Customer Reviews

They Saved Hitler's Brain

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Mention this title today to anyone and they will think you're joking. Who really would have ever made a movie called THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN?... well, I've seen the movie, and I have the DVD now, and I still don't know who would have made this kind of movie... but here it is. Started in the 1950's and completed by a few UCLA students in the 1960's and then finally released to the world, T.S.H.B. is considered by many to be the true "worst movie ever made". Does it steal any thunder from PLAN NINE? Oh yes, this is indeed a poor movie all around... yet made by experienced people. The 1960's additional scenes serve merely as exposition, filling in the missing details and information and star a Young Ron Jeremy type working with the CID, who is partnered with a Well-Fed Alicia Silverstone wannabe dressed as a ready and able (and seemingly willing) school girl (who is perhaps the best actor in the 60's footage) who drives a beat up VW Bug. They are not in it for long, and are in fact killed off... big surprise. As for the rest of the movie... it's a trial. Painful. A true test of will... can you sit through it? RHINO has done a good job with the transfer and actually has added perhaps one of the best, and funniest, antimated menu's I've ever seen on any DVD. It features the head of Hitler spouting some unintelligable German. His eyebrows move, his mouth, and his head dances around when he talks... very odd, but lay down funny. I recommend this movie, and I recommend buying this DVD if only to impress your friends that you actually own something called... THEY SAVED HITLERS BRAIN.

Oh what a hoot. I'm giving this film 5 stars for a different reason. Movies that are so bad they are 'good' make my day. 'Cat Women of the Moon', 'Plan 9 from Outer Space', and 'Robot Monster' all have a certain charm that exceeds the actual film. 'They saved Hitler's Brain' is another such movie. I give it 5 stars when thrown on with other famous bad movies, it holds it's own. It has everything a bad movie fan could want. An inane plot, mediocre acting at best, and the over the top 'not so special' effects.

A small Carribean Island called Manduras is a hideout for Nazis who want to take over the world. And why shouldn't they try again? Der Fuhrer is among them as a head in a glass jar. Guess that's where Matt Groening got the idea for his incredible 'Futurama' cartoon show. Listening to the little Hitler head in the glass jar barking out orders is just a hoot. I also loves how he just moves his eyes from side to side looking all sinister and stuff.

My two favorite scenes are the car chase and hotel fight. The car chase is right out of the mind of Ed Wood. They start driving in daylight, then the headlights are on in the dark, then at the crash, it's light again. Brilliant! It's too bad that agent died. With that hair and mustache he looked like Sony Bono meets Journey's Steve Perry. His very appearance was pure camp. Then you got the hotel scene. She hits the wrong guy with the lamp. How could she be so stupid?

A lot of people will say how much they love the "Hitler head melting" scene. Sure it's cool, but you have 92 minutes of pure hilarity to enjoy before the big climax.

If you love bad, bad, really bad movies, then this is perfect for you.

Why am I drawn to bad movies like a fly to a steaming pile of excrement (this metaphor is exceptionally appropriate given the film being reviewed)? I've never really given it much thought, but I suppose it's a similar reaction people display when driving by a particularly bad car wreck...you don't want to look, but morbid curiosity is a compelling, often intrinsic, trait among humans. As far as car wrecks go, cinematically speaking, They Saved Hitler's Brain (1963) is a real doozy...the film is actually two movies (the original made in the late 50's to early 60's but never released for some unknown reason, and new footage filmed in the mid to late 60's) spliced together, like some twisted Frankenstein experiment. Apparently the company that owned the original film, Crown International (purveyors of schlock), got some UCLA film students to produce the new footage, and then, in an extremely futile attempt, married the two in the unholy union that is this film (director Al Adamson made a career on doing this, most notably with his 1971 monster mash Dracula Vs. Frankenstein).

The film, originally titled Madmen of Mandoras aka Amazing Mr. H aka The Return of Mr. H (before the celluloid mating) was directed by David Bradley, whose earlier films include a juvenile delinquent picture titled Dragstrip Riot (1958) and the epic sci-fi craptacular 12 to the Moon (1960). The film stars Walter Stocker (Lassie's Great Adventure) and Audrey Caire, who seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place her until I looked up her credits as saw she also appeared in Joe (1970), one of my more favorite films of the early 70's. Also appearing is John Holland (The Naked Brigade), Carlos Rivas (True Grit), Marshall Reed (Ghost of Zorro), Scott Peters (Panic in Year Zero!), Nestor Paiva (The Three Stooges in Orbit, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter), and Bill Freed (who later adapted Dean R. Koontz's novel Watchers into the 1988 film of the same name) as Adolf Hitler, or, at least his head.

The film starts out with the newer footage (which actually looks worse than the older footage), relating some kind of story regarding secret agents, nerve gas, and various murders. The main character, named Vic (who looks a lot like Chuck Negron, the original lead singer from the 70's band Three Dog Night) is a secret agent assigned to investigate the death of a scientist, but he himself eventually dies in a fiery car crash (actually his death is represented by footage taken from the 1958 feature Thunder Road, starring Robert Mitchum). All of this takes about 27 minutes, and then we cut into another film, already in progress, featuring the actors I listed above (the actors in the newer footage are not listed in any credits). From here we follow the exploits of Phil Day (Stocker) and his wife Kathy (Caire) as they travel to the tiny Caribbean Island nation of Mandoras to locate Kathy's recently kidnapped father, a scientist who developed an antidote to a deadly nerve gas. Phil and Kathy soon learn a handful of Nazis, lead by Hitler's head, and their nefarious plans to take control of the world. Will Phil and Kathy be able to stop the madness, or will the Third Reich finally achieve the goals it set for itself some 20 years ago? Their plan seems pretty rock solid, so things don't look good...

I'm unsure why the newer footage was added, especially since it matched up so poorly (it looked like a bunch of laid-back hippies running around, compared to the more conservatively attired characters in the original footage). The original film is actually not a bad little B film (at least, compared to the newer footage), but I suspect some of the original footage may have been lost (or never filmed), hence the addition of the newer material, as to try and provide a setting for the older material. Thing is, the newer stuff was shot so very poorly, lacking any sense of direction (hey, it's daytime...no wait, it's night...oops, it's daytime again), and I was able to piece together much of the intended story from the original footage I didn't need the newer material. And that music for the newer material...27 minutes of really crummy free form jazz...the horror, the horror...the concept of saving Hitler's head seemed kinda cool, but what was probably meant to be a shocking surprise (the whole plot of Hitler's head plotting a conspiracy) was effectively ruined by the newer title. The special effects are pretty much what you might expect, with Hitler's head, when not being carried around in a jar, sitting atop an older model videotape machine. Freed's head did look a little creepy, sort of bug-eyed and slightly emaciated, with his only dialog, as a disembodied head, being `Mach Schnell! Mach Schnell!' (I guess one would probably get pretty cranky and impatient surviving in a jar, relying on the charity of others...I wonder which lackey got the job of trimming his little moustache?) My favorite scene has to be when Phil and Kathy get kidnapped by a mysterious Hispanic man, and as they come to a stop light, another car pulls up, shoots the Hispanic man dead, but the couple, who are in the car with the now dead man, don't realize he's dead until much later, eventually stuffing his corpse into a phone booth, the intent being someone will find him (and someone does, in the form of an impatient, rotund lady wanting to use said phone...oh the comedy!)

The Rhino release specifies this is the uncut, 92-minute version (it felt much longer), newly transferred from 35mm elements. The picture quality isn't all that great, but it's probably the best you'll find, surpassing that old VHS copy you own. The audio is about as good as the picture quality (which is to say not all the great). There is a menu (featuring a nifty animated Hitler head), and a listing of other Rhino titles.

Cookieman108

Many say it is the worst movie ever made, it is. But, when you think about it, its very funny, from the backward swaztica, to the pointless begining, to the fact that the C.I.A. is accedently the C.I.D, and finally..Hitler's head melts in the end! Great fun! The DVD has no special features, although the menu is very funny, with hitler's head "turning" on and speaking giberish. They Saved Hitler's Brain definently belongs in your bad movie collection along with Plan Nine From Outer Space, and Cat Women From the Moon.(My real screenname is christopop but i'm using my moms account.) :)

What can I say good about this movie? Hum, well the menu on the DVD from RHINO is quite funny. As for the rest, it is pretty bad.

The existing prints must be in poor shape. Despite the advertisement that it is a "new transfer from 35 mm film elements," the picture suffers from scratches, jitters, and a host of sound problems. The soundtrack develops that machine-gun rattle that is so common in old prints that no longer track well for the screen. Indeed, I have never heard this amount of hissing and cracking on a legitimate mainline DVD soundtrack.

Portions of the movie, mostly at the beginning, give a parallel storyline that was added by UCLA film students in the 1960's (1963 I believe). It really does not sync with the older 1950's footage that features better acting and scripting. Indeed, removal of the appended material might make for a better film. It was added for theatrical length and to help flush out the kidnapping and secret weapon details. All it really does is add length, stretching the movie to 92 minutes. While some bad movies are fun, this one is just mostly bad. Ed Wood could have done better.

Once the entire cast from the first part of the movie are killed off, the film starts in earnest with the older material. The plot should be simple but the extraneous material confuses things. Professor Coleman has created an antidote to a potent new nerve gas. He is kidnapped by Nazis holding up in Mandoras (South America). The evil men worship Hitler's animated head in a mason jar. The professor's daughter and son-in-law must save the day before the Nazis take over the world.

The identities of the actors in the added material are not clarified. The film was also called MADMEN OF MANDORAS and THE RETURN OF MR. H. There are several bloopers, much related to the harsh transition between the 1960's and 1950's cultures (dress, music, dance, etc.). There is also a car chase where shots alternate between night and day.

Here is a little tidbit. Bill Freed, who plays Hitler's head in a jar, would later author the screenplay for Koontz' book, THE WATCHERS.

>No nudity.
>Mild plot violence.
>No graphic gore.
>No vulgar language.

Let me start by prefacing that I am a huge fan of bad film, and this film is the worst ever. I was originally dared by my high-school English teacher to watch this film for extra credit and fell in love with it. The premise: Nazi troops preserve Hitler's brain (actually his entire head) in order to save his strategic saavy and flee to South America. Of course, Nazi hunters happen to run into them and discover the *shocking* truth about their plan to use Hitler's Head on a Box to rise again and dominate the world. The Nazi hunters foil their plan and save the day. What makes this film truly enjoyable is that you'll spend the entire time trying to figure out what is going on. The beginning of the film was shot 20 years after the rest of the footage and has 70's b-movie actors discovering the Nazi hideout in South America, leading to the gratuitous exploding car. Then we are whisked away to South America, the original film stock, where the rest of the movie unfolds. The funniest thing about this film is that the Nazis preserved Hitler so he could say two words over and over again: 'Hurry up!' (translated from the German). Good thing they saved his head! This film is bad, bad, bad; so bad it is enjoyable to watch, just like an Ed Wood film.

"They Saved Hitler's Brain" is a cinematic travesty made over a decade or so by two different sets of people, starring two different sets of actors. What could possibly go wrong? The basis for the film is the very short 1963 feature "The Madmen of Mandoras", which was apparently shot years earlier and shelved for a while. In the late 1960s (1968 seems the most agreed upon date), some television brain trust wanted to broadcast "The Madmen of Mandoras", but it was too short to fit in a traditional movie time slot. They hired some film school students to shoot additional wraparound footage to boost the running time. The result is one of the most jarring viewing experiences in cinema history, and ranks up there with the very best of Ed Wood or Ray Dennis Steckler for enjoyable camp viewing.

The film opens with the newly shot footage of a smarmy male and a voluptuous female CID agent arguing and engaging in possibly the worst banter in film history. The acting and writing will both make you cringe; the good news is you frequently can't hear what's being said over the loud background music. It seems that the CID is investigating the death of a scientist who was working of the G-Gas project. The dead scientist knew of the antidote, and they discover that Dr. John Coleman, another brilliant scientist, has been kidnapped and taken to the South American country of Mandoras.

The G-Gas plot sort of devolves into a "Wild, Wild World of Batwoman" pursuit of evildoers, with the movie going on to feature crazy Nazis planning to take over the world, Hitler's head in a jar (who the cast refers to as "Mr. H") yelling orders in German, a brain dead kidnapping and murder subplot, lots of stock footage, a supremely annoying and pathetic romance subplot, ridiculously inept car chases, doublecrosses, gunplay, explosions, a fire, and Hitler's head melting. Everything is here but the kitchen sink, and that may be here too, just too grainy and out of focus to see.

For someone who adores nonsensical B-movies, "They Saved Hitler's Brain" is a film to marvel at, and I particularly recommend it as a double feature with "The Thing With Two Heads".

YES this is a totally weird & dumb movie to watch. But is fun to watch. The main plot seems to be a group of men
saving Hitler's brain so he can give instructions on how to take over the WORLD. [ I might say, good special
effects on his head ]. This is truly a B-Movie. But oh so fun to watch. If you don't already have it, by all
means get for good dumb entertainment.

One of the all-time bombs of cinematic history! Ranks right up there with the "best" (worst?) of Ed Wood. Actually two movies in one - the relatively short (for a feature film) "Madmen of Mandoras" released in 1963 (which ran something over 60 minutes), and a new subplot, filmed years later by students in UCLA's Film School, which is clumsily woven in.

As with much Bad Cinema, it's hard to pin down all the relevant facts. While most references give 1963 as the year of release for "Madmen of Mandoras", some state that it was largely filmed in the late Fifties. It was not uncommon for clunkers such as this to sit on the shelf for several years. At any rate, this schlocky sci-fi "thriller", which gives us unrepentant Nazis plotting to takeover the world years after the end of WWII (and led by the disembodied head of no less than Adolph Hitler), returned to the vaults after release and was largely forgotten by the movie-going public.

Years later, in either the late 1960's or early 1970's (depending on who you believe), "Madmen of Mandoras" was dusted off for recycling onto television. Many old Fifties/Early Sixties sci-fi and horror films were getting a new lease on life on TV through syndication. Problem with "Madmen" was that, with such a short running time, it wouldn't fit into regular movie slots on the local stations. So the UCLA Film School was hired to pad "Madmen" with new scenes. Some references give 1968 as the year this took place, but it's difficult to tell from the finished scenes....it might have been early 1970's.

At any rate, they used six actors for these "new" scenes, and came up with a very contrived sub-plot that loosely tied into the original storyline. The first 25+ minutes are mostly devoted to this new footage, which involves a secret "G-Gas" nerve agent, and it's antidote. The antidote formula is stolen out of a government lab by Nazi spy Dr. Bernard, who then dies when his car is blown up by other Nazi agents, along with the formula. Evidently the Nazis already have G-Gas; they just don't want the antidote known to the government. Bernard's murder brings in the government agency "CID", which may be the Counter Intelligence Division of the FBI (though this is never explained). Russ Van Pelt, a CID bureau chief (and closet Nazi) goes through the motions of investigating Dr. Bernard's death, assigning agents Vic Gilbert and Toni Gordon to the case. To his chagrin, Van Pelt finds out from Vic that a certain Professor Coleman actually developed the G-Gas antidote, not Bernard. Suddenly Professor Coleman is a target.

Some old footage is worked in at this point, showing Professor Coleman briefing government officials on G-Gas. Then after the briefing Coleman meets his son-in-law, CID Agent Phil Day (the real star of the original "Madmen of Mandoras") and Coleman's assistant Frank Dvorak (another Nazi spy). Then it's back to the "modern" footage, which shows CID agents Vic and Toni meeting to discuss the case -- she pulls up to Vic's cheap-looking apartment in a Volkswagen beetle! (Great cover for a government agent....) The two verbally spar, and some "comic relief" is thrown in at female agent Toni's expense, then get down to business.

The most jarring aspect of this interspersing of new footage with old is how dated it makes the original film look! In the "Madmen" scenes, everyone is conservatively dressed and the guys all have short hair. In the UCLA footage, the guys have "mod" clothes and hair styles. One reviewer noted that the finished product was a forced marriage of Fifties conservatism and Sixties hippies! Even the music score of the UCLA scenes doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. Also, while "Madmen" didn't boast any first-rate stars, the actors at least came off as professional. For the UCLA cast, it's strictly "amateur night". And, oddly enough, though both were shot in black & white, the older film looks better and crisper than the newer film!

Of course neither of the "new" stars, Vic and Toni, bear any resemblance to real government agents, nor is their dialog convincing in the least. Vic resembles a sleazy porn star, while Toni comes off as a klutzy dumb-blonde. The two Nazi thugs they battle wear dark business suits and sunglasses, but have long hair, and one reviewer likened them to Blues Brothers Jake and Elwood! At any rate, Professor Coleman is kidnapped by these goons. First Toni, then Vic, try and save the professor, but both are killed by the Nazi thugs. Vic's car is shown running into a electric transformer (in a scene lifted from 1958's "Thunder Road"). With Vic's death, so ends the "new" UCLA footage.

From then on it's all old "Madmen of Mandoras" film, as Agent Phil Day and his wife Kathy (whom he calls K.C.) travel to Mandoras to rescue Professor Coleman. After some stock airplane footage, and some tedious scenes of their arrival in Mandoras and meeting the local police chief, they finally learn of a Nazi scheme towards the end of WWII to keep Hitler alive (or at least his head). Bill Freed plays Hitler in the flashbacks, mostly screaming at doctors and waiving his arms wildly around. Apparently the Nazis in Mandoras. still lead by their "head man" Hitler, are plotting to conquer the world with the dreaded G-Gas! We are told they have agents all over the world ready to release it.....however it's not explained just why Professor Coleman should be kidnapped and held captive by the Nazis, instead of simply being killed. They already have G-Gas, and it would seem the wise course to silence forever the only man who knows how to make the antidote (???).

Finally after Phil & K.C. are captured do we get to see the Nazi underground bunker and the disembodied noggin of the Fuhrer in a large pickle jar, mounted on a box with electronic dials! The distance shots use a wax head, while the close-ups are of a sneering Bill Freed. Then we see the Fuhrer-head in the jar riding around in the back seat of a car as the Nazi plan is put into effect. Absolutely hilarious! Makes "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" look like high art. In the end our heroic duo saves the day with a few hand grenades -- blowing up the Nazis, and burning to death Hitler's (wax-version) head.

It's pure trash!It's not supposed to be funny but if you want to laugh a lot watch this movie!
"A group of Nazi survivors somehow manage to save Hitler's brain. In an attempt to revive the Fuhrer's pickled bean, they kidnap a prominent transplanter. So awful, it's a hoot!" (Rotten Tomatoes)