Movie Review: Brain Damage

Brain Damage is a 1988 horror-comedy from director Frank Henenlotter. It's sleazy, it's bloody, and above all it's incredibly silly. It's exactly what you would expect from the guy who directed movies like Frankenhooker and Basket Case. The movie sets its sights low and revels in its own goofiness. It's refreshing to see a movie that isn't afraid to have fun being dumb, a movie that doesn't have to wink at the audience and let them know that it's in on the joke.

The plot is very simple: A twentysomething guy named Brian winds up host to a talking brain parasite named Aylmer. The parasite injects Brian's brain with hallucinogens, and then lets the stoned Brian wander around to find victims for Aylmer to feast on. Eventually Brian tries to get rid of Aylmer, but this proves to be harder than expected.

For a movie made for less than a million dollars, Brain Damage looks fantastic. The low budget actually works to the film's advantage, as the cheap locations exude the creepy, grimy feel of 1980's New York City. The film is surprisingly well-shot, particularly the night scenes; it's well above the usual mediocre cinematography of similar movies. The special effects are stellar for the budget as well. The initial hallucination scene plays out like something from a Ken Russell movie, and it looks great. The effects for the Aylmer puppet are very clever, and his overall design is fittingly silly. His cartoon googly-eyes and dopey grin almost make him strangely adorable. He's a severely underrated movie monster.

The acting is passable, but the actor voices Aylmer deserves mentioning. He was voiced by John Zacherle, a TV horror host from the 1950's-60's. He has a very goofy Vincent Price sounding voice that is simultaneously unfitting and very fitting for the monster. Despite looking very silly, Zacherle actually manages to make Aylmer feel like a threat when necessary. It's a rare instance of a B-Movie having a memorable role because the actor was good.

If there's anything bad to say about the movie, is that the movie has a dumb ending. During the climactic confrontation, Brian is injected with a lethal overdose of Aylmer's hallucinogenic juice. This causes a weird growth to form on Brian's forehead, so he tries to shoot himself to stop the head-lump. The movie then ends with Brian's brother finding him not only alive, but with a giant glowing hole in his head. Cut to credits. It's a disappointingly abrupt ending to an otherwise fun movie.

If you have a strong stomach for gross violence played for laughs or an appreciation for crazy B-Movies, Brain Damage is worth checking out. It has surprisingly high production values, clever low-budget special effects, and a great monster. It's unashamedly silly movie and it's a ton of fun to watch. If you're looking for a B-Movie that's both entertaining and relatively well-made, this is the movie for you.