Le Tueur au cerveau atomique

Poster tagline: HE COMES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE! A DEAD MAN STALKS HIS PREY! SO TERRIFYING ONLY SCREAMS CAN DESCRIBE IT! HORROR THAT CAN HAPPEN NOW... TO YOU! Taken through the lens of a viewer of the time, it must be said that this horror B-movie, so popular overseas, still deserves its reputation today. At the time it was released, censor and audience circles were concerned about the increasing violence shown in cinemas, and this particular film was held up as a deterrent, something that famed producer Sam Katzman was not too worried about. The killings (I counted seven in total) are captured subtly for our time, rather hinted at or through shadows. Strangulation, double stabbing, killing with a strong fist blow, breaking a spine (accompanied by a nice naturalistic crunch), all this won't scare a hardened viewer today, but in its time it must have caused a stir. The outline of the plot is properly pulp – a gangster, with the help of a German doctor, kidnaps people and replaces half of their brain with a device that allows him to control the person remotely like a puppet to carry out his "mission": killing inconvenient people. It's guilty pleasure especially in the last third, when the plot escalates, and for me personally it's always a joy to see my favourite charismatic, sci-fi and horror B-movie star of the time, Richard Denning. The execution is quite inventive and imaginative in places; in short, I have nothing to complain about here :o) (21/02/2013)