BrainWaves (1983)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Ulli Lommel

Writers:

Buz Alexander (additional dialogue)
Ulli Lommel (writer)

Release Date:

August 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

"She died but her brain stayed alive to torment another."

Plot:

After a traffic accident Kaylie is in coma for months. Her doctors want to try a new procedure on her: to regain her consciousness...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Accident | Brain Damage | Electrocution | Female Nudity

Cast

Keir Dullea	...	Julian Bedford
Suzanna Love	...	Kaylie Bedford
Vera Miles	...	Marian Koonan
Ryan Seitz	...	Danny Bedford
Percy Rodrigues	...	Dr. Robinson
Paul Willson	...	Dr. Schroder
Tony Curtis	...	Dr. Clavius
Eve Brent	...	Mrs. Simpson (as Eve Brent Ashe)
Nicholas Love	...	Willy Meiser
Corinne Wahl	...	Leila Adams (as Corinne Alphen)
Phillipe Carr	...	Doctor
Roger Burgraff	...	Speech Therapist
Michael DeFrancisco	...	George
Jason Fong	...	Grocery Clerk
Diane Doucette	...	Therapy Nurse

Also Known As:

Brain Waves (USA) (alternative spelling)
Mind Games
Shadow of Death (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Norway:15 | UK:18 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

CinAmerica

Trivia:

John Huston was originally casted in the role of Dr. Clavius, but he became ill, so after that there was talks with Rock Hudson, but he wasn't available. Eventually Tony Curtis was cast.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Dr. Schroder: The new arrivals: heart... liver... brain.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Alien X Factor (1997)

Glossy but slow

Glossy looking but very slow and ponderous 'thriller'.

A young accident victim receives a "transplant" of deceased accident victim's brainwaves in an innovative new procedure. Before long she begins to experience flashes of the other woman's memory that indicate the death was more than an accident, and which identify the perpetrator.

The main problem with the film is that the plot is just too thin. The story is very straightforward, is predictable, and lacks any twists or surprises. It plays like an episode of television's "Quincy", or perhaps even "Murder She Wrote", but even those shows packed-in more twists and unexpected plot developments.

Certainly it appears a lot of footage was shot in all sorts of interesting San Francisco locations and we are treated to a constant repetition of these establishing shots throughout the movie. The camera-angles do look nice, but the heavy use of these travelogue sequences slow the film's pace down to a deadly level. There is also a lot of unnecessary character development; we learn all about the lead couple and their son and the grandmother but these details are all irrelevant to the plot. And Vera Miles' character of the grandmother (named Marion!) is utterly superfluous. She gets one good dialogue scene (though it is irrelevant to the plot) and basically provides background chit-chat in the various family scenes.

Many viewers may feel they need their brainwaves revived after sitting through this one.