24 reviews
About half the reviewers here make mention of the 1970's footage added into the film when it was re-released under the title "They Saved Hitler's Brain." This just added to the cheesiness of the whole exercise.
To recap, the plot of this film is that a few surviving Nazis have managed to save Hitler's head in a big jar, while keeping it alive with a machine. Now, it's not really clear why they do this, the only words Hitler in a Jar says is "Mach Schnell". (Roughly translated, "Hurry Up!" My father, a German immigrant, was very fond of that one.) One has to wonder if Hitler in a Jar ever got a date from Jan in the Pan from "The Brain that wouldn't die". They'd have made a cute couple.
The film is C movie quality, and the scenes with Hitler in a jar are just ludicrous. The actor who played Hitler just mugs for the camera ridiculously in a way that would embarrass even Mel Brooks. (It appears he never worked again.)
Also, the Nazi plot makes little or no sense. They are going to release this "G-Gas" stuff into the air that will kill everyone, probably most of the animals as well. And they kidnap the professor who has the antidote. So, uh, why? Why not just kill him? Were they going to release this gas and they didn't have the antidote?
To recap, the plot of this film is that a few surviving Nazis have managed to save Hitler's head in a big jar, while keeping it alive with a machine. Now, it's not really clear why they do this, the only words Hitler in a Jar says is "Mach Schnell". (Roughly translated, "Hurry Up!" My father, a German immigrant, was very fond of that one.) One has to wonder if Hitler in a Jar ever got a date from Jan in the Pan from "The Brain that wouldn't die". They'd have made a cute couple.
The film is C movie quality, and the scenes with Hitler in a jar are just ludicrous. The actor who played Hitler just mugs for the camera ridiculously in a way that would embarrass even Mel Brooks. (It appears he never worked again.)
Also, the Nazi plot makes little or no sense. They are going to release this "G-Gas" stuff into the air that will kill everyone, probably most of the animals as well. And they kidnap the professor who has the antidote. So, uh, why? Why not just kill him? Were they going to release this gas and they didn't have the antidote?
I'm not sure what this picture was meant to be, but I'm going to give the director/writer/etc credit and say they meant it as a good time political action thriller comedy on a drive-thru budget. It is sort of those things, if you are willing to accept a very loose definition of the individual terms.
Clever Plot? Not at all (actually confusing if you stop to think about it) Believable characters? Nope ... but just as I don't kick puppies I won't beat up too much on the merits of this lovable loser. It's goofy fun and doesn't take itself that seriously. Coming in just barely over an hour, it's not too much time out of your life, and I would say probably is worth it on the 'I"m just curious' dilemma surrounding all of these campy drive thru films.
Rating: 16/40
Clever Plot? Not at all (actually confusing if you stop to think about it) Believable characters? Nope ... but just as I don't kick puppies I won't beat up too much on the merits of this lovable loser. It's goofy fun and doesn't take itself that seriously. Coming in just barely over an hour, it's not too much time out of your life, and I would say probably is worth it on the 'I"m just curious' dilemma surrounding all of these campy drive thru films.
Rating: 16/40
I watched both the madmen of mandoras and they saved Hitlers brain with the 70's edits,and i thought it was quite entertaining.not as bad as they say.but its no masterpiece but it is better made then the other bad films;plan 9 from outer space and robot monster.i never knew this was from crown international pictures,which made quality low budget pictures like American international did in the 50's,60's and 70's.with the morbid plot of Hitlers head in a jar still living.madmen of mandoras is a creepy movie full of red herrings,Nazis and secret agents in mandoras south America.i always wanted to see this and they saved Hitlers brain and finally seen it,and ill have to say i enjoyed it.madmen of mandoras has a longer scene at the end of the movie.not giving away spoilers thank you.but saying madmen of mandoras is a bad film would be an injustice.as a b-movie its pretty enjoyable,make some popcorn throw a party and entertain your guests with madmen of mandoras.look for actor nester paiva as a policeman,nester paiva has been in many monster movies including;creature from the black lagoon,mole people and 20 million miles to earth.madmen of mandoras is available on a DVD set called drive in classics(all from crown international)also included on this DVD is;the creeping terror,they saved Hitlers brain,the devils hand,land of the Minotaur and a few more mini classics,all recently restored.5 out of 10 check it out. and beware of Mr h.
A group of fanatics on the island of Mandoras, in their attempts to eliminate all threats to their diabolical plot to conquer the world, kidnap a famous American neurobiologist, triggering a rescue search that blows their plan to bits.
Also known as "They Saved Hitler's Brain", which really gets more to the point than the "Mandoras" title. Where is Mandoras? Not sure... let's assume somewhere near Argentina, just for the sake of putting it somewhere.
Some of the lines are cheesy, but memorable, such as, "I'm a very good police chief. I always obey orders, most of the time." Tom Sharon, perhaps a Texan, is the only spirited character of the film. He saved the movie from being completely worthless.
Most other reviewers will trash this film even more than I would, so I won't bother to say too much... just be confident that it's not good.
Also known as "They Saved Hitler's Brain", which really gets more to the point than the "Mandoras" title. Where is Mandoras? Not sure... let's assume somewhere near Argentina, just for the sake of putting it somewhere.
Some of the lines are cheesy, but memorable, such as, "I'm a very good police chief. I always obey orders, most of the time." Tom Sharon, perhaps a Texan, is the only spirited character of the film. He saved the movie from being completely worthless.
Most other reviewers will trash this film even more than I would, so I won't bother to say too much... just be confident that it's not good.
Watching this movie has become a tradition for me and my friends every semester. With the possible exception of The Dead Next Door, this is the worst film ever made. Every possible ridiculous script nuance, from the name of the town (Dos Palabras) to the fact that no one knows that the guy in the car has been shot, despite the fact that he clutches his chest after a shot rings out, until they stop the car, race around to the other side, open the door, and find a bullet hole. Och. But why do I talk about such ridiculous, trivial matters? The star of this film is, of course, Hitler's Brain. That such a photogenic head in a jar never managed to have the acting career he earned in this film is a travesty. And of course, that immortal "MACH SCHNELL! MACH SCHNELL!" that makes the film come alive. I watch this film on a regular basis and you should too.
Why am I drawn to bad movies like a fly to a steaming pile of excrement (this metaphor is exceptionally appropriate given the film being reviewed)? I've never really given it much thought, but I suppose it's a similar reaction people display when driving by a particularly bad car wreck
you don't want to look, but morbid curiosity is a compelling, often intrinsic, trait among humans. As far as car wrecks go, cinematic ally speaking, They Saved Hitler's Brain (1963) is a real doozy
the film is actually two movies (the original made in the late 50's to early 60's but never released for some unknown reason, and new footage filmed in the mid to late 60's) spliced together, like some twisted Frankenstein experiment. Apparently the company that owned the original film, Crown International (purveyors of schlock), got some UCLA film students to produce the new footage, and then, in an extremely futile attempt, married the two in the unholy union that is this film (director Al Adamson made a career on doing this, most notably with his 1971 monster mash Dracula Vs. Frankenstein).
The film, originally titled Madmen of Mandoras aka Amazing Mr. H aka The Return of Mr. H (before the celluloid mating) was directed by David Bradley, whose earlier films include a juvenile delinquent picture titled Dragstrip Riot (1958) and the epic sci-fi craptacular 12 to the Moon (1960). The film stars Walter Stocker (Lassie's Great Adventure) and Audrey Caire, who seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place her until I looked up her credits as saw she also appeared in Joe (1970), one of my more favorite films of the early 70's. Also appearing is John Holland (The Naked Brigade), Carlos Rivas (True Grit), Marshall Reed (Ghost of Zorro), Scott Peters (Panic in Year Zero!), Nestor Paiva (The Three Stooges in Orbit, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter), and Bill Freed (who later adapted Dean R. Koontz's novel Watchers into the 1988 film of the same name) as Adolf Hitler, or, at least his head.
The film starts out with the newer footage (which actually looks worse than the older footage), relating some kind of story regarding secret agents, nerve gas, and various murders. The main character, named Vic (who looks a lot like Chuck Negron, the original lead singer from the 70's band Three Dog Night) is a secret agent assigned to investigate the death of a scientist, but he himself eventually dies in a fiery car crash (actually his death is represented by footage taken from the 1958 feature Thunder Road, starring Robert Mitchum). All of this takes about 27 minutes, and then we cut into another film, already in progress, featuring the actors I listed above (the actors in the newer footage are not listed in any credits). From here we follow the exploits of Phil Day (Stocker) and his wife Kathy (Caire) as they travel to the tiny Caribbean Island nation of Mandoras to locate Kathy's recently kidnapped father, a scientist who developed an antidote to a deadly nerve gas. Phil and Kathy soon learn a handful of Nazis, lead by Hitler's head, and their nefarious plans to take control of the world. Will Phil and Kathy be able to stop the madness, or will the Third Reich finally achieve the goals it set for itself some 20 years ago? Their plan seems pretty rock solid, so things don't look good I'm unsure why the newer footage was added, especially since it matched up so poorly (it looked like a bunch of laid-back hippies running around, compared to the more conservatively attired characters in the original footage). The original film is actually not a bad little B film (at least, compared to the newer footage), but I suspect some of the original footage may have been lost (or never filmed), hence the addition of the newer material, as to try and provide a setting for the older material. Thing is, the newer stuff was shot so very poorly, lacking any sense of direction (hey, it's daytime no wait, it's night oops, it's daytime again), and I was able to piece together much of the intended story from the original footage I didn't need the newer material. And that music for the newer material 27 minutes of really crummy free form jazz the horror, the horror the concept of saving Hitler's head seemed kinda cool, but what was probably meant to be a shocking surprise (the whole plot of Hitler's head plotting a conspiracy) was effectively ruined by the newer title. The special effects are pretty much what you might expect, with Hitler's head, when not being carried around in a jar, sitting atop an older model videotape machine. Freed's head did look a little creepy, sort of bug-eyed and slightly emaciated, with his only dialog, as a disembodied head, being 'Mach Schnell! Mach Schnell!' (I guess one would probably get pretty cranky and impatient surviving in a jar, relying on the charity of others I wonder which lackey got the job of trimming his little moustache?) My favorite scene has to be when Phil and Kathy get kidnapped by a mysterious Hispanic man, and as they come to a stop light, another car pulls up, shoots the Hispanic man dead, but the couple, who are in the car with the now dead man, don't realize he's dead until much later, eventually stuffing his corpse into a phone booth, the intent being someone will find him (and someone does, in the form of an impatient, rotund lady wanting to use said phone oh the comedy!)
Cookieman108
The film, originally titled Madmen of Mandoras aka Amazing Mr. H aka The Return of Mr. H (before the celluloid mating) was directed by David Bradley, whose earlier films include a juvenile delinquent picture titled Dragstrip Riot (1958) and the epic sci-fi craptacular 12 to the Moon (1960). The film stars Walter Stocker (Lassie's Great Adventure) and Audrey Caire, who seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place her until I looked up her credits as saw she also appeared in Joe (1970), one of my more favorite films of the early 70's. Also appearing is John Holland (The Naked Brigade), Carlos Rivas (True Grit), Marshall Reed (Ghost of Zorro), Scott Peters (Panic in Year Zero!), Nestor Paiva (The Three Stooges in Orbit, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter), and Bill Freed (who later adapted Dean R. Koontz's novel Watchers into the 1988 film of the same name) as Adolf Hitler, or, at least his head.
The film starts out with the newer footage (which actually looks worse than the older footage), relating some kind of story regarding secret agents, nerve gas, and various murders. The main character, named Vic (who looks a lot like Chuck Negron, the original lead singer from the 70's band Three Dog Night) is a secret agent assigned to investigate the death of a scientist, but he himself eventually dies in a fiery car crash (actually his death is represented by footage taken from the 1958 feature Thunder Road, starring Robert Mitchum). All of this takes about 27 minutes, and then we cut into another film, already in progress, featuring the actors I listed above (the actors in the newer footage are not listed in any credits). From here we follow the exploits of Phil Day (Stocker) and his wife Kathy (Caire) as they travel to the tiny Caribbean Island nation of Mandoras to locate Kathy's recently kidnapped father, a scientist who developed an antidote to a deadly nerve gas. Phil and Kathy soon learn a handful of Nazis, lead by Hitler's head, and their nefarious plans to take control of the world. Will Phil and Kathy be able to stop the madness, or will the Third Reich finally achieve the goals it set for itself some 20 years ago? Their plan seems pretty rock solid, so things don't look good I'm unsure why the newer footage was added, especially since it matched up so poorly (it looked like a bunch of laid-back hippies running around, compared to the more conservatively attired characters in the original footage). The original film is actually not a bad little B film (at least, compared to the newer footage), but I suspect some of the original footage may have been lost (or never filmed), hence the addition of the newer material, as to try and provide a setting for the older material. Thing is, the newer stuff was shot so very poorly, lacking any sense of direction (hey, it's daytime no wait, it's night oops, it's daytime again), and I was able to piece together much of the intended story from the original footage I didn't need the newer material. And that music for the newer material 27 minutes of really crummy free form jazz the horror, the horror the concept of saving Hitler's head seemed kinda cool, but what was probably meant to be a shocking surprise (the whole plot of Hitler's head plotting a conspiracy) was effectively ruined by the newer title. The special effects are pretty much what you might expect, with Hitler's head, when not being carried around in a jar, sitting atop an older model videotape machine. Freed's head did look a little creepy, sort of bug-eyed and slightly emaciated, with his only dialog, as a disembodied head, being 'Mach Schnell! Mach Schnell!' (I guess one would probably get pretty cranky and impatient surviving in a jar, relying on the charity of others I wonder which lackey got the job of trimming his little moustache?) My favorite scene has to be when Phil and Kathy get kidnapped by a mysterious Hispanic man, and as they come to a stop light, another car pulls up, shoots the Hispanic man dead, but the couple, who are in the car with the now dead man, don't realize he's dead until much later, eventually stuffing his corpse into a phone booth, the intent being someone will find him (and someone does, in the form of an impatient, rotund lady wanting to use said phone oh the comedy!)
Cookieman108
- cookieman108
- Jan 4, 2005
- Permalink
A neurobiologist who has developed an anti-dote to a deadly virus is kidnapped and taken to a small Latin American nation called Mandoras. It turns out that this is all linked to Nazis who have managed to keep Adolf Hitler's disembodied head alive in a jar, from here the Fuhrer barks out orders as he attempts to resurrect the Third Reich.
I realised quite early on as I watched Madmen of Mandoras that this had to be the early prototype for a movie I had previously seen, namely They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968). It turns out that this earlier version had been released briefly in 1963 and was turned into a movie fit for TV five years later. In order to achieve this, additional material was added to pad out the running time to a more acceptable ninety minutes. Unfortunately, this extra footage was filmed by amateurs and looked very much like what it was, i.e. people from 1968 interspersed into a story filmed several years earlier. It was also, of course, re-titled with the more entertaining, yet major plot point revealing, new name.
From memory, there is really not a great deal of significant difference between both versions but Madmen of Mandoras is certainly the better. For one thing, it's shorter and for a film as decidedly ropey as this one, that is a clear blessing. It's also purer in the sense that it doesn't contain pointless extra newer footage whose only purpose is to add more minutes to the run-time. In truth Madmen of Mandoras is a semi-passable b-movie in most respects. Although it really should have been far schlockier given its premise, unfortunately in the main it is uninspired adventure type fare that's on offer here. At the end of the day, Hitler's head is the real star of the show in this one. It's not often you really get to say that sentence, in fact I'm pretty sure this must be the only scenario where that specific point can be made. Even the demise of the head is a highlight, where it melts while engulfed by flames in a sequence that really is rather well done all things considered. All-in-all, this one is okay but should have been better given the potential of it's decidedly psychotronic central idea. If you really have to see a Nazis/mad scientists on a tropical locale film, then I would suggest the more entertaining She Demons (1958) as the way to go.
I realised quite early on as I watched Madmen of Mandoras that this had to be the early prototype for a movie I had previously seen, namely They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968). It turns out that this earlier version had been released briefly in 1963 and was turned into a movie fit for TV five years later. In order to achieve this, additional material was added to pad out the running time to a more acceptable ninety minutes. Unfortunately, this extra footage was filmed by amateurs and looked very much like what it was, i.e. people from 1968 interspersed into a story filmed several years earlier. It was also, of course, re-titled with the more entertaining, yet major plot point revealing, new name.
From memory, there is really not a great deal of significant difference between both versions but Madmen of Mandoras is certainly the better. For one thing, it's shorter and for a film as decidedly ropey as this one, that is a clear blessing. It's also purer in the sense that it doesn't contain pointless extra newer footage whose only purpose is to add more minutes to the run-time. In truth Madmen of Mandoras is a semi-passable b-movie in most respects. Although it really should have been far schlockier given its premise, unfortunately in the main it is uninspired adventure type fare that's on offer here. At the end of the day, Hitler's head is the real star of the show in this one. It's not often you really get to say that sentence, in fact I'm pretty sure this must be the only scenario where that specific point can be made. Even the demise of the head is a highlight, where it melts while engulfed by flames in a sequence that really is rather well done all things considered. All-in-all, this one is okay but should have been better given the potential of it's decidedly psychotronic central idea. If you really have to see a Nazis/mad scientists on a tropical locale film, then I would suggest the more entertaining She Demons (1958) as the way to go.
- Red-Barracuda
- Jun 12, 2016
- Permalink
This is the original 'Hitler's head-in-a-jar' movie (the more strikingly titled "They Saved Hitler's Brain" (1968) is simply a padded version of this film with some homemade-looking footage added in the late '60s/early '70s to increase running time). Briefly, a group of Nazi survivors (including der Führer's animate head) are lurking in the fictional Latin-American country of Mandoras where they are planning to use a deadly nerve gas to revisit their dreams of world conquest. The film's plot, such as it is, revolves around kidnappings and murders as the conspirators attempt to eliminate all knowledge of the gas' antidote. Their boss "Mr. H." rants occasionally but usually just rolls his eyes menacingly or leers when some nasty business is underway. Better (if only because it's shorter and has a more gruesome finale) than "TSHB" but lacking the awesome brand. Would make a great double feature with the thematically similar and equally delirious "The Frozen Dead" (1966).
- jamesrupert2014
- Nov 5, 2018
- Permalink
When I saw this film, I was expecting a bad film. The fact that it was bad came as no surprise. However, it was NOT fun to watch like many of the Ed Wood films--it was just boring and dumb. About the only funny part was near the end when Hitler's head in a pickle jar was yelling out "Mach Schnell!!!" as it began to melt. Boring, boring, boring.
FYI--I have watched the vast majority of films from THE 50 WORST FILMS book (Medved and Dreyfus) and really like seeing most of the shlock. This film didn't make the list but was pretty darn close. Other bad but unfun films: The Conquerer (seemed like a 9 hour film), Dondi, and Pinocchio in Outer Space.
FYI--I have watched the vast majority of films from THE 50 WORST FILMS book (Medved and Dreyfus) and really like seeing most of the shlock. This film didn't make the list but was pretty darn close. Other bad but unfun films: The Conquerer (seemed like a 9 hour film), Dondi, and Pinocchio in Outer Space.
- planktonrules
- May 29, 2005
- Permalink
- Scott_Mercer
- Dec 15, 2006
- Permalink
- rickmacnamara
- Jan 4, 2024
- Permalink
As much as people (especially video distributors) may want to call this film "so bad it's good," the simple truth is that it's incredibly boring. It opens with gassing an elephant to death, then it moves into a plot with some typical old-movie types going to Mexico. The youngest gets married during the vacation. This film is said to be two movies cobbled together, and it certainly appears that way. Until Hitler's wax head appears in a jar, it's pretty dull, with nothing interesting do do with its stock characters. When the head finally does appear, it's hardly ever shown, and when it melts in a jar is pretty messy. The moments of Hitler's head are the only things, save an occasional joke, that are funny, and the film contains nothing to recommend it, unless one is in media studies and interested in the portrayal of the archetypal young girl that gets married, because it is so stock, and not only that, the relationship is never really shown!
Madmen of Mandoras, The (1963)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
They Saved Hitler's Brain (1972)
* (out of 4)
A deadly nerve gas is causing fear in the states but thankfully a Professor knows how to make the gas useless. The only problem is that crazy guys kidnap him and take him to a secret location where they are keeping Hitler's head alive. Hitler, being the nut he is, wants to use the gas to take over the world. Making a horror movie with Hitler's head coming back to life seems like it would make for some great fun but that's not the case with this turkey as it's pretty dry from start to finish without any redeeming factors. The biggest problem is that the screenplay is so poorly written that it really doesn't know how to exploit the subject matter. Instead of fun things happening we get a tiresome adventure story as our heroes must save the Professor and eventually destroy Hitler once and for all. The performances are all rather bland and that includes the man playing Hitler. Hitler's "screaming" and ranting are rather silly and comes off very stupid. What really doesn't make sense is that we've got a very silly story yet the director treats everything so serious as if we were watching some sort of documentary on actual events.
Nine or ten years later Crown International were starting to release their films to television but this one didn't run long enough so they went back and took out ten minutes worth of footage only to add twenty-five more minutes and the end result was They Saved Hitler's Brain. This features the same story as the previous film with the exception of the "new scenes", which involve two government agents trying to find out if the Professor is safe or not. Needless to say, with an original movie as bad as Madmen was, you really don't need to add extra running time. This movie here is just as worse due to the longer running time and all the added scenes do nothing to improve the film. The only good thing about this film is its outrageous title but then again that really doesn't make the movie any better.
* 1/2 (out of 4)
They Saved Hitler's Brain (1972)
* (out of 4)
A deadly nerve gas is causing fear in the states but thankfully a Professor knows how to make the gas useless. The only problem is that crazy guys kidnap him and take him to a secret location where they are keeping Hitler's head alive. Hitler, being the nut he is, wants to use the gas to take over the world. Making a horror movie with Hitler's head coming back to life seems like it would make for some great fun but that's not the case with this turkey as it's pretty dry from start to finish without any redeeming factors. The biggest problem is that the screenplay is so poorly written that it really doesn't know how to exploit the subject matter. Instead of fun things happening we get a tiresome adventure story as our heroes must save the Professor and eventually destroy Hitler once and for all. The performances are all rather bland and that includes the man playing Hitler. Hitler's "screaming" and ranting are rather silly and comes off very stupid. What really doesn't make sense is that we've got a very silly story yet the director treats everything so serious as if we were watching some sort of documentary on actual events.
Nine or ten years later Crown International were starting to release their films to television but this one didn't run long enough so they went back and took out ten minutes worth of footage only to add twenty-five more minutes and the end result was They Saved Hitler's Brain. This features the same story as the previous film with the exception of the "new scenes", which involve two government agents trying to find out if the Professor is safe or not. Needless to say, with an original movie as bad as Madmen was, you really don't need to add extra running time. This movie here is just as worse due to the longer running time and all the added scenes do nothing to improve the film. The only good thing about this film is its outrageous title but then again that really doesn't make the movie any better.
- Michael_Elliott
- Oct 29, 2008
- Permalink
- lemon_magic
- Oct 21, 2010
- Permalink
I do have the Starlite mega box containing a few grindhouse classics. By opening the DVD box containing this flick I saw that there were 2 versions available. One from 1963 called The Madmen Of Mandoras clocking in at 74 minutes and another one called They Saved Hitler's Brain made in 1968 and clocking in at 91 minutes.
But what's the difference? being a hit at the drive-ins and grindhouses somebody decided to make a TV worthy. 74 minutes can't be seen on television as a full feature so they added some new shots. But it went even further. They used amateurs to make the new footage and did it on a zero budget. it shows in so many ways. Clothes and hair didn't fit in into the older version and everybody added in the new footage had to die or disappear because they didn't fit into the original one. I saw that the first 13 minutes was new and had nothing to do with the original flick. Then they picked in with the older version and recut it still in the next minutes with new shots. It just didn't work at all. Because as I said earlier, nothing looks the same, everything was wrongly done.
Still, it's really a turkey with a goofy head in a jar from Hitler. I only saw one effect worth seeing and that's the burning of Hitler's head. Overall there's much talking going on and nothing really happens. They also used news footage from WOII when they are narrating what and who Hitler was. Also strange is the use of a real footage of an elephant dying on so called nerve gas.
I can only say that it looks like an Ed Wood flick but still it do has a few moments you will never forget due being a turkey.
Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5
But what's the difference? being a hit at the drive-ins and grindhouses somebody decided to make a TV worthy. 74 minutes can't be seen on television as a full feature so they added some new shots. But it went even further. They used amateurs to make the new footage and did it on a zero budget. it shows in so many ways. Clothes and hair didn't fit in into the older version and everybody added in the new footage had to die or disappear because they didn't fit into the original one. I saw that the first 13 minutes was new and had nothing to do with the original flick. Then they picked in with the older version and recut it still in the next minutes with new shots. It just didn't work at all. Because as I said earlier, nothing looks the same, everything was wrongly done.
Still, it's really a turkey with a goofy head in a jar from Hitler. I only saw one effect worth seeing and that's the burning of Hitler's head. Overall there's much talking going on and nothing really happens. They also used news footage from WOII when they are narrating what and who Hitler was. Also strange is the use of a real footage of an elephant dying on so called nerve gas.
I can only say that it looks like an Ed Wood flick but still it do has a few moments you will never forget due being a turkey.
Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5
A few things, stay away from "They Saved Hilters Brain", the added footage is just painful. Also, do not come into this thinking this is 007, or Oceans Eleven.
This is awful but enjoyable to watch. Every character is just incompetent. Heck, there wouldn't be any drastic changes to the events if the main characters, Phil Day and Kathy Day were kept out the story-- they're totally insignificant.
The sets are obvious; Hotel Mandoras and the surrounding buildings look like something you'd see in the Three Amigos ride at Epcot. The bunker's walls are half an inch thick. Also, pay attention to how people close doors.
Check out the cheapness when the camera pans a full-front of the car; There's not even a background projection: it's pitch-black.
To top of all the idiocy, there's Hilter's head in a jar!
This is awful but enjoyable to watch. Every character is just incompetent. Heck, there wouldn't be any drastic changes to the events if the main characters, Phil Day and Kathy Day were kept out the story-- they're totally insignificant.
The sets are obvious; Hotel Mandoras and the surrounding buildings look like something you'd see in the Three Amigos ride at Epcot. The bunker's walls are half an inch thick. Also, pay attention to how people close doors.
Check out the cheapness when the camera pans a full-front of the car; There's not even a background projection: it's pitch-black.
To top of all the idiocy, there's Hilter's head in a jar!
- Pretentious_crap
- Oct 14, 2008
- Permalink
- mark.waltz
- Feb 17, 2022
- Permalink
- michaelRokeefe
- Jul 26, 2012
- Permalink
- dbborroughs
- Aug 17, 2009
- Permalink
Brilliant. Acted with passion, I was incredibly moved by this production. You can feel the sorrow and remorse from the Madmen. One does feel sorry for them. Mandoras didn't deserve what happened to it, but you just knew that no blame could have been placed on these poor wretched Madmen. Buy this on Video right now and enjoy!
Same film as They Saved Hitlers Brain - but with less footage than TSHB ... This is a great film - do not by pass it ....
- lorenzoestevez
- Feb 15, 2018
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The version of this film usually seen had some additional footage, shot about 5 years after the original, added to it. And, in addition, it seems to have earlier had some wrapping of this sort. It looks, in other words, like a film within a film within a film. Each wrapping made things worse, and the original was remarkably bad. But I must say that some of the lighting effects in the original are quite cool.
Originally titled Madmen of Mandoras, this was supposed to be a political paranoid thriller along the lines of The Manchurian Candidate, with a respectable budget and moody wide-screen cinematography, but halfway through principal filming in 1963 it was shut down and shelved. Somehow this film and one of its supporting actors ended up in a nameless cheapie studio in 1973, and got completed with grainy, shaky, cropped photography, a cast wearing shag hair and mini skirts and driving groovy convertibles, and cheap electric-piano and twitchy-guitar cop-show music that tries to sound like Shaft or Dirty Harry, all anachronistic and mismatched to the already-then outdated original. This film then, with the copyright date and credits of 1963, and a running time of barely one hour, went straight to sindicated TV release in the late 1970's as They Saved Hitler's Brain. This is an obvious chop-shop job. The original project's sheer preposterousness still impresses, with an unusual portrayal of You-Know-Who with an actor sticking his head into a glass tank through a hole in a table for closeups, and a puppet head in that infamous pickle jar for the long shots. Some connoisseurs of the worst should be rewarded if they're able to stick it out for the whole hour.