Brian, an average normal guy living in New York City one day becomes dependent on an evil, disembodied brain. The brain feeds Brian with a narcotic substance which he becomes very addicted to, and in order for the brain to feed him, the brain wants him to help obtaining the brains of innocent victims for sustenance. And even though Brian really doesn't wanna take part in killing innocent people, he so needs the drugs that the brain provides him with.
You gotta love Henenlotter for the simple reason of just how creative the man was. There were of course tons of horror movies made in the 80's, a lot of them that back then weren't that fantastic but when watching some of them today, you kinda realize just how good they actually were. Among all the horror films that were made during the 80's, I believe Henenlotter's films stood out quite a bit. The thing is that his films always suffered from a low-budget, but since the man was so creative, inventive and had so much to offer, one always tends to forget that his films are of the low budget kind and you simply just enjoy them for the creativeness, wackiness, originality and humour they all have to offer. And Brain Damage is no exception.
But I also believe that for one to truly appreciate all the great 80's horror films today, one had to have been there back in the day and seen them. For kids today who would watch an 80's film, I don't believe they would come off as being that great, but for people who saw them long ago and decides to re-watch them in present time, I guess you can really appreciate what they tried to do along with that the movies brings some great nostalgia as well. But enough of me being all sentimental here, let's move on to the actual review of the film instead.
 Brain Damage might not be Henenlotter's best film to date, personally I think Basket Case is, but still Brain Damage has a lot to offer for those up for some weird and goofy kind of horror. The film is about this normal guy named Brian who one day happens to cross paths with this brain named Aylmer who has been locked up in his neighbours apartment, but that just recently escaped. Aylmer, who looks like some reptile kind of creature, lets Brian try some of his blue juice (sounds kinda kinky eh?) which is basically a combination of really heavy drugs that makes Brian have the most fantastic visions, but on the negative side of things, Brian of course becomes addicted to these drugs. And like all drug-addicts, he obviously wants more all the time, and once Aylmer has Brian hooked on his narcotics, he uses him to kill innocent people in order for Aylmer to feed on their brains.
The character Aylmer is actually a lot of fun. He looks like a funny puppet and has this deep voice, and at times he seems very nice even though he's actually pure evil. The movie features a lot of killing scenes that are funny, but still quite gory and the film in general has a huge amount of blood to offer. It's all done with humour, and while some of it works well, some of it is just too over-the-top, but that's Henenlotter and if you've seen any of his other films, you should know what to except. The acting is, just like in his other movies, not very good. There are of course some characters that work well and at the same time there are always those that do such a bad job, it actually hurts to see it. But since it's a goofy and campy film, the bad acting is not a huge deal really.
Brain Damage is a movie that is easy to watch, just sit back and enjoy all the creativeness and goofiness that Henenlotter has to offer. It might be too cheesy for some, but if you're a fan of campy 80's horrors, this sure is worth a look. Just take it for what it is and you'll definitely have a good time.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 1988
DIRECTOR: Frank Henenlotter
WRITING CREDITS: Frank Henenlotter
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
CAST: Rick Hearst, Gordon MacDonald, Jennifer Lowry
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 86 min
RATING: 7/10
Brain Damage Website/IMDB Click here
Brain Damage Trailer Click here
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