of excitement whatsoever, really bad monsters—and you will have no doubt prepared yourself mentally for what is in store for you this time around. On the other hand, If you haven't already had the pleasure of Ken Utsui prancing around in the daftest space get-up since Ming the Merciless, then all I can say is, expect the worst: you won't be disappointed.

This movie seems to be edited together from episodes of a serial -- it jumps from sub-plot to sub-plot, and introduces a whole raft of new characters without developing any of them. It's Shin-Toho Studio's entry in the Superheroes from Space genre, which puts it side-by-side with those MST3K staples, "Invasion of the Neptune Men" and "Prince of Space".

Like those other movies, this one is frequently laughable. Jump cuts are used to make it seem as though the hero, Starman, and his monster opponent are jumping great distances... but the effect only works if you're under the age of ten and in a very forgiving mood. The meandering plot is juvenile; and the opening scene features an interplanetary council of some of the most hilariously unlikely aliens you'll ever see. Worst of all, I find Starman an uncharismatic and slightly stuffy hero.

What distinguishes "Evil Brain", though, is its monsters, which are genuinely disturbing: one is a swift, chattering beast, with glaring eyes (one of which is on its stomach), huge fangs and long "cobalt nails". It also has two filigreed crests on its head (like bizarre Mickey Mouse ears), breathes smoky radioactive fumes, and has the ability to turn invisible... The other mutant is a silent woman whose face resembles a beaked bird of prey. She also has special skills: she can turn invisible, and she kills with one touch from her fingertips. In fact, she kills a young mother while her two small daughters are playing (a scene which probably explains why this movie doesn't turn up on TV any more!).

Finally, as I write this, I note that IMDB recommends I might also enjoy "Tanin no Kao/The Face of Another". Hmmm... I'm afraid if I followed "Evil Brain" with Kobo Abe's intense, disturbing, and very mature fantasy, my head would explode.

As you would expect from an 88 minute feature culled from three 45-minute episodes, 'Evil Brain from Outer Space' is more than a little disjointed; combining scenes that resemble 'Flash Gordon' to those that wouldn't be out of place in a contemporary yakuza.

Our old friend Starman cuts a far more impressive figure disguised as a detective in a smart fifties suit than in that stupid costume, just as the Zemarian mutants look a lot sharper in the trench coats and trilbys they wear to mingle with Earthlings.

Hopefully she got more time in the original, but I would certainly have to have seen more of the witch-like dancing creature seen near the climax: an image truly worthy of classic Japanese cinema.