The Brainiac A.K.A. El Barón del Terror
(1962) 77 min
Rated: NR (mild violence)
Country: Mexico
Director: Chano Urueta
Starring: Abel Salazar, Ariadne Welter, David Silva, Ruben Rojo
Links: IMDB | Wikipedia
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
An evil man rides a comet and lands in 1961 to kill the descendants of his prosecutors.
Synopsis:
It is the year 1661 in Mexico, then known as New Spain. Baron Vitelius of Astara (Salazar) is on trial. He is accused of heresy, witchcraft, necromancy, and seducing married women.
A lone man named Marcos defends the Baron’s reputation but the Lord Inquisitors decide to punish him. The Baron mocks the Lord Inquisitors as he is condemned to be burned at the stake.
As he’s set on fire he sees a comet. The Baron curses the Inquisitors and tells them that he will return when the comet does in 300 years and wipe their lineage from Earth.
Fast forward and the year is now 1961. Ronnie (Rojo) and Vicky (Welter) are assistant astronomers who arrive at an observatory to watch a comet that Professor Milan predicts will be in the sky. Ronnie and Vicky find that the comet lets out a strange light and decide to go and investigate.
Meanwhile, some random guy sees the meteor. He gets out of his car and is attacked by the Baron who is now a hideous monster. After sucking on the man’s neck and killing him, the Baron transforms back into a man and wears the guy’s clothing.
Ronnie and Vicky see the Baron and greet him. The Baron tells them he takes night strolls and Ronnie gives him a business card after learning the Baron is interested in astronomy.
The Baron walks to a nearby restaurant that is empty and almost closed for the evening. A drunken woman at the bar flirts with him. The Baron turns into his monster form and attacks her, killing her.
The next day the two victims from that night are sitting in a morgue. A police detective, “Chief” (Silva), and his assistant Benny are told that each victim had two hole perforations at the base of their neck.
The Baron finds the Crematorium of the Inquisition. He goes inside, reads some of the archives and finds the graves of the men who had him executed. As he leaves, a prostitute solicits him. He turns into his monster form and kills her.
Back at the observatory, Professor Milan is confused as to why the comet disappeared. Ronnie and Vicky go through his mail and find an invitation for the three of them to attend a party at Baron Vitelius’ new estate.
The police detectives, Chief and Benny, are also invited to the party that the Baron is holding. They are meant to be security at the affair. The Baron also invites the descendants of the four inquisitors who had him killed as guests to attend his party.
Finally, Ronnie, Vicky, and Prof. Milan arrive. The Baron recognizes both Ronnie and Vicky. Vicky as
a descendant of an inquisitor and Ronnie a descendant of the one man, Marcos, who defended the Baron.
At one point in the party the Baron excuses himself and pulls a large goblet full of brains out of a cupboard. He takes a spoon and eats it secretly.
The guests leave for the night and ask him to meet with them later.
The Baron goes to the house of one of the inquisitor’s descendants. He hypnotizes and kills a father and daughter. He throws documents around the room and causes a fire.
Later, the police detectives arrives on the scene and Chief concludes that the bodies have been killed by the same murderer who has been killing people by removing their brains through holes.
At another home, the Baron hypnotizes another descendant of an inquisitor and his wife. The Baron kisses the wife, then kills her. He then makes the husband open a burning furnace so that he will burn to death.
Ronnie and Vicky read the morning paper that goes into detail about the recent deaths. Ronnie realizes that the victims attended the Baron’s party.
The detectives visit the Baron’s home and snoop around when he isn’t there. He appears and they chat with him. Baron asks them to give their families his regards and Chief remarks that there is no one left of those families. After the detectives leave, the Baron moves the large chalice containing brains to a big trunk.
The Baron appears at a couple of newlyweds wedding night. The young wife cries for her husband and opens the bathroom to find him dead in a tub. The Baron tells her she is the descendant of one of the judges at his trial and then kills her.
Chief visits the Crematorium and reads the archives. He realizes that all of the people murdered are connected and searches for Vicky and Ronnie. Prof. Milan tells him that the couple were invited to dinner at the Baron’s home.
The Baron asks to show Vicky a jewel she can have. While he’s alone, Ronnie finds a knife and opens the trunk, discovering the large bowl of brains. The Baron, meanwhile, tells Vicky that he loves her yet at the same time hates her for she is a descendant of one of the Lord Inquisitors. The Baron turns into a monster and Vicky flees.
Vicky runs into the arms of Ronnie. The Baron warns Ronnie to get away from Vicky and tells him that his forefather once defended the Baron. Ronnie tells Vicky to run, but the Baron turns invisible and follows after Vicky.
Suddenly Chief and Benny arrive on the scene carrying flamethrowers and torch the Baron to death. The monster is a burnt husk. He transforms into the human Baron and finally into a pile of charred bones as the film concludes.
Review:
Both amazing and terrible, this is a film that simultaneously stir fits of amusement and boredom. Some highlights are the terrible rubber mask and convoluted plot. All the characters are just one-dimensional and lack any depth. There are sections of the film that are padded out with long stares.
The music is also noteworthy as there are several scenes where the music is very excited while a bland conversation takes place on screen.
There are plot holes and leaps in judgement. There is no explanation as to why the Baron can change into a monster or what that monster even is. Likewise there’s no reason given as to why Chief and Benny show up the the Baron’s home armed with flamethrowers. We also don’t know why Ronnie decided to specifically look into the Baron’s wooden trunk of brains. There is also no reasonable way that four people in the past would only produce four offspring over multiple generations.
There might be a sliver of commentary on science, art and sex being viewed as heresy versus the 60’s lens on the same topics, but it’s not even brought up well. We aren’t shown whether or not the Baron was condemned fairly, only that he has a score to settle and doesn’t mind killing any person who happens to cross his path.
The actors do a well enough job and a few were staples of Mexico’s golden age of cinema.
The film is worth watching only for the goofy monster makeup, but the film is slow and predictable.
