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Evil Brain from Outer Space

Cast:

Ken Utsui
Sachihiro Ohsawa
Junko Ikeuchi
Minako Yamada

Before I get into the review, I want to thank Dr. Freex from Bad Movie Report for letting me use some of the images from his review of this movie.

What the box says:

"The most brilliant mind in the universe" tries to conquer the earth with an army of mutants, monsters, mad doctors, and a "super-germ" that turns into a white-faced-witch-like woman with killer-claws until Starman once again leaps into action and defeats the EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE...who lives in a briefcase, Double wow.


Plot:

Note: the names may have been mutilated with bad spelling.

We see the space station that looks like the one from Attack From Space. Also, see a rocket flying through space. The omniscient narrator tells us that a robot assassin has killed "the most brilliant mind in the universe" Balazar. He managed to build a device to preserve his brain. And now wants to conquer the universe. Talk about someone trying to overcompensate for a disadvantage. Have there ever been any good brains? Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was evil. They Saved Hitler's Brain It might not be an absolute but a good rule of thumb. Any brain separated from its body will turn evil.

On the Emerald Planet, the High Council debates what to do.


Would you trust these guys?
Exactly, the same thing they did in Attack From Space. Apparently, EB (Evil Brain) will conquer Earth using nuclear weapons. The radiation will go into space and endanger other worlds. So, EB has to taken care of before, it's too late.

The Emerald High Council decides to give the globe meter to the steel hard Starman. At least, they say from the beginning he's steel hard. Now, the globemeter is worn around the wrist and gives the user 3 powers: flight, ability to detect radiation, and the ability to speak and understand all Earth languages.


It's a nice watch

On Earth, a man with a suitcase is being chased by the police. After being trapped in a dead end, he tries to escape, drops the suitcase from the dock. And, the cops arrest him. All the time, the man is screaming about the brain.

The man, Kuwada, is taken to the police station and doesn't stop mentioning the brain. If this were years later, the cops would think he was a serial killer ranting about a brain like he's doing. Kuwuda tells the story of how the EB is controlling his boss, Dr. Kurikowa. But, Dr. Kurikowa who calls the police to tell him Kuwada is harmless and just stressed from work and there is no brain. Well, his word must be good because the police let Kuwada go. They could hold him from resisting arrest, etc...

Dr. Kurkiowa orders his men to kill Kuwada. A group of Japanese business men wearing handkerchiefs over their faces in Westerns grab Kuwada. But, he is saved by a mysterious business man, who is Starman. Starman wants to know what has happened.

Kuwada tells a scientist, scientist's kids, and Starman about the EB. The EB is also hard to kill. Starman gives the kids a signal crystal to use if they need him. The scientist, Dr. Sakurai, begins research on how to kill the EB. I wonder what the guy's dissertation was onto be the world's expert on killing evil brains.

The Obvious Evil Henchman (or OEH for short) reports to Dr. Kurikowa. They've found the EB and are in the process of retrieving it.

A train is going down the tracks when it derails. Suddenly, it turns into an electric train set that follows off the tracks. A ship is sunk by the giant monster. Hospitals are filled with victims of these attacks as cops are sent to look for the monster responsible.

The kids and Kuwada read the newspaper account of the attacks. Kuwada wants to get some Kurikowa's research to learn more about the EB. These are some whiny kids compared to those in Attack from Space

A police detective follows Kuwada into Kurikowa's house. He’s looking for Kurikowa's notes as OEH attacks and knocks him out. Kurikowa and OEH go into the yard. We see that Kurikowa who needed a wheelchair earlier can walk. Theyuse the secret elevator to go into the base. The detective finds Kuwada.

In the secret Zemar base, guys wearing bat costumes that have the bat symbol on the chest. But, the bat symbol has a skull for a head. They stand at attention for their leader. They need to discover if Dr. Sakurai has found a way to kill EB. The Zemarians look like knockoff Batmen. It's almost sad to say that they make Adam West look like a good Batman. But a question does remain if a woman had on the costume would she look like Batwoman in the Wild Wild World of Batwoman


We are the Batman Revenge Squad

Dr. Sakurai is in his lab. The Evil Mutant monster charges at him. Starman appears in time to fight it. The Evil Mutant flies away. Starman chases after it. They fight some more. The narrator informs us that the Evil Mutant has solid cobalt nails which could actually hurt Starman. In Dragonball Z , when the characters fight they sometimes just look like they teleport between backgrounds fighting. Animation has advantages like that. But, Starman and the Evil Mutant fight they jump and, the shot is cut to them landing at another location and the fight continues. The cops finally get to the fight. Don't shoot at Evil Mutants it causes some of them to divide in 2 and escape.


Grrr, I'm scary...

The Narrator informs us that evil mutants rob stores to afford food and clothes. They stage a jewelry store robbery. Apparently, they need to capture a mutant to learn more about them.

The mutants steal the defense plans from a scientist. The scientist's kids coming back from a birthday party hide in an alley as two suspicious guys, the mutants, look through a briefcase. The detective passes them and follows them. He finds the injured scientist and tries to get help for him from a private hospital which at first is reluctant to help. But, the doctor agrees to help. It is cover from a secret Zemar base. The Zemarians surround the kids. Starman in a business suit fights them. The detective gets the kids away.

In the Zemarian base, the leader is waiting to receive the attack orders from EB. The Zemarians report Starman's interference. Dr. Sakurai is trying to find a formula to keep mutants from dividing and to kill the EB. The detective has some suspicions about the private hospital. They weren't able to save the scientist the mutants attacked. Apparently, gross incompetence or sometimes hospitals can do everything and it still is found lacking doesn't figure into detective's reasoning. Or, it could have been a killer nurse... The possibilities are endless.

The Zemarians have to eliminate the scientist's kids. Because, they saw them after the attack and can identify them. Well, Starman is there to prevent it from happening.

The boy gets sick and his sister who is like 12 at the oldest gets him admitted to the private hospital. The doctor is evil. He goes into a secret passage which the boy manages to see him open. In the Zemar base, the leader tells the soldier Zemarians the plan for the final assault. The boy overhears it all. The Zemarians see him and start to chase him.

The sister is worried about her brother. Starman in the business suit will investigate. She then calls the police. Starman finds the Zemrian base, probably from its radiation signature. They never really say why. Well, the Zemarians fight Starman who throws a few into the walls. The Zemarians retreat...

The Zemarian plan is to kill all government officials. Some government leaders return from a summit. The Zemarians surround the leader who is wearing some kind of wrap that covers his head. Surprised Zemarians see that it is actually Starman to draw them out Zemarians manage to escape and are followed by Starman. They try to shoot at Starman to know effect. The fight starts. And, the fight ends when the Zemarians are surrounded by cops.

Zemarian mutants are attacking people. At an amusement park, we see the traditional things: rides, cotton candy, etc...Some woman sees the White-Faced-Witch Woman with Killer-Claws (WFW for short) and passes out or dies. Next, in a ballet school, the WFW appears and touches a girl who falls over.


White-Faced-Witch Woman with Killer-Claws

Some guy delivers plans to the older scientist, Dr Okawa. Okawa doesn't pay much attention to him. He then goes into his secret lab. I've lost track of how many secret bases and labs are in this movie so far. I think it was 3 but not sure. Dr. Okawa creates mutants and talks loving to "Super Germ", which is the source of all the mutants.

Mutant army prepares for the attack. How long have they been preparing? Starman is looking for the mutant's base. It isn't under the mansion of famed geneticist Dr. Charles Xavier.... He's also looking for the cause of the germs that kill people. Starman is trying to get the information from a dying man. But, the man dies before telling Starman. He keeps up his search

Okawa is afraid that Starman will find his base. Defense forces are notified. Starman is in the base fighting the Zemarians. These aren't soldiers in the costume of the Bat. But, medical technicians and the like. Okawa releases the most powerful mutant to kill Starman. Okawa orders the WFW to kill Starman.

As the cops head to the base, Starman is fighting. The WFW appears and starts attacking Starman. The cops round up the Zemarians Starman kills the WFW who explodes. The "Super Germ" vanishes and Dr. Okawa dies. It may sound like I'm glossing over these details but it all happened so fast. Suppose the death of WFW who was the most powerful mutant was somehow still linked to the "Super Germ" caused a backlash which destroyed it. Dr. Okawa had a heart attack from the death of his best friend: "Super Germ." There is still the matter of a nuclear device to eliminate.

The world is preparing for the Zemarian attack. Starman is looking for Balazar. The Evil Mutant that escaped Starman before is attacking a world leader. Starman arrives to fight him once again. But, the mutant escapes. So Starman follows the mutant to find the supreme headquarters where the EB is.

Starman is fighting the Batman rip-offs. Starman is said to be made of steel. So, the man of steel is fighting an army of Batmen. The Zemarians try to get the EB away. Starman is fighting the Zemarians and the Evil Mutant. Cops show up to get the Zemarians. The Evil Mutant is killed and melts away.

In a Scooby Doo mystery moment, Starman learns Kurikowa is the leader. Dr. Sakurai shows up with the formula. They unlock the room where the EB is hidden. Sakurai dumps the formula on the EB which will kill all of the mutants, too. The formula works. Starman is going back to the Emerald Planet and flies away.


What I say:

I would probably have liked Evil Brain From Outer Space more if I had watched it first. I kept hoping Starman would grab a gun and start shooting like in Attack from Space. The kids in this movie got on my nerves. The Attack From Space kids were better and had a "lower eaten by the Sarlaac Pit index" than these kids. At least, they never used the signal device Starman gave them.

The effects were typical of the time. They weren't great but I loved the scene on the train where the people where were screaming and then the shot of the electric train derailing. You could tell the budget was low or Starman wouldn't have fought the same Evil Mutant 3 times. I'm still not sure the point about White-Faced Witch woman. She would appear touch you and then you die. I guess to the Japanese it was creepy for a White Faced Witch to touch you. With the way she looks, I think it would be a universal feeling of creepiness if she touched you...

I would love to hear how the Zemarians got Batman costumes. Granted aliens wouldn't wear regular Earth clothes in their bases. I guess somebody have a lot of leftover Halloween costumes. Is there a Japanese equivalent of Halloween? Maybe it was a wholesale batch from Hollywood.

Well, since they both were on the same DVD and it has some cartoon about Prince Planet, I have to say that the DVD is packed with features. It also has a batch of movie trailers, too. They are similar to the MST3K episodes Prince of Space and Invasion of the Neptune Men. As I was looking for some information about Starman, I kept finding pages saying not to confuse him with Prince of Space and Space Chief. If you want to see hokey effects and what passed as children's entertainment in Japan forty years ago here is your chance.

If you aren't sure you'd like it, you better find something else.



3 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

"I bring orders from Balazar's brain."
"If you try to stop me, I'll throw this nuclear grenade."
"Get the brain out of here."
"All of Earth hopes you succeed in killing it."


Morals of the Story

Ducking below the camera's view allows you to instantly change from a suit to a super hero costume.
Police look for mutants. (Warn the X-Men)