Grindhouse Double Shock Show: The Brain Machine (1976) / The Astral Fiend (1977)

The Brain Machine (1977, Color): A group of volunteers take part in a top-secret experiment involving a computer that can read minds. Designed to be therapeutic, the system performs its tasks with cold efficiency. Misinterpreting the subjects' mild illusions of immortality as dangerous delusional states of denial, the system takes drastic measures to "cure" this "condition" by initiating an extermination program. As scientists race to destroy the computer, shadowy agents from the darker corners of government insist at gunpoint that the experiment run its course to the inevitable bloody conclusion.

Starring James Best, Gerald McRaney, Barbara Burgess, Gil Peterson; Directed by Joy N. Houck, Jr.

The Astral Fiend (1976, Color): A psychopathic serial strangler is convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Despite his deranged mental state, the killer masters a unique form of astral projection and uses his occult powers to escape. A subsequent rash of "invisible stranglings" has policemen chasing shadows, as victims are murdered by unseen hands right before their eyes. Beleaguered detective Charles Barrett must set a trap to snare the astral maniac before he can kill again. Starring Stephanie Powers, Elke Sommer, Sue Lyon, Robert Foxworth, Alex Drier; Directed by John Florea.

• science fiction