The Brain (1988)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

High school student James has excellent grades and a beautiful girlfriend, but he is always playing weird practical jokes. This makes his teachers and parents sign a consent form to have him sent off to a revolutionary new TV doctor, Dr. Blake. Dr. Blake often talks about the increase in teen suicides and sure enough, just near James' house, a fellow student has just stabbed her mother and jumped out a window... but was there more to it? Did she really jump, or did something else kill her mother and push her? James finds the mental hospital where is is sent to be pointless and annoying, so he leaves the building. Unknown to him the hospital nurse who he hallucinated as being topless, is on his side; she knows about the strange hallucinogenic brain experiments on people in the building and threatens to tell. Before she gets the chance, a giant brain-like creature eats her. Blake sends an overweight bearded med assistant to hunt down James and bring him back.James hides out in his girlfriend Janet's diner after his car crashes and blows up. She tries to hide him but a cop shows up, as does the fat med assistant, and Janet can only watch as he is dragged away again, this time kicking at some invisible monster no one else can see. He escapes the hospital a second time with her help, and the help of his best friend, but his best friend is eaten by the brain monster. Murders start popping up all over town and on the TV sets of all the viewers tuned in, Blake tells them it was James who killed them, and that James has trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy. A brainwashing message is also said, convincing several housewives to kill their husbands if their husbands refuse to watch the Dr. Blake show. Now Janet and James are runaway fugitives, hiding out in the local high school as the entire town of brainwashed adults search for them.This wasn't the best movie but you've gotta admit, it's entertaining at least. The soundtrack is pretty good, the acting was okay and for the budget they had, the brain monster was pretty good, though highly unbelievable. This movie might make you think twice about tuning in every day to D. Phil, Ellen and Oprah.

You are going to have a good time. Repeat it. You are going to have a good time. No need for brainwashing in what is an outrageously silly and strange, but very fun low-budget Sci-fi / horror b-grade hokum with cult actor David Gale's straight-up glee to his clinical mad doctor role adding much more to the amusement. But the real star has got to be the hideously throbbing human brain with its huge beady eyes, sharp pointy teeth, snarling, telepathic abilities in controlling people's thoughts, presenting hallucinations (the opening sequence has a nightmarish pull to it) and it seems to be growing thanks to its diet for human flesh. Oh it's a sight watching it chomp down on someone's head?! It's nasty, but rather daft. Watching it move about is just as laughable. Barry Pearson's imaginative screenplay is obviously a satirical pot-shot on the TV's hypnotic influence in swaying the viewers and how it can be taken advantage of through particular scientific/religious groups. The ironic delivery does come off and you got to love the use of sodium. Even with this on mind, there's no doubts that none of this is taken all that seriously with it mixing that 50s cheesy drive-in mentality with 80s over-the-top visual intensity. What actually occurs is a predictable pattern (no one believes our rebellious teen protagonist with the things going on behind the scenes at psychological research centre) and despite what has happened some of the character's decisions are dumbfounding. Director Ed Hunt's sporadic handling works well keeping a sharp pace to this taut on-the-run formula and giving many scenes much needed punch with its shocks and twisted surrealism. While the make-up FX and special effects are cheap-looking and tacky, they're effectively done and somewhat colourful. The performances are limited, but Tom Breznahan and Cyndy Preston make for likable heroes. Low-grade, but enjoyably shoddy entertainment for those that have trouble dealing with reality. "Give yourselves a hand you independent thinkers".

There's a strange cinematic netherworld where idiocy meets fun and the two duke it out for our hearts and minds, and The Brain sits there rather comfortably. Eschewing chances of suspense or paranoid frights by way of an ill advised early reveal of the central creature and soon after a reveal of its nefarious plans, The Brain seeks to run on crazed gumption alone and the pleasantly surprising thing is, it actually works. The story has young and smart delinquent Jim Majelewski signed up for treatment at the mysterious Psychological Research Institute, where he comes across an evil giant brain with an eye on world domination. The rest of the film sees him dodging the brainwashed populace while seeking to save everyone from the alien ministrations of the brain, its a chase film and it happily zips along, sleekly crafted cheese to please. Director Ed Hunt is something of a B movie veteran and so knows not to take this sort of thing too seriously, while going full tilt at scenes that require the schlocky goods, thus while the film is never gory there are a few scenes that really shine, particularly a freaky opening gambit and a spot of wild cafeteria behaviour. He also avoids emphasizing the lesser effects apart from times when they'll be clearly entertaining, so goofs are at a relative minimum and at times the effects work really does. Performances are game throughout though few are especially good, Tom Bresnahan starts slow but builds a good head of steam as Jim, Cindy Preston is effortlessly pleasing as his girlfriend and George Buza makes for a solidly menacing villainous hired goon, while the heavy lifting acting wise is carried in style by David Gale. Riffing on his Re-Animator villainy he opts for a quieter course but still amusingly deranged, its a fun turn and he lights the screen whenever he appears. The titular brain is an important star as well, a wonderfully ludicrous creation that gets to move around, make the odd expression and even eat some people, as completely crackers monster go its a good 'un. Sadly the film gets dull at times despite the driving pace and thudding score, it also needed more acting zap and gore to make it really work, but its easy watching and well freighted with chuckles. Heck, there's even a bit of nudity (from a rather lovely lady) so I can't criticise the film too much, its cheesy trash, it know its cheesy trash and it does its best to deliver as such. I happen to love cheesy trash and this one broadly worked for me, so 7/10, but it won't be to all tastes.

Why we laugh at THE BRAIN and why we hate it. Hmm lets see, it was made in Toronto sorry the city I live in. It has a not so scary monkey face brain, that lives in a lab connected up to a computer, and eats anything that it makes it's minions bring to it; including the odd psychiatrist. It has a teenage boy and a teenage girl who seem lost in the movie. The Brain goes after it's victims who don't believe in it's Scientology. Strange characters and poor effects, like the boy thinking his car is attacking him with tentacles, oh and the doctor being easily killed and green blood coming out of him. Effects please, the brain grows itself a head in between it's two lobes. They use bars of sodium to create explosion and spoiler to kill the brain. Which I find hilariously funny to laugh at because of how easily the brain got killed; oh in that ending the brain chases after the teenage boy and girl while being pulled by a trolley with gasping and snarling noises put in as an effect. I saw this movie when I was 11 and it didn't scare me it just made me think about how bad it was and how much I laughed at it.A 2 out of 5, movies from Toronto in 1980's sucked, HA I said it.