The Brain Eaters

Driving home to Riverdale, Illinois, Glenn Cameron and his fiancée Elaine are startled by an odd flash of lightning and stop their car to investigate. After finding the mutilated bodies of several animals, the couple stumble on a towering cylindrical object with a small circular opening and report their discovery to the authorities. Two days later in Washington, D.C., a UFO committee, headed by Senator Walter K. Powers, convenes to watch a film of the strange cone-like object in Riverdale, which is being investigated by research scientist Dr. Paul Kettering. Powers, convinced that the situation is a hoax, determines to uncover the truth and departs for Illinois with his aide, Dan Walker. Upon arriving in Riverdale, Powers learns from Glenn that his father, the mayor, has been missing for several days and that there have been three more unexplained deaths. Glenn takes Powers to the cone, where Paul, his assistant, Alice Sommers, and fellow researcher Dr. Wyler continue their examination of the cone. Powers is annoyed to learn that no one has gone inside the cone and under pressure from Powers, Paul agrees to investigate. Emerging hours later, Paul reveals that the cone is full of spiraled tunnels that appear to lead nowhere. Glenn learns that his father has returned, and at city hall the group finds Mayor Cameron, confused and unable to clarify his whereabouts for the last few days. When Paul notices Cameron has a strange object on the back of his neck, the mayor pulls a gun and threatens everyone. The sheriff wounds Cameron, who stumbles out into the hall only to be shot by a police officer. Paul and a surgeon conduct an autopsy on Cameron and learn that the black mound on his neck was attached through his brain to his nervous system, filling it with a corrosive acid that would eventually have killed him. Later that night, the sheriff is attacked by two zombie-like men who attach a black mound to his neck. In the laboratory, Paul dissects the mound removed from Cameron and realizes it is a parasite. Later, Paul and Alice conclude that since the attacks by the parasites have gone from animals to humans, specifically to those in authority, the creatures are intelligent. Back at the cone, Wyler reveals his theory that the cone may be part of a larger ship that has, like a fuel section, fallen off and is of no use. Glenn suggests everyone split up to search the area for any other part of the cone. Paul and Alice find the dead body of a power company man with two puncture wounds in his neck, while Glenn and Elaine fight off two zombie-like strangers. Meeting back at the mayor's office, the group finds an empty jar in Cameron's desk and Paul deduces that the parasites are carried to their human victims by infected hosts. Powers sends a telegram to the governor requesting military aid to close off the town, but the operator, controlled by a parasite, does not send the message. Later that night, the sheriff and the two infected men take a parasite to Alice's home and infect her. Wyler urgently summons Paul to return to the cone, but when Paul finds Alice missing from her home, he realizes that she has been taken over by the parasites. At the cone, Wyler stuns the others with his discovery of a man with puncture marks in his neck, near death, who crawled out from the cone. Paul recognizes the man as a scientist who disappeared years earlier. At the hospital, the scientist reveals that the parasites are not from space, but rather from the Earth's interior. Powers and Walker go to the radio station to broadcast a warning about the parasites, while Paul and Glenn, concerned about receiving no response from the governor, go to the telegraph office, where they are attacked by the operator and his assistant. Certain that the key to the parasites lies in the cone, Paul returns there with Glenn, Elaine and Wyler. The guards, taken over by the parasites, attempt to stop Paul from going inside, and are killed. Powers arrives after the failed radio broadcast and learns that Paul and Glenn are inside the cone. After clambering through the various tunnels, the men find themselves far beneath the ground, and discover several glass tubes filled with parasites and an old man whom Paul recognizes as missing scientist Dr. Kohl. Kohl reveals that the parasites have existed for thousands of centuries and need mankind to convey them to the outside world, where they will bring peace and tranquility. The sheriff, having followed Paul and Glenn inside, attempts to attack them, and in the ensuing shootout, several glass tubes are shattered, releasing the parasites. Paul and Glenn flee outside where Paul declares they must destroy the cone by utilizing nearby power lines and the cables from a nearby abandoned power truck. As Paul and Glenn string the cables around the cone, Alice appears on the cone scaffolding and beseeches Paul to help the parasites. When he refuses, she shoots him. Wounded, Paul calls for Glenn to set off the electrical circuit, which when completed kills Paul and Alice, and destroys the parasites and the cone. Relieved, Glenn and Elaine plan to return to town to clean up those still infected.