Brain Damage [DVD]

True greatness!., 21 July 2009

How do you follow up a smashing cult low budget movie like Basket Case?, you take what worked in that film and try to make it even better. The result of course is Brain Damage, this is in my honest opinion one of Frank Hennenlotter’s most absurd, outrageous, over the top, funny and best gory low budget film he’s ever made. Brian (Rick Herbst) wakes up with his head covered with blood and hallucinating about giant eyes and a weird blue fluid filling his room (great trippy sequence by the way!). As it turns out, while Brian was sleeping a snakelike creature named Aylmer injected him with a chemical that hooks it’s victims, making them addicted slaves. Unfortunately the only free high is the first. If Brian wants more all subsequent injections come at a price – he must pay Aylmer with some human brains. Unbearably addicting, Brian begins collecting Aylmer’s favorite food of choice. As Brian becomes more dependent on Aylmer’s fluid his life starts slipping into oblivion and he also seems to ignore those people who are around him including his girlfriend and his brother. Hennenloter has written a great script filled with witty dialogue and strange characters and the film was obviously a commentary on the life of a drug addict, Brain Damage incorporates humor and gore with a disturbing depiction of the deterioration of the human spirit on drugs. This film also has some pretty sick stuff including the infamous scene where Brian pulls a nasty string of brain matter out of his ear and the other involving a club girl who gets more than she bargained for (you have to watch the film if you know what I mean). The film also has an amusing cameo by Kevin Van Hetenryck from the Basket Case trilogy in the subway scene. Overall this was a terrific film that should not be missed by cult horror fans. I highly recommend it as it was loads of fun and way better than Basket Case, which really is saying alot since both films were great.

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Great film,shame about the packaging!, 6 Nov 2011

By 

Mr. J. McGregor “Batnerd” (UK) –

  

This is an absolute classic film and one of a kind.
I haven’t seen this release so can’t comment on the transfer but I’m sad to see that they didn’t use the original Graham Humphreys artwork-it was so good and the Palace horror VHS releases were beautiful!Maybe they are considered old-fashioned in the Photoshop era but there is so much skill involved in his works of art.

As for the film itself,it comes from an era when horror was still very imaginative and fun,unlike a lot of the derivative junk and poor remakes that get released these days.
Along with Basket Case and Frankenhooker,this is another Henenlotter classic-funny,sleazy and disturbing.You will want to wash your brain after watching…and that’s a good thing!

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