BRAINSTORM (1965)

Jeffrey Hunter

BRAINSTORM (1965). Director: William Conrad.

Jim Grayam (Jeffrey Hunter) discovers a passed out blond named Lorrie (Anne Francis) in a car on the railroad tracks. Saving the woman, he takes her home to her wealthy husband, Cort Benson (Dana Andrews), where it becomes obvious that this is a marriage from Hell. Jim and Lorrie begin an affair (incredibly, they seem to think they're being discreet), and Jim is subjected to a campaign of harassment. Then Jim decides that the only way for the couple to be free -- and be free to take care of Lorrie's small daughter -- is to plot a murder ... Brainstorm features a very good performance from the "impossibly" good-looking Hunter [Belles on Their Toes] and isn't badly directed by portly actor William Conrad [Cry Danger]. Francis is more than okay, but Andrews is atypically listless as Benson. Viveca Lindfors, with her Cheshire cat grin, is very effective as a psychiatrist who has to determine Jim's sanity. Mann Rubin's screenplay -- he also wrote An American Dream --  becomes increasingly implausible as it progresses, however. Strother Martin, Kathie Browne, and ham-handed Richard Kiel have smaller roles, and the last two are certainly vivid. Conrad is seen in the background of a hospital as an asylum inmate. Francis and Hunter appeared together as a romantic couple in Dreamboat 13 years earlier.

Verdict: Quite effective lead performance in half-baked melodrama. **1/2.

THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN

THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN (1971). Director. Bernard McEveety.

Ben (Charles Bateman), his girlfriend Nicky (Ahna Capri), and his daughter K.T. (Geri Reischl), get lost while traveling to grandma's and wind up in the town of Hillsboro, which is experiencing a chilling supernatural experience. Children are disappearing, people are being gruesomely butchered, and no one -- except for Ben and his group -- can get in or out of the town. The priest (Charles Robinson) thinks a witches coven may be responsible, but his notion is breezily dismissed by Doc Duncan (Strother Martin), who knows more than he's telling. Absorbing, disturbing and strange horror film grabs you from the first -- a non-graphic but gruesome scene when a car with people inside is crushed by a toy tank that somehow becomes the real thing -- and in its own weird way never lets go (although there is a boring nightmare sequence that goes on way too long and seems inserted just to pad the running time). Screenplay by L. Q. Jones, who plays the sheriff, and also co-produced the film with Alvy Moore (best known as "Hank Kimball" from Green Acres), who plays his assistant Tobey. Helene Winston scores as Dame Alice, one of the witches who's pissed off Satan and pays the ultimate price, attacked by a mass of elderly murderers. With a little more effort, better direction, and avoidance of some unfortunate casting choices, this might have been a classic.

Verdict: Creepy little terror film with some memorable scenes and images. ***.