BA_Harrison Mexico, 1661: Baron Vitelius of Astara (Abel Salazar) is sentenced to death by the Mexican Inquisition for acts of heresy, witchcraft, necromancy and generally being annoying. As he is burnt alive and a comet passes overhead, the baron vows to return in 300 years to take revenge by killing Inquisitors' descendants. Sure enough, three centuries later the comet reappears, bringing with it the baron, who is able to change from human form into a hideous brainsucking monster.The Brainiac features one of the goofiest movie monsters you're ever likely to see in a horror film, Mexican or otherwise, the wholly unconvincing creature having tubular quivering pincers, a pulsating hairy head, pointy rubber ears and nose, extra large fangs, and a forked tongue with which to suck out its victims' brains. But as hilarious as this monster is, it cannot make up for the film's dull plot, lifeless direction and cheap production values: printed backdrops stand in for real locations, the comet looks like a cut-out piece of paper stuck to a sheet of glass, and the baron's hypnotic gaze is achieved by shining a light into his eyes.The film's best moment is the shocking discovery of a body suspended upside down in a bath-tub (the man's head underwater), although any scene featuring the voluptuous Rosa María Gallardo as astronomer Victoria Contreras is worth a look (she can calibrate my telescope any day of the week!); worst (and consequently funniest) moments include the arrival of the creature inside a rock, the baron sneaking off to tuck into his bowlful of brains, and the wide-eyed expressions on the faces of his mesmerized victims.

Polaris_DiB The movie begins and a voice-over narration explains the role of the Inquisition in the creation of the monster we're about to see--but wait a minute, it's not actually a voice-over! The dialog is coming from a hooded figure! And it keeps going... and going... and going... my God, when will it stop? Then, the real fun starts. Seems ol' creepy sets a curse on his killers to destroy all their progenitors 300 years in the future (i.e., 1961, or present day at time of film-making). That is fine, and the gruesome throbbing mask is some awesome effects, but of course this also means a rather ludicrous amount of hypnotizing and brain-sucking which would honestly have made a pretty good movie, except that it's completely contradictory. The hypnotizing (and can I make a quick aside and point out that it seems like a lot of b horror from the 30s to the 70s seems obsessed with hypnotizing?) seems only to affect men into permanent paralysis; women, on the other hand, seem much more interested in running into the closest available entrapped corner possible (which is funny when said entrapped corner is actually just a light-pole); and the monster apparently sucks out the brains only to... store them... and eat them a tiny dosage at a time...? Yep, a real brain glutton, this monster is.But it's all fun and games, and there's some pretty nice effects. I could do without the monster's claws looking so phallic. I could also do with less attempts at trying to make the monster, when in human form, seem attractive to people (because he isn't). Otherwise, the movie serves its purpose as a popcorn thriller with a rubber monster mask nicely.--PolarisDiB

AMysticSeer This film is a terror classic, it must not be compared to any other film of horror genre, if you do compare it you will not like it, and try to remember this film was made in the 60's.In 1661, Baron Vitelius of Astara; is convicted of invoking the dead; this conviction is made by the holy inquisition of Spain. Vitelius, was wrongly murdered in a fire, and promised that he would come back to kill all of the inquisitors ancestors. In 1961, on a mysterious comet the Baron returns as a killer monster whom wants revenge for his death. He begins his terror by killing a man and taking his clothing, next his robs a bank and buys a house and begins extracting his revenge on the ancestors of the inquisitors. He almost kills them all, but things go wrong at a party when he is discovered to be 300 years old.

javierw A man is burn by some people and swears to kill all their descendants. No I'm not talking about "Nigthmare on Elm Street" but the 1962 Mexican movie "Brainiac". In 1661, Lord Vitelius, played by the very prolific Mexican actor, Abel Salazar, is condemn by the inquisitors to be burn at the stake, where he curses them and promise to come back in the future to kill all their descendants. Two hundred years later he comes back to fulfill his promise. This classic has all the elements of a fun campy horror movie. Lord Vitelius transforms himself in a very funny looking monster with a fork-tongue and sucks the brains of the people dry. He makes men freeze and women horny with "The look", he stares at them and the magic works itself. Two policemen are after his lead, and they have the most funny lines of the film, specially the assistant.Poor Lord Vitelius falls in love with one of the descendants, that for his bad luck is with the incarnation of the only man who help him back in 1661. Can he fulfill his promise? Will love beat this unbeatable monster? Will women be ever capable of not falling to "The Look"? You will have to watch this great classic movie to find the answers, it will probably not scare you, but you will laugh nonstop.