Brain Damage (1988)

Director:

Frank Henenlotter

Writer:

Frank Henenlotter (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 1988 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

It's A Headache From Hell!

Plot:

A normal, average guy who lives in New York City becomes dependent on an evil, disembodied brain. The...

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Subway | Drugs | Cult Favorite | Sex

Cast

Rick Hearst	...	Brian
Gordon MacDonald	...	Mike
Jennifer Lowry	...	Barbara
Theo Barnes	...	Morris
Lucille Saint-Peter	...	Martha
Vicki Darnell	...	Blonde in Hell
Joseph Gonzalez	...	Guy in shower
Bradlee Rhodes	...	Night watchman
Michael Bishop	...	Toilet victim
Beverly Bonner	...	Neighbor
Ari M. Roussimoff	...	Biker
Kevin Van Hentenryck	...	Man with basket
Michael Rubenstein	...	Bum in alley
Angel Figueroa	...	Junkie
John Reichert	...	Policeman
Don Henenlotter	...	Policeman
Kenneth Packard	...	Subway rider
Artemis Pizarro	...	Subway rider
Slam Wedgehouse	...	Mohawked punk
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daniel Frye	...	Zoned out Clubgoer (uncredited)
John Zacherle	...	Aylmer (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Henenlotter

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frank Henenlotter		writer

Produced by
Andre Blay	....	executive producer
Al Eicher	....	executive producer
Edgar Ievins	....	producer
Ray Sundlin	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Clutch Reiser
Gus Russo

Cinematography by
Bruce Torbet

Film Editing by
Frank Henenlotter
James Y. Kwei

Art Direction by
Ivy Rosovsky

Makeup Department
Gabriel Bartalos	....	makeup effects
Dan Frye	....	makeup artist
Richard Mayone	....	makeup effects crew
James McLoughlin	....	makeup effects crew
Nick Santeramo	....	makeup effects crew

Production Management
Ed Walloga	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Greg Lamberson	....	first assistant director

Visual Effects by
Al Magliochetti	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Boyle	....	second grip (as Rick Boyle)
Peter Clark	....	camera operator
J. Michael Muro	....	steadicam operator (as James Muro)
Karen L. Ogle	....	still photographer
Mike Spera	....	camera rental

Editorial Department
Jim Finn	....	negative cutter
Briton J. Petrucelly	....	assistant editor
Michael Tobias	....	dailies editor

Other crew
Gabriel Bartalos	....	creator: "Elmer"
David Kindlon	....	creator: "Elmer"

Production Companies

• Palisades Partners

Distributors

• Palisades Entertainment Group (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• Mackinac Media (2004) (worldwide) (all media)
• Panarecord (Italy) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Scotia-Cannon (1988) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Synapse Films (2000) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

84 min | USA:86 min (uncut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Australia:R | France:-12 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated | Iceland:(Banned)

Company:

Palisades Partners

Trivia:

The theatrical and original home-video releases of his film deleted the most gruesome scenes, such as the "fellatio" gag.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brian wakes up bloody, the blood on his left hand disappears and reappears between shots.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)

Side Effects

Drugs are a funny thing, even though they seem to deliver the user a sense of pleasure which makes them seem like a lot of fun, in reality their a cruel deceptive tool that give us nothing for our troubles and little by little just like our health our own soul goes with it.

"Brain Damage" is one of the most criminally overlooked and underrated horror gems. Basically the story is formated similarly like an EC Comics "Tales from the Crept" morality tale where it's simply about an ordinary man that encounters something extraordinary when Brian (Rick Hearst) discovers he has some sort of alien parasite snake creature named Aylmer (voiced by former Horror show host John Zacherie) who can inject Brian with an hallucinogenic blue fluid to his brain which can give as Aylmer states "Colors, Music, and Uforia" yeah like LCD. But like all drugs there is a price to pay and it's a grave one when Brain must guide Aylmer to feed off of human brains.

That's pretty much it, it's that simple. There are just a lot of things I like about this movie. For one thing the gore and FX are up to par and don't disappoint. I wouldn't recommend eating anything while watching Alymer getting to work on the killing scenes because I'll just say their disgusting, as Alymer just seems to jump out on people's head, drill into them and then just suck their brains like a straw. Or one scene which is the most disgusting and painful scene ever when Brain while going though withdrawal symptoms has what's called a bad trip when he sees he's pulling brain tissue out of his ear and blood afterward comes gushing out, yuck it took me a while to get that image out of my mind.

But the joy is mainly in the Alymer(a term for inspiration)monster, the pupetering and stop motion effects as well as how it is constructed make Alymer look real. And the voice acting attached to the creature fits like a glove doesn't disappoint Alymer is an interesting monster to grace horror. He has a slightly mellow charm and tone, all the more good reason to make his drug deals sound like offers you can't say no to, is funny and friendly making him a character you could easily be friends with even though in reality he's not but as we see is also manipulative and a bit unpleasant sometimes. The relationship between both Brian and Alymer is sort of your classic deal with the devil, or just simple client and drug dealer relationship.

But another thing that really works is the enviorment and the cinematography. The New York City enviorment back then which was all grimy, polluted and gritty way before it was White Washed is perfect giving the sense on how truly unpleasant Brian's addiction situation is. This film truly was a product for it's time from the drug problems in the 80's and the lesions in it are still applicable today with our current problem with Meth.

It's a simple anti-drug message, showing in disturbing and brutal metaphoric honesty the nature of drug addiction and how it can take ones life away from them. We are most of the time in Brian's perspective in the film giving us the feel of what it's like to be a drug addict. We at first see some of the joy the drug has granted Brian and have fun with it but then we begin to see how unhealthy the drug has truly made him and goes though a steady decline physically, mentally, and socially. From moving into a crappy apartment in the exchange of the nice looking one he had, losing his girlfriend to his brother, but worst of all loss of his own health and soul where he's literally unrecognizable and disabled to build anymore from his own life. We see that his hallucinogenics have some negative side effects like that beating brains and spaghetti scene (made me lose my appetite for spaghetti for a while) but mainly just getting out of touch with contemporary reality.

Brain Damage is truly the drug of choice, but beware of side effects it's a headache from hell.

Rating: 3 stars