Review of Creature with the Atom Brain

Richard Deming has always been one of my favorite, if underrated actors. He lends credibility to one of Sam Katzman's most ludicrous projects, "Creature With the Atom Brain". What can you say about a movie where the Police Medical Specialist (Deming) immediately identifies the blood from one of the creatures as being "blood from some type of atomic creature" and reports this to the press (sure to cause a panic). How about a movie where the first two victims do not even have first names (so they are identified by a radio broadcast by their last names only). How about an Italian gangster with the name "Buchanan" or a scientist "dropping" potentially lethal doses of radioactive particles wherever he goes? How about Deming warning the Army not to use explosives or fire because fire "might burn up the lead shielding"(!), followed almost immediately by soldiers using hand grenades; or zombies walking into machine gun fire but not being pushed back by the force of multiple rounds? Shotguns would have taken these creatures apart, but no shotguns are used. Finally, the LEAST qualified man to take on the zombies and the gangster (Deming) manages to make it into the house for a showdown with the gangster. There is one other howler regarding Deming's actions with the radium, but that would be a spoiler.

Production values are pretty good for a movie of this era. My only quibble was the closeups of Deming and the Helicopter pilot. For one, I believe Deming is sitting in the RIGHT seat, which is the pilot's seat on a chopper. The other is the rotor drive is rotating at a much lower speed than the blades.

Deming and director Fred Sears ("Earth vs. the Flying Saucers") do pretty well with what they have. Unfortunately, what they have is not much.

I give "Creature With the Atom Brain" a "4".