I love this movie so much

Pretty Good

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Blistering performances.

Edward L. Cahn…I'm definitely a fan! The name of this b-movie director probably won't ring any bells, but I invite everyone here to click on his name and check out his impressive repertoire! He was an incredibly busy bee, with sometimes up to twelve movies directed per year, and active in various fields and genres like crime, western and horror. Admittedly he never made any true classics or influential milestones, but he did deliver a lot of fun movies like "It! The Terror from Beyond Space", "Invasion of the Saucer Men" and "The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake". And, most of all, he – unwarily – contributed to the historic development of cinematic zombies with this unbelievably underrated and surprisingly suspenseful "Creature with the Atom Brain". This is just my own personal theory, but creation of zombie cinema roughly occurred in four phases and, as far as I know, this cool little movie kick-started phase II… Phase I started it all with the legendary pioneer movie "White Zombie", featuring what is arguably Bela Lugosi's best performance (yes, better than "Dracula"). In these very first zombie movies the living dead are portrayed as disciplined and docile slaves, solely resurrected from their graves to work for evil plantation owners. To a lesser extent, "I Walked with a Zombie" and "King of the Zombies" also fit into this initial phase. Then we have phase II with this "Creature with the Atom Brain". The zombies are still just slaves, but now they are brought back from the dead to serve as controllable murderers with superhuman strengths. The idea is brilliant, as far as I'm concerned, and results in a handful of truly suspenseful and innovative sequences. "Invisible Invaders", also directed by Edward L. Cahn, also belongs in phase II and here the zombies are controlled by extraterrestrials. Phase III – a very short one – almost exclusively contains the very first adaptation of Richard Matheson's monumental novel "I Am Legend", retitled "The Last Man on Earth" and starring genre icon Vincent Price. After a worldwide deadly plague, the dead rise again and act entirely by themselves for the very first time, but they are more reminiscent to vampires since they only come into action after dark. Then, of course, we have George A. Romero to thank for phase IV, as he made zombies to what they still are to this date with "Night of the Living Dead": vile and merciless undead monsters that hunt down the living in order to feast on their flesh and brains.So, I'm probably exaggerating a bit, but I personally think that "Creature with the Atom Brain" is a historically relevant little B-movie. But more importantly, it's a very clever and entertaining '50s horror gem with action and suspense. Frank Buchanan, a nation-wide feared mafia gangster enlists the help of a brilliant former Nazi-scientist to extract vengeance on all the people responsible for his conviction. Through zombies that are brought back to life with atomic energy and remote-controlled through brain wave manipulation, he kills off prosecutors but also fellow gangsters that betrayed him, while he remains within the safe and heavily isolated walls of his mansion. The screenplay of "Creature with the Atom Brain" is very talkative and many of the dialogs are quite tacky, but the underlying ideas of the film are compelling and – as stated above – quite renewing. The film does remain a low-budgeted '50s Sci-Fi/horror production, so naturally the special effects are cheap and cheesy. Still, the close-up zombie hit men are rather uncanny. Edward L. Cahn also maintains a grim atmosphere throughout and even the sequences with the head investigator's 6-year-old daughter aren't that irritating. Good movie, strongly recommended to horror fans with an open-minded mentality.

A "police scientist" (Richard Denning, always smoking pipe and exuberant/aware in how his talents are depended upon by the police and press) determines that a series of odd killings (tied to a vendetta-fueled mobster who afforded a Nazi scientist a laboratory and technology used to further his research and allow for revenge) are committed by dead gangsters with radioactive "blood" and fingerprints (that illuminate in dark!) and atomic power that allows them to snap backs and necks of targeted victims! The mobster named Buchanan likes to use a microphone to "speak through" the dead gangster zombie killers to those he is about to have killed as to remind them of who is responsible prior to their deaths! This silly sci-fi hokum from Sam Katzman Productions has the look and score of a Universal Horror film without the studio's finesse and pizazz. The plot is bonkers but that has always been part of the B-movie charm that comes with these kinds of films. Dead gangsters (and later cops) with "robotic" brains that can be controlled from a source, atomic energy used to give them great power that also includes being impervious to bullets or harm unless the machines and men behind them are put to rest; this all is preposterous yet entertaining nonsense. There's just always been an appeal to me with these dorky sci-fi movies. Denning has enthusiasm to spare and the zombie-formula helps make this far more fun than it has any right to be. Always handling the material with a serious approach, the actors involved holding a straight face when the plot is as far-fetched and loony as Creature with the Atom Brain, the entertainment value only increases. There's this imminent threat to the atom men that the film milks repeatedly, even at one point having a montage of disasters caused by them thanks to Buchanan who uses his zombies to cause chaos because the police and military are on the lookout, using radium-detecting devices to pinpoint high radioactive areas that send off warning signals. Of course, Buchanan and his German scientist consider Denning a threat because of his "imagination" and intellect, soon killing (and using as a zombie killer/locater) his cop buddy (a later possible threat to his child and wife is established)…Uncle Dave, because of his inside knowledge of the last two men Buchanan wants dead for snitching on him, implicating him, and thus responsible for his deportation to Europe (where Buchanan soon encountered the German scientist), could be important in putting a stop to Denning's hero. Seeing the zombies in gangster suits, their skulls with surgical marks indicating head surgery, attacking cops and soldiers is such an odd sight but should provide plentiful kicks and giggles. Obviously, Denning saves the day, following the lead to his zombie cop buddy, entering Buchanan's lair, and taking a wrench to the machinery behind all the death and violence. Lots of exploding consoles, broken windows, and fisticuffs result. Surprisingly violent for its time, we see bullets riddle the zombie gangster bodies, and there are shadow silhouettes and carefully photographed attacks of victims Buchanan wanted crushed for their betrayal of him. You know if you are the type of audience this is made for, and I am of that number. Complete with Denning, a dutiful wife in apron always preparing him a martini and wanting to spend just a little time with her busy husband, and the cutie daughter doting on her dolly. Fun fact: Curt Siodmak (who lent writing to such diverse screenplays as "Donovan's Brain", "Black Friday", "The Wolf Man", "Beast with Five Fingers", and "Earth vs. The Flying Saucers") was the writer for this film's screenplay.

Ah, the era when the atom became a major inspiration for B movie plots. Edward Cahn's "Creature with the Atom Brain" was one of the neatest results, focusing on an exiled gangster who hires a German scientist to figure out how to implant chips in people's brains and make them go kill his enemies.Yes, at this point people still had a lot to learn about atomic energy and radiation (check out the suits that the gangster and scientist wear), but the point is to luxuriate in the sheer silliness of the movie's concept. Admittedly, the housewife is very much a pre-feminist caricature, but we shouldn't expect any differently in one of these movies. As a whole, the movie is a very fun experience.In conclusion, don't let your doll out of your sight!

"Creature with the Atom Brain" is a decent little film. Not on par with some other films of the era but still fun to watch. Richard Denning plays a Doctor who works for the police-basically a forensic guy(way before CSI). He does well in this role. The rest of the acting is good, the direction is fine and the film moves along slowly in some parts and flows well in others. A bit more action and this would rank higher. A crazed scientist implants dead criminals with a radioactive solution and keeps them moving via radio control. The creatures kill to get even. There are some chilling moments, especially at the beginning of the film. All in all, not a bad film. One to catch for fans of 1950s Sci/Fi.