Brain Leeches (4 Stars)

This is a short film made by Fred Olen Ray in 1977. In fact, it's his first film. It was made a year before "The Alien Dead", his first full length feature film. Unlike "Alien Dead", it was never intended to be shown to anyone. It was a hobby project while he was working as an engineer at a television studio in Florida. In the commentary track, recorded in 2017, he says that he'd never watched the film all the way through. That's so difficult for me to believe. If I ever made a film, however amateurish, I'd watch it over and over again, because it's MINE. The commentary track is just Fred talking into the microphone. He's not being interviewed by anyone. That's a shame. I'm sure that a journalist or hardcore Fred Olen Ray fan would have quizzed him on these statements.

I'm surprised that the film is so good, compared to "Alien Dead". The acting is better, and the story is better told. I loved the pompous musical score as soon as it started, but Fred explained it in his commentary. He couldn't afford film music, so he played a vinyl recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition". He just played the record from beginning to end, making no attempt to synchronise the film action with the music. Considering this, it's amazing that it sounds so good.

I call the film good, but I'm not referring to the picture quality. The film is badly preserved. Possibly the original cinematography was poor, but the state of the film material is so bad that it's impossible to tell.

For instance, this is the only scene in which we see the alien creatures in their natural form.

Which brings me to the plot. The Earth is visited by creatures from another planet. They've been observing the Earth for some time, and they have pity with humans. We're so unhappy, and we have poverty and war. The aliens want to cure our problems by possessing every human on Earth. Instant happiness!

This is what people look like when they're possessed by the aliens.

Those who're possessed wear dark sunglasses to help them blend in. But does that baby really blend in? Hardly. The baby is played by Christopher Olen Ray, Fred's son, who's now a film director in his own right.

Fred's biggest regret is that he didn't persuade the actress Marcia Scott to appear topless. She had large breasts, and in the scene where she was running away from possessed humans she wasn't wearing a bra. Or so he says. I watched the scene twice, and the fuzzy picture makes it difficult to see exactly what's bouncing. Fred made up for it in later years. He's made many films with topless actresses like Beverly Lynne and Christine Nguyen.

Fred evidently doesn't like the film. At the end of his commentary track he says, "If you sat through this, it serves you right". I don't think it's that bad at all. Despite the fuzzy picture.

The film was a financial success. Fred says that it cost him $298 to make, and he sold the original print for $1800. I'm glad he kept a copy for himself, or I could never have watched this curious little film on Blu-ray today.