Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent but underrated film

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

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

It was all over with the slashers around 88 so it was time for the cheesy rip offs of those older movies. The Brain is well done, the script reminded me of Videodrome but then in a more cheesy way as said before. The acting can go through with it. But it's the effects that makes you laugh, the so called Brain is really a turkey and the blood is never shown. The opening sequence is what makes this movie worth watching, the hallucinations are really nicely done and reminded me of Nightmare on Elm Street, remember the telephone coming alive.... Some how you keep watching this flick, waiting what is happening next. It's viewable for all freaks out there cause there isn't any gore in it and as said the blood isn't there neither but there is nudity for the perverts. I have seen worser movies than this one, only wished they had made it bloodier...

"The Brain" is a harmless but brainless cheesy creature feature romp.**SPOILERS**Dealing with behavior problems, Jim Majelewski, (Tom Bresnahan) is counseled by his parents and principal that he should be sent to a psychologist. Sent to the nearby Psychological Research Institute run by Dr. Anthony Blakely, (David Gale) he is soon inundated with treatment to help cure him, but it only starts off a series of hallucinations that concern his friends Janet, (Cynthia Preston) and Willie, (Bret Pearson) to begin to question what's happening at the facility and attempt to break in, revealing a plan from the heads of the institute are putting a plan into effect that concerns a television show being used as the catalyst for the transmission of hypnotic brain waves from a gigantic alien brain to take over the world. With their influence controlling others, they race to stop them before they are put in control.The Good News: This was a really entertaining and cheesy effort. This one here really piles it on and offers up some real fun, mostly coming from the central brain. It's a wonderfully cheesy looking creature, with a demonic face and a mouthful of fangs that leave a great impression on first viewing. The plot itself is another example, and manages to include a lot of great cheese in it. The film, as a whole, simply reeks of cheese and there's a lot of fun to be had from that part. It's also got some great action scenes to impart some fun into it. There's a couple of car chases in here, all of which are quite fun and exciting. A fantastic sequence, where a family watching the show on TV doesn't notice when one of them slips upstairs. There, strange things begin to happen, as the teddy bear starts bleeding from his eyes and an arm crashes through her portable TV set and tentacles break through the wall. When the mother rushes in the room, all this paranormal fun disappears for a moment. Then it re-emerges and the girl repeatedly stabs one of the tentacles to get free. Outside of the girl's delusions, it's seen that she has actually just stabbed her mother to death. Then, frightened by the image of a brain with a hideous face coming at her from her mirror, the girl falls out of her window to her death. The fact that the last half of the film mostly consists of chasing through the town or the institute grounds means that there's very rarely anything dull happening and it stays upbeat and exciting for these segments to keep interest. There's also some nice blood and gore to be found in this, which is quite nice. There's a decapitation with an ax, several gunshot wounds, a chainsaw sliced into the waist that cuts in half and a couple of really impressive brain-devouring that look far more graphic than they should. Capped off with some mild humor moments and a couple of fun little sleaze bits, this one isn't that bad.The Bad News: This one here doesn't have a whole lot of flaws, but there are some. One of the main ones is that there's a large helping of cheese in here that might not be for everyone. The general plot itself may be enough to put some off the film altogether, as it's really as brainless and thought-less as it suggests. That's a knock that some might not get over, and it really manages to make that seem like something big and important, since it relies so heavily on something like that which is such a judgment call on most viewer's cases. From the fact that there's nothing to keep the thought going for what happens in the plot. There's way too many instances where it's way too easy to question the logic going on and force the film to a halt. It's pretty common, especially once it gets to the point where the television show comes in to force the viewers of it to do their bidding. It comes with a lot of areas that don't have to deal with intelligence that anyone can catch on but the characters don't. It leaves a few bad areas, but otherwise these here are what really hurt in the long run.The Final Verdict: Filled with cheese, often to the point of it being a crime, there's enough here for fans of the style to get some entertainment out of it. Worth seeing for the true hardcore cheese fans of the time or are in the mood for brainless fun, otherwise for low-cheese tolerance, seek caution with it.Rated R: Violence, Nudity and Language

Insignificant and low-brained (haha!) 80's horror like there are thirteen in a dozen, yet it can be considered amusing if you watch it in the right state of mind. The special effects are tacky, the acting atrocious and the screenplay seems to miss a couple of essential paragraphs! "The Brain" takes place in a typical quiet-American town setting, where every adolescent works in the same diner and where the cool-kid in high school flushes cherry bombs down the toilet. It is here that a TV-guru named Dr. Blake and his adorable pet-brain begin their quest for nation-wide mind controlling. Under the label of "independent thinkers", a giant cheesy brain sends out waves through television sets and forces innocent viewers to kill! How cool is that? Now, it's up to the Meadowvale teen-rebel to save the world! The funniest thing about the plot is that it never explains where Dr. Blake and his monstrous brain actually come from. There are obvious references towards extraterrestrial life but that's about it. Meh, who needs a background in a movie like this, really? There's not that much bloodshed unfortunately and the "evil" brain looks like an over-sized sock-puppet. The only more or less interesting element for horror buffs is taking a look at the cast and crew who made this movie. Director Ed Hunt and writer Barry Pearson are the same men who made "Bloody Birthday" (guilty pleasure of mine) and "Plague". Both those are much better movies and they wisely decided to resign the film industry. The most familiar face in the cast unquestionably is the great David Gale, whom horror fans will worship forever for his role in Re-Animator. A girl named Christine Kossak provides the nudity-factor and she's obviously a great talent… She has exactly 3 movies on her repertoire of which THIS is her "masterpiece". In her debut, she was credited as 'runaway model' and in "3 men and a baby", her character is referred to as 'one of Jack's girls'. I really wonder how she feels about her career as an actress

In the small American town of Meadowvale Dr. Anthony Blake (David Gale, the IMDb listing for this character is wrong it's definitely Dr. Blake not Dr. Blakely) is the director and founder of the famed 'Psychological Research Institute' and also host's a local T.V. programme called 'Independent Thinkers'. He uses this T.V. show to hypnotise the viewers and make them commit acts of violence. Dr. Blake has the help of a large brain with an evil face that uses it's spinal cord as a tail thingy. Usually the brain is just sitting in a tank, eats mice and the odd bad actor, each time it eats someone it gets much bigger. Meanwhile at the local high-school gifted but troublesome teenager Jim Majelewski (Tom Bresnahan) has been caught putting Sodium down the toilets. Jim is sent to Dr. Blake at the PRI for help with his attitude and behavioural problems. While there Dr. Blake hooks Jim up to, well something I'm not actually sure what. This whatever it is, is attached to the brain. At first Jim is able to resist the brain's mind control. The brain feels that Jim is a threat to itself and it's plans. Once out of the PRI Jim starts having bizarre hallucinations and crashes his car. Jim makes it to his waitress girlfriend Janet (Cynthia Preston as Cyndy Preston) but is handed back to Dr. Blake's assistant Verna (George Buza) soon after by Officer Marks (Harry Booker). The brain wants to kill Jim because he is the only one capable of withstanding it's mind control techniques, and with 'Independent Thinkers' going national the brain doesn't want anything or anyone to stop it's evil plan for world domination! Jim quickly realises that the brain is controlling the entire town and he alone must stop the brain, before it takes over the world!Directed by Ed Hunt who calls himself Edward Hunt here, the Brain wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong as it certainly isn't great either. The script by Barry Pearson tries a stab at satire with the brain washing and mind control by T.V. storyline. It moves along at a fair pace and isn't too boring. No explanation is given for the existence of the brain at all, it's just there and that's it we have to accept it. The story is a little choppy and never fully explores one single element, there's the T.V. mind control, the brain itself, Jim being hunted by the police & his misbehaviour and various other little bits and pieces here and there including a bizarre revelation regarding Dr. Blake that isn't explained at all. Production wise this film looks cheap, and probably was cheap. The acting isn't great but I've seen worse, and what is David Gale doing in this? In fact this role is similar to Gale's role in Re-Animator (1985) even down to his character's deaths in both films. The brain itself at first sits in a tank and starts to grow whenever it eats someone and by the end it is pretty big. Each stage is just made of rubber. It doesn't look particularly good and isn't scary or creepy, just cheap. There's no blood or gore in it apart from a blink and you'll miss it decapitation. The nudity is provided by Dr. Blake's assistant Vivian (Christine Kossak as Christine Kossack) before she gets eaten. The brain had a certain entertainment value for me but I would think most people would dislike it. Maybe worth a watch if you can see it on T.V. for free.