I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Character actress Marjorie Eaton makes the most of a rare lead role in this patently absurd schlock feature, marking the only directorial effort for cinematographer Joseph V. Mascelli. (He's best known as the author of a book called "The Five C's of Cinematography".) Eaton plays elderly crone Hetty March, filthy rich and eager to extend her life. So Hetty funds the activities of mad scientist Dr. Otto Frank (Frank Gerstle, who also has pretty extensive credits), who has radical ideas about the transplanting of human and animal brains. Three young lovelies come to "work" for Hetty, and wisely decide to try and get out of her mansion of horrors."Monstrosity", also known as "The Atomic Brain", is a fairly agreeable movie. Overall, it's a little on the dull side, but as with many low rent productions like this, it still has its pleasures, *especially* the scenes with a "cat woman". Written by Vy Russell, Sue Dwiggins, and Dean Dillman Jr., it comes up with one delicious twist near the end. It has the appeal of classic cinematic crud, with decent black & white lighting by Alfred Taylor (whose credits range from "Spider Baby" to "The Paper Chase" to "Killer Klowns from Outer Space") and amusing makeup effects. The strangest touch is the narration; the movie has quite a bit of it for a while, then it becomes more sporadic. But it's always priceless stuff. It's also spoken by an uncredited Bradford Dillman, to boot!Eaton and Gerstle are good, the other players less so. Erika Peters ("Mr. Sardonicus") is an Austrian beauty, Judy Bamber ("A Bucket of Blood") an English one, and Lisa Lang a timid Venezuelan. Frank Fowler plays Hetty's loyal but disrespected associate Victor.Not a terrible way to spend 65 minutes, provided you know what to expect going in.Five out of 10.

Three good-looking immigrant girls are hired into a majestic mansion, where a surprise awaits them.I got this flick as part of a package called "Best of the Worst". Up to this one, the others really are terrible (Eegah!, Track of the Moon Beast, et al.). However this 60-minutes isn't half-bad and doesn't belong with the others. Of course, it's a really cheap production, but the screenplay also has some imaginative touches, along with a few good performances. I'm thinking particularly of Janet Leigh-look-alike Erika Peters, and Lisa Lang whose impersonation of an angry cat is jolting. Too bad the familiar Frank Gerstle looks in pain at times. But then he does get top billing for maybe the only time in his sturdy career. On the other hand, the old witch Marjorie Eaton certainly looks the part, even as her performance varies. There's also a pretty good skin show for the guys, especially Judy Bamber who's got a knockout figure.Sure, the concept is hokey: using atomic power to transfer brains, but that's really just a variation on the horror classic Frankenstein (1931). Too bad a spooky noir director didn't get the material. The visuals could really use more shadowy lighting to heighten suspense. Naturally, there are the expected snickers from a drive-in special like this, but there are also a few unexpected jolts not typical of the genre. Anyhow, the little flick has more compensations than expected for a barrel bottom production. Overall, the 60-minutes is certainly better than a 2.5 rating.

A rich, mean-spirited old woman funds a mad scientist to carry out experiments in the basement of her large house. The technique being developed is atomic energy powered brain transferral. To this end she wants to take over a sexy young body, so three foreign girls are lured to the house with the idea that they are to be house maids. As if…This crazy sci-fi horror film is one it seems I appreciate more than most. It may be trashy but it's never boring. It's fast-paced and throws all manner of strange events and ideas at the viewer. We have a lumbering dog-man monster who roams the grounds of the estate, a zombie-like white-gowned gothy girl who drifts around nearby and a cat-girl who climbs around and lashes out at anyone who gets in her way. There's an eyeball removal and copious scenes where the young ladies are subjected to demeaning examinations by the wicked old crone (they never seem to find this unusual). The girls have a selection of the most insanely inaccurate foreign accents imaginable, especially the 'English' girl. While, perhaps the piece-de-resistance of the whole movie is a sequence where the sneaky mad scientist transfers the bitter old boot's brain into her cat, annoying her so seriously that – as a cat – she presses the atomic button while the scientist is in the walled off lab frazzling him into a skeleton!What more does one need in a low-budget 60's sci-fi flick? Great fun.

"An elderly woman has invested a fortune on a scientist's research which, if successful, will allow him to transfer her brain into the body of a young woman. Needing a host body for her brain and subjects to experiment upon, the elderly woman advertises for a housekeeper in hopes of securing what the scientist needs, human guinea pigs. Three unlucky women are selected by the elderly woman as the choices and are unaware of the true motives behind their employment…" according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Re-titled "The Atomic Brain", the toothy "Monstrosity" referred to in the title is the fusion of a "live dog to a dead human body." He is the one of the mistakes mad doctor Frank Gerstle (as Otto Frank) has made. The body-snatching doctor is funded by haggish, but wealthy Marjorie Eaton (as Hetty March). The elderly Ms. Eaton wants her brain transplanted into a younger woman's body.Fortunately, Eaton has good taste in the female form - she and gigolo Frank Fowler (as Victor) help arrange for the arrival of three fresh young female bodies: enticing Erika Peters (as Nina Rhodes), shapely Judy Bamber (as Beatrice Mullins), and lovely Lisa Lang (as Anita Gonzalez). Described as "firm and nicely-rounded," Otto's Angels think they've been hired as servants… If you like good bad movies, by all means, check out this "Monstrosity"; it sinks quickly into awful, but slowly rises up the "so-bad-it's-good" meter. In his only directorial credit, James Mascelli gets in some nice shots, for the budget. The young women are fun to watch - all, coincidently, have "Monstrosity" as their last acting credit. There is a strong erotic undercurrent - think of petting pretty, brain-dead women in captivity...**** Monstrosity (1964) James Mascelli ~ Marjorie Eaton, Frank Gerstle, Erika Peters