Brain Damage (DVD) (1988)
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Starring: Rick Herbst, Gordon MacDonald, Jennifer Lowry
(Synapse
Films)
Brian (Herbst) has a few problems. The first is that a foot-long, turd-like talking parasite named Aylmer (voiced by legendary TV horror host John Zacherley) has fixed itself to his neck and injected a Windex-colored secretion into his brain, which causes uncontrollable hallucinations. Number Two is that he likes the hallucinations-in fact, he soon finds that he's addicted to them. And Problem Numero Tres? Aylmer has his own craving-namely, human brains, and preferably fresh ones ripped out of someone's skull. Despite his jones for Aylmer's "juice," Brian refuses to help his invertebrate companion kill, and tries to go cold turkey. But as any good pusher will tell you, all that's needed to turn out a stubborn junkie is a whole lot of patience, and Aylmer-who's been chewing on grey matter since the Crusades-has got plenty of just that.
Brain Damage, the sophomore effort from writer/director Frank
Henenlotter (Frankenhooker), was made six years after his grindhouse-pleasing
debut with Basket Case, and is more technically proficient than its
predecessor thanks to a larger budget (about $60K-chicken feed, but still
twice as large as the budget for Basket Case), but lacks none of
that film's dubious charms-namely, a wicked sense of black humor and a
complete disregard for good taste. Critics have often been quick to label
it as an anti-drug film, but I don't think Henenlotter would ever deliver
anything as square as a "message" film. The audience doesn't know enough
about Brian/Brain to identify with him-Aylmer has already attached itself
to his neck when we first meet him-so we certainly can't sympathize with
how his addiction to the "juice" has ruined his life. If anything,
Henenlotter is more interested in how quickly he can drag his characters
and the audience from one grotesque, blood-soaked scenario to another-it's
a tip off the carving block from Herschell Gordon Lewis, Henenlotter's
longtime hero. Like Lewis's films, Brain Damage is a dark, broad,
E.C.-styled cautionary tale that reminds us that Bad Shit Happens Every
Day, and like ol' HGL, Henenlotter delivers it with tongue firmly cheek
while up to his elbows in gore.
Synapse's terrific DVD presentation offers an uncut print of Brain
Damage, meaning that that the infamous "brain pull" sequence that you
goggled over in the pages of Fangoria back in high school is intact,
along with the "blow job" sequence. Also included is a very informal and
informative commentary track featuring Henenlotter and former Fango
editor Bob Martin (who penned a novelization of the film) and moderated by
Shatter Dead helmer Scooter McRae (who also contributes some liner
notes) and the original trailer; home theater-philes who have more
expensive rigs than mine can enjoy the film in a new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix,
go old-school with the original mono soundtrack, or simply enjoy the
isolated music score track as a pleasant accompaniment to their next meal
or bout of home surgery. Extra points to Synapse for their animated menus,
which highlight some of the film's best moments (Aylmer crooning "Elmer's
Tune" in the flophouse sink), with Zach's operahouse/nuthouse laugh chasing
you from page to page. Extra points for: brief cameos by Basket Case's Beverly Bonner and Kevin Van Hentenryck, whose subway staring contest with Herbst generates one of the film's biggest laughs; Brian's nervous shower room stalking of Joe Gonzalez (Zorro the Pimp from Frankenhooker), which borders on all-male-cinema territory; and the punk club scene, featuring a performance by the Swimming Pool Q's, which concludes with the aforementioned and completely out-to-lunch blow job scene. No points subtracted.
-Paul Gaita