I remember seeing The Electronic Monster as a lad way back when I was 11 years old and it was the second feature of a double bill. It had an interesting concept, but it was poorly executed.Rod Cameron and Mary Murphy are a pair of Americans in the leads of this British production which is set in France. An American film star dies in a car crash and the autopsy showed he was dead before his car went out of control. Too much electric shock of the brain. Cameron is an insurance investigator employed by the film star's studio. He discovers some other deaths of prominent people all had known the same femme fatale and all had extended stays at a 'resort'. Roberta Huby is our Mata Hari.The resort is run by a rather cold and bloodless Peter Illing and the people are there for some kind of new psychotherapy. Dr. Meredith Edwards has investigated a kind of electric shock therapy which feeds certain erotic images into the brain and records. Kind of a Krell brain test. But Illing has seen the possibilities of mind control.Illing is also engaged to another film star Mary Murphy who was once an item with Cameron. That's one major weakness of the movie there. He's so cold and bloodless, sinister but also a drip. What she saw in him I'll never know.Interesting concept, but the execution was so lifeless and dull. Both the leads got a European vacation out of it so that might have been the reason they signed for The Electronic Monster.Good a reason as any.

Ballet, Mien Fuhrer ? 1958 " Electronic Monster" that sounds a heck of a lot scarier then the original title, "Escapement". Directed by Montgomery Tully, and David Paltenghi. and written by Charles Erick Maine. The quirky film could also have been titled, "the Adventures of Jeff Keenen", played by the rugged guys guy, Rod Cameron, "Insurance inspector" a hard boiled investigator, who use to be in love with a sweet dame, that he walked away from, Ruth Vance, played by the sexy Mary Murphy. Now she got herself hitched up to the Megalomaniac Paul Zacon, played by Peter Illing. Some spoiler alert ahead, Actually "Escapement" is a much better title. It would seem to imply the term "addiction". That is the goofy basis of Mad scientist number one, Dr Phillip Maxwell, played by Merideth Edwards. His brainstorm? Cure depression, neurosis, and anti social tenancies, by stimulating the brain with electronic pleasure sensations. A collection of specially recorded sensory stimulation. An electronic "fix" to curb their behavior. All done with tube technology. How alien it must be to today's generation, to see a scene that opens with a guy at a typewriter, talking on a dial telephone. The wacky electronic effects are immensely irritating, they portend some "evil" about to take place, I can feel the pain of the producer, asking the director to try to make it more scary. Where is the monster? 1954's movie GOG had a real Robot monster. Here the monster is more subtle. and stupid. Well you see, the actor thought he was in a noir cover-up conspiracy film, not really a horror film at all. At ten years old when the film was released, especially under the name Electronic Monster, I would have been bored by the whole talky film. The Brits would tackle the electronic mind control theme again, in the much better, "The Mind Benders" (1963) The "dream" sequences are an interesting insert, into the whole dull affair, time for the kids to hit the bathroom. Sexy little vignettes, choreographed like a "Moulon Rouge" dance routine. Teddy Catsford is given credit for the special cinematography. Sexy numbers, un-sexy music. We cut to the grand finale, The clichéd Scientist burns down the Lab scene. OK, it delivers, as Mad scientist turns good, and zaps the bad guy before going down with the ship. Throw in the keystone kops, and a demented killer following the bosses orders, and you still have one dull presentation. Movies like this kept the popcorn flying at the matinees. For historic value, I upped the Stars, I give it Four out of Ten "Check out whats happening in the lobby" Stars. 

In Charles Eric Maine's excellent (for its day) novel, a scientist invents a mind-tape-recorder (helmet on the head, bazillion-track tape), hoping to use it for Good, like studying mental disorders. A movie mogul gets hold of it and soon billions of people waste their lives and their savings in tanks "experiencing" recorded porn or schmaltz (ultraslow replay intensifies the sensations). The scientist decides to take drastic measures, batters the mogul to death and plays the recording to the billions, hoping to scare them back to reality. Instead they die and the book ends as he's about to be sentenced for the death of the mogul, raising the ethical question of the collateral damage.Bear in mind that when Maine wrote this, brain waves were novel, magnetic sound recording was only about a decade old and video recording was still in the future.In the Z-grade film, the WHOLE story is ripped out (daren't offend Hollywood) and we're left with an ordinary quarter-inch reel-to-reel recorder and a squawking electronic soundtrack that has nothing to do with the action on screen. I've completely forgotten the new plot, but vaguely remember people in leotards writhing around some cheesy gauzes to hint at forbidden pleasures.I'd give it an award for Worst Adaptation ever.

Dull, dull, cliche ridden film . Brainwashing has been used as a topic for many interesting films(IPCRESS FILE for one). This 1950s British film is not one of them. Instead we get a very basic storyline with no punches whatsoever. Rod Cameron sleepwalks throughout, looking like he would much rather be in a Western. There is an annoying love angle thrown in and some two dimensional characters(mad scientist, caring scientist, power hungry industrialist, rock jawed hero,psycho etc.). The result is a very boring film with no delivery whatsoever. Only the poor viewer is brainwashed.