Simply Perfect

Don't Believe the Hype

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Are you tired of the sameness of Hollywood's over-priced commercialized dross? Check out Mr. Henenlotter's work today. This is a weird film, but in a good way. Elmer is a parasite who will get you high in exchange for brains. The problem was the old people was feeding him animals brain, so Elmer decide to find a new host. The young man was getting so high that he didn't know what Elmer was up to. Elmer didn't care just as he was getting human brains.The film is also a moral warning about the effects of drugs - they make you feel great at first but before long you're addicted to them, you've screwed your life up and you'll do literally anything to get the fluids you're now dependent on. A very black form of comedy with a serious edge to it, and the inner-city locations provide an excellent atmosphere. Very original, with good writing, and neat visuals for such a low budget.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Only a genius mind like Frank Henenlotter's: The Basket Case Trilogy (1982-1990-1992), Frankenhooker (1990), Bad Biology (2008) can come up with this. I have seen all of his films. There is not a director to touch him in his style of horror. The only problem is why he hasn't made any films during 1993-2007. THAT'S 14 YEARS !!! He has really denied us and let us down for this.If he had needed money for his films, I would have given him from my own piggy bank!!! Please if there is a GOD in this world give me 1000 films of Henenlotter's to watch before I die. I would really appreciate it.This is very, very sad not for him but for horror addicts like me wasting away. The best moments of my life were the horror films I enjoyed as a child during the late middle 80's and 90's. The horror film industry went to SH*T after '95.The directors now are an absolute joke with no imagination whatsoever. It was really good to watch Bad Biology (2008) after 15 years !!!Plot of film: a parasite named Aylmer (of ancient origin - probably deep in Africa) escapes from his elderly captors and finds a new host - a young man called Brian (Rick Hearst). It injects him with a secretion that its body produces via a proboscis pushed through the back of the neck and into the brain, while he was sleeping.He experiences strange hallucinations due to the secretion and cannot explain why. Later he discovers the talking parasite in the bathroom. Aylmer is very friendly towards Brian and they soon become the best of friends.... till Brian discovers the source of Aylmer's food. Don't want to tell you any more - it might spoil it for you, if you haven't seen the film yet.Special effects within the budget are brilliant. This film is of a CULT STATUS so special-effects wise this film is legendary. Gabriel Bartalos is responsible for the excellent creature Aylmer. John Zacherle plays Aylmer's remarkable voice which is superbly done. This guy has gifted voice - no doubt about that!Henenlotter's direction is superb throughout the horrifying climax of the film. The scene at the very end of the film will send you running from your room screaming!!!So Mr. Hennenlotter if you need a protégé or someone to carry on your work your legacy I AM THAT MAN. Email me at [email protected]. Can't wait to make Brain Damage 2 - Aylmer's BACK!!!Expecting to hear from you sir.

Brain Damage is set in New York City where Brian (Rick Hearst) lives in an apartment with his brother Mike (Gordon MacDonald), one night Brian wakes up & feels somewhat lightheaded & ill. Brian decides to to go back to sleep but when he awakes he finds blood on his pillow & a strange talking slug like brain eating parasitic creature called Aylmer who has injected some blue liquid into the back of Brian's neck & into his brain which makes him high, at first Brian enjoys the euphoric high but Alymer uses Brian in his drugged out high state to find him human victims whose brains it can eat. Brian becomes addicted to the high Alymer gives him but at the same time realises the terrible side-effects that threaten to destroy his life & kill those who Brain are closest to including Barbara (Jennifer Lowry) his girlfriend unless he can somehow regain control of his life & mind...Co-edited, written & directed by Frank Henenlotter this was his belated second directorial feature film after the cult hit success of the memorable low budget gory horror film Basket Case (1982) & it's clear to see that Henenlotter set out to make a low budget exploitation horror film with a strong central message about the perils of drug abuse & addiction. The entire film is more or less a warning against drugs, the film is filled with parallels & metaphors like the initial high before the uncontrollable craving for the next hit when it wears off, the user whose life falls apart around themselves because of their addiction, the people around the user who also suffer because of it & the determination to get another fix no matter what that becomes paramount to the exclusion of just about everything else. You might think that sounds rather heavy handed & a bit too deep but Brain Damage works surprisingly well on a number of levels, from a gross out splatter film with some good gore scenes to anti drug film as the script is set-up so we end up sympathising with Brian & the attempts to mirror the obviously fantastical goings-on in the film with real life drug abuse & addiction comes off rather well. The pace is good, the character's & dialogue are as well although the ending is rather sudden & abrupt. An off-beat, unusual 80's horror film with a strong social message, who'd have thought it?Director Henenlotter throw's in a cheeky little reference to his previous film Basket Case as while on a subway train Brian sees a man carry a wicker basket with a lock on it, obviously the lead character Duane from Basket Case & to give it a bit more authenticity the original actor Kevin Van Hentenryck reprises the role in a small cameo. Aymer the parasite looks like a large slug with a face & funny posh sounding voice, despite this the image actually works in a bizarrely funny sort of way. The special effects are alright, there's some stop-motion animation & simple puppet shots which are probably still better than any modern low budget CGI computer effect. There are some neat sequences here including the infamous scene in which a woman goes down on Brian to give him a blow-job only to open his flies & have Aylmer shoot out & eat her brains through her mouth so the side-on view looks like she is give Brian a blow-job who has a horrible slimy mutant deformed penis, a nice if somewhat crude little visual gag & one of the films most memorable moments. There's some decent gore here too, there are some brain eating scenes, some blood splatter, there's pulsating brains & foreheads & a dream sequence in which someone pulls some stringy bloody stuff out of their ear before it falls off & a spray of blood spurts out. There's a sex scene & a bit of nudity as well but nothing that graphic.The production values are pretty good & the film is well made, it's certainly a lot more professional & polished than Basket Case ever was. The acting is pretty good from a fairly unknown cast, TV horror host John Zacherle provided the voice of Aylmer uncredited.Brain Damage is an unusual & somewhat oddball little late 80's exploitation horror film that works surprisingly well although probably isn't for everyone. Well worth a look if your a fan of the genre or are after something that bit different.

I can't believe I missed this one first time around. Having been introduced to Frank Henenlotter via 'Basket Case' in the late eighties, and then being compelled to watch 'Basket Case 2' and the excellent 'Frankenhooker', I must have fallen into a coma at some point because I don't recall having seen or heard of 'Brain Damage' at all.The one thing that is slightly annoying about writing about movies like this is that when you write down what the movie is about, it looks complete nonsense. If I was to tell you that this is about a small monster that looks like a burnt penis, but can speak perfect English, and that it attatches itself to the back of your neck, injects a drug into your brain that gets you high as a kite while the monster sucks people's brains out, then...well, it doesn't sound like a BAFTA winner, does it? But that is what the movie is about. The monster, or Aylmer as it is known, attatches itself to Brian, a normal young man who has a girlfriend and lives with his brother in the same apartment block as Aylmer's previous owners, and soon gets Brian under his control by injecting him through the back of his neck and into his brain with a blue substance that sends Brian into a psychedelic haze as he staggers around finding victims for Aylmer to feed on. Sounds crazy? Well, it is - and wonderfully so. Anyone familiar with Frank Henenlotter's other works will know what to expect, and anyone not familiar will be in for a shock.Had I seen this in 1988 when it came out, I probably could have given it an extra mark - for nostalgia's sake. But as I'm watching it with 2009 eyes, it does look very dated. The effects are pretty good for such a low-budget movie, and if it was made now it would all be CGI so I guess we should be thankful for that. The acting is poor, but then I think that adds to the charm of the movie. It is a very entertaining movie, as all of Henenlotter's are, but unless you are a genre fan, and not just a casual window shopper, it may not appeal as much.