I know you are probably Kickstartered out but I wanted to alert you that our pal Benjamin Solovey, who masterminded the “Manos” restoration, has another film restoration in the works. It’s “The Atomic Brain” AKA “Monstrosity,” from 1963.
He writes:
Working in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative, we have seen in our testing a dramatic increase in visual quality that makes the footage as it was first shot and the stuff inserted later on seem all the more different. It also makes this film far more watchable than the dreary previous versions that sent darker scenes almost completely into black.
That being said, talk is cheap! A 4K side by side comparison to the previous PD video version can be found here. Some full scale screenshots from the negative can be found here.
Our initial goal to restore The Atomic Brain in 4K is $16,000, and we’re already past the $10,000 mark.
Finally, out of respect to new and returning backers following the unexpected delay on “Manos” (for reasons you already know about), I’m personally guaranteeing this project’s completion by the end of 2016. With superior elements to work from, our substantial research of this title and our self-distribution of rewards, we will be able to maintain a tight schedule that I expect will please everyone who pledges.
Our Kickstarter page is here, and one can also find us at atomic-brain.com.
Thank you again for your support over the course of the “Manos” project, and I hope you’ll find that “The Atomic Brain” is a worthy successor for our efforts.
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Here is the correct link to their video comparison:
https://youtu.be/hUhSeosmUso
Fred–Thanks! Now updated.
That print needs a lot of work because she’s old, she’s old, she’s old, she’s old.
Can’t wait to see Nina and “Zombie Girl” in glorious HD!
That is one good-looking crappy film!
This has the Xerses seal of approval.
It’s so weird seeing those old piles of grey smudges suddenly be fabric with specific textures.
If it means a possible future title for Rifftrax Live, I’d take this over J. J. Abram’s 4K restoration of Phantasm any day.
We recently discussed the episode with Ben. Click on my name to go the interview and take a listen.
If anyone ever wants to restore “Hamlet” I’ve got a copy in my garage.
Someone should start a campaign to pay them to NOT restore this movie.
** dreaming of body fuzz **8 ooooOOOOOoooooo
did my inner dialogues come out all over the place? sorry…
You know what’s funny about this? Hamlet is the other movie to be restored after this one. He has the close to four hour negative!
I guess MSTies look like easy pickens’.
Like when you donate to one charity and they give your name to twenty charities and they give your name to …
No.
I’m holding out until they say which celebrity guest stars are making appearances.
I would probably buy the restored Atomic Brain, I have their Manos Blu-Ray if it gets released but I’m not interested in contributing to the Kickstarter.
I don’t really get what the point is with restoring a crappy movie like this. Unless there’s a nude wrestling scene between the three women that they cut out or something.
If they want to do something useful with the bad movies MST3K riffed, how about adding a CGI monster tho the end of Monster A-Go-Go? “And in the end there was no mon-HOLY CRAP, WHAT IS THAT?!”
I proudly own Ben’s restored Manos, but I can’t get behind Atomic Brain. Manos is endlessly fascinating; AB is ceaselessly dull, no matter how nice it looks.
All movies are history, should we only save the good ones? Who gets to decide which movies live and which ones die? (Besides Crow.) And preserving history is not about pulling a George Lucas. ;-)
Can’t we have both? Or do you want the Tall Man turning your holiday ornaments into brain drilling killing machines? :laugh:
Thanks for the awesome news!! I kept telling myself I’m gonna take that film to get it transferred to DVD one day – now I don’t have to worry about it, and it’ll probably end up looking way better than what I would’ve ended up with, too. Much appreciated!!
Interestingly enough, I remember on one message board that I visit regularly about how one person actually has among his Christmas ornaments the one of the Tall Man’s spheres.
As for me preferring Atomic Brain over Phantasm, that partly due to the Phantasm films being among the titles that makes me dread checking out the horror section of various video stores (the balls in “killer” form scare the crap out of me).
I believe MONSTROSITY was the original name and ATOMIC BRAIN was a TV title. Are the original TV titles available? I’d buy a restored version, as I remember this pic fondly from Channel 11’s (WPIX-NYC) Chiller Theater. I’d prefer a restored version of CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS, which is in public domain (I think) or FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER, or all of the restored versions of BLOOD BATH/TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE.
@23
I’m not sure Creation of the Humanoids is PD. iirc some copies on youtube get pulled.
But yeah a restored CotH would rule.
They scare me too, but in a good way. It’s the only horror series I admit to liking. Saw the cast and crew panel at Monsterpalooza a while back. Don Coscarelli did a holiday greeting to fans last year on youtube, (updating them on the forthcoming sequel) and the tree ornaments do go rogue. ;)