"The Brainiac" ("El Barón del Terror") is a Mexican horror movie that is neither very good nor bad....it's really a bit of both. My review is based on the Americanized version which was (at times) poorly dubbed.
The story begins with a court of the Inquisition in Mexico. It seems that an evil baron has been dealing with the occult and has devoted himself to evil. Oddly, when he is tried, he seems amused and impervious to pain even when tortured. Ultimately, he's burned at the stake.
Centuries later, a comet approaches the Earth and inexplicably deposits the evil baron back on the planet. There, the suave baron ingratiates himself to many Mexican nobels....and soon kills them because they are descended from the Inquisitors who killed him.
While this plot is highly original and enjoyable, the film also has a bad side. The worst, by far, is the monster. It seems that the handsome baron occasionally turns into a monster who is absolutely laughable....and with a gigantic tongue which somehow sucks the brains out of his victims! It's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" or "Horror of Party Beach" bad....the sort of craptastic 50s/60s monsters who make us laugh so much today because the make-up and masks were so schlocky....and VERY schlocky it is in "The Brainiac"!
The story begins with a court of the Inquisition in Mexico. It seems that an evil baron has been dealing with the occult and has devoted himself to evil. Oddly, when he is tried, he seems amused and impervious to pain even when tortured. Ultimately, he's burned at the stake.
Centuries later, a comet approaches the Earth and inexplicably deposits the evil baron back on the planet. There, the suave baron ingratiates himself to many Mexican nobels....and soon kills them because they are descended from the Inquisitors who killed him.
While this plot is highly original and enjoyable, the film also has a bad side. The worst, by far, is the monster. It seems that the handsome baron occasionally turns into a monster who is absolutely laughable....and with a gigantic tongue which somehow sucks the brains out of his victims! It's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" or "Horror of Party Beach" bad....the sort of craptastic 50s/60s monsters who make us laugh so much today because the make-up and masks were so schlocky....and VERY schlocky it is in "The Brainiac"!