Peter van Eyck was a good actor but no matter how good he was, he could not save this movie from failure. It's a cheap story with the brain of a very rich Romanian, Max Holt, who died in an plane "accident" and then had a very "intimate" relationship with the doctor Peter Corrie, played by van Eyck. Only if you're a fan of van Eyck.

A stodgy retelling of the classic sci-fi novel, DONOVAN'S BRAIN. Disembodied brains were all the rage when this film was made, with the likes of THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE and various Hammer Frankenstein movies playing with the possibility of life after death. However, this being a UK/West Germany co-production, the narrative actually has far more in common with the German krimi genre than a typical sci-fi movie.The narrative sees a millionaire being blown up in a plane crash, and it soon transpires that there was a bomb on board. Novelty value comes from the millionaire's brain being used to hunt down the culprits responsible, and he does so by possessing the body of the man (Peter van Eyck) keeping him alive.The sci-fi elements are kept to a minimum here, with the emphasis instead on the murder mystery genre. As with many krimi films, stark black and white photography is the order of the day, with the cast populated by criminals, detectives and femme fatales. Director Freddie Francis contributes atmosphere to the narrative but this is one of his lesser pieces.The story just doesn't have much in the way of oomph or excitement to it, even though there are a handful of decent moments. There are a couple of familiar faces in the cast, including Miles Malleson and Bernard Lee, but no performances here to get excited about. Definitely a potboiler, this one, and not a decent one either.

Not having seen any of the previous versions of this story, the film this one reminded me more of is Lucio Fulci's (!!) 1990 shocker "Voices from Beyond". The plotlines are different but still share some similarities, as they both involve revenge from beyond the grave, rich families with hidden secrets, a murder investigation carried out on behalf of the murdered man himself, etc. Unfortunately, "The Brain" takes an interesting sci-fi concept and turns it into a forgettable murder mystery; you won't exactly be on the edge of your seat trying to figure out "who-did-it". What's more, the chintzy production makes the movie look as if it were made in the 40s. (**)

When I saw this movie it was, as you can assume from the language I'm typing this in, in English. Specifically, it was titled "The Brain." I personally thought that it was a good movie. However, I'm a fan of old science fiction movies in general. Many viewers who can't live without stunning visual effects and 3D surround-sound are doomed to disappointment with this one, and the fact that it was dubbed from German obviously detracts from the value of the movie somewhat, but in all it was a decent movie. The plot was somewhat more difficult to follow than that of other movies, but if you can follow (for instance) Buckaroo Bonzai, then it shouldn't be a problem.Still, I don't think I would mind seeing this movie turned into an episode of MST3K. It's just the type of thing that they would do.