Brainiac

"The Braniac" is the English name for "El Barón del terror", a Mexican B-horror movie from 1962, directed by Chano Urueta and written by Federico Curiel, Adolfo López Portillo and Antonio Orellana. The film stars Abel Salazar and Germán Robles.

The story is about a baron who is condemned by the Inquisition in 1661 and burned at the stake. Before he dies the Baron swears revenge when the next comet will pass by. 300 years later, in 1961, a new comet returns and the Baron returns as an evil sorcerer who is able to change himself into a hairy monster who eats human brains.

Due to its ridiculous special effects and illogical plot "The Braniac" became a cult movie.

References

Referenced in Debra Kadabra: "And make me watch the rubber tongue/When it comes out/From the puffed & flabulent Mexican rubber-goods mask" (...) "Make me grow Braniac fingers".

On page 67 of Frank Zappa - A Visual Documentary by Barry Miles Zappa gives some more background information:

"Oh the ultimate worst is in a Mexican science fiction movie called "The Brainiac". It's one of the worst movies ever made and when the monster appears, not only is the monster cheap, he's got a rubber mask that you can see over the collar of the guy's jacket and rubber gloves that don't quite much up the sleeves of his sport coat. When the monster appears there's this trumpet lick that isn't scary. It's not even out of tune, it's just exactly the wrong thing to put there it doesn't scare you, that's the greatest example I can think of. Did you ever hear the song 'Debra Kadabra' ( on 'Bongo Fury')? That's what that song is about and when you hear in the background "DA-DA-DA-DA-DAHHH", that's making fun of that stupid trumpet line that's in the movie but nobody's seen it over here so you can't appreciate the humour of the song. When he's saying Make me grow Brainiac fingers that's what he's referring to, because Vliet and I have both seen that movie and it's fucking stupid. Mexican monster movies are great, The Aztec Mummy's Ghost that's a good one too." [Zappa: 1983]

Sources

• Wikipedia article on The Braniac

• (http://www.arf.ru/Notes/Bongo/debra.html#108)