”It’s as if some mental vampire were at work!”

Fiend Without A Face (1958)

Directed by Arthur Crabtree and adapted from a  story by Amelia Reynolds Long called ‘ The Thought Monster.’ Weird Tales, March 1930. Cover by C. C. Senf. Featuring the story “The Thought-Monster.”

This is Amelia Reynolds Long. A Sci-Fi geek with glasses. A girl after my own heart! See guys aren’t the only ones not only loving this stuff but creating it as well! Cheers to Amelia Long!
With original music by Buxton Orr and the special effects credit listed as Ruppel & Nordhoff, and some very fun sound design by Peter Davies as sound recordist and Terry Poulton as dubbing editor. It takes work to bring to life monsters, in particular making little invisible brain creatures scrape, scratch, and crawl along floors, roofs, and trees! One of THE best Sci-fi/Horror hybrids of the 50s! And certainly, one of my all-time favorite films of the genre, Fiend Without A Face plays out like a fantastic nightmare. It is truly what makes classic Sci-Fi and Horror so memorable. Given the choice between claymation brain creatures crawling on their spinal columns or any new CGI version as such, I’d pick whimsical every time!

Prof. R.E. Walgate (Kynaston Reeves) starts experimenting with the mental forces of telekinetic power. He configures a lab that draws energy from the nearby nuclear power plant. All the farmers in the area are worried about their cows’ low milking yield and blame the military somehow. All the darn jets flying overheard scaring the cattle. Given the growing mistrust of the military being so close by, when people start mysteriously winding up dead, it sends a wave of panic through the village. Walgate proceeds to unleash an invisible force, a creature that evolves with cunning intelligence and ultimately breaks free from the lab, consuming the nuclear power from the plant and terrorizing the hard-working farm folk. In the end, the horror is realized as they materialize into a fully embodied ‘brain’ creature, which is fantastical and captivating to watch as they descend upon this little rural English town. Can Major Cummings played by Marshall Thompson figure out a way to stop them before they suck the brains out of all humanity? The film also stars Kim Parker as Barbara Griselle, Prof. Walgate’s assistant, and Maj. Cummings love interest.Yet another Science Vs The Military fable built into the narrative …Who will be the hero in the end in this cautionary tale of being careful what you wish for…don’t tamper with the unknown forces of nature and the ensuing invisible monsters that crawl and creep and hang from the trees like little Beasties!!!!!!! Like fiends without faces!

“New Horrors! Mad Science Spawns Evil Fiends! …Taking form before your horrified eyes!”

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