Brain Damage (1988)

Title: Brain Damage (1988)

Director: Frank Henenlotter

Cast: Rick Hearst

Review:

Frank Henenlotter is best known for having directed all three of the Basket Case movies. Thats more then likely what youll know him for, those are his most popular films. And by popular I mean underground cult classics that have lasted through the years in one form or another. But if you dive further into his world, you will see that he is responsible for a couple other really entertaining, fun, and yeah, why not, downright disturbing films as well. Like for example Frankenhooker and the one I will be reviewing today: Brain Damage.

Brain Damage is about this guy named Brian who suddenly stumbles upon an ancient creature who can inject this blue liquid into his brain which is the ultimate hallucinatory drug. Problem is, once Brian has been exposed to the drug and its incredibly addictive effects, he is hooked! Suddenly, Brian finds that he has turned into a junky of the blue liquid and has to have it on a constant basis. He only has one little problem. The creature that can provide him with his fix needs to be fed human brains! All the time! If it doesnt get its brains, it wont give Brian his fix of blue liquid! So whats Brian to do? Kill people and feed the creature a brain so he can get his fix? Will the strength of his addiction control his actions? 

Thing about Henenlotter films is that they are dirty. After you watch em you feel like youve mingled with the scum of the earth. And thats exactly what I love about them. Nothing is perfect, nobody is pretty, no one is rich. Everyone is poor, seriously disturbed and dirty and demented. Its insane, but in Henenlotters films the main protagonist always makes the wrong choices and does the wrong things. So the main character is not some squeeky clean guy who you can look up to. Nope, most of the time you will be seeing the scumbags of the streets, the whores, the drug addicts, the dirt. And I find that in Henenlotters films so refreshing, because they inject you with a dosage of reality in a way. You wont feel like you are watching a Hollywood film and thats a good thing in my book. Every now and then, I need a freaking break from colorful, shiny perfect looking hollywood movies. Sometimes I just want to see something disturbing, entertaining, shocking. And this film delivers in that department. We get slimy brain eating creatures, whores, drug addicts, muerderous old people, gooey wet gore. Something different. 

When you compare this film with Basket Case for example, you can clearly see that Brain Damage is the superior film. Basket Case was ultra low budget and even though the movie is great, I found it lacking on the technical department. But thats of course because its such a guerrilla film, done on less then a shoestring budget.  You could defenetly tell the difference between one film to the next In my book Brain Damage was a one up on Henen Lotters career.  Inspite of  Brain Damage still being a low budget flick, it looks superior to Basket Case in every way. Directing wise the movie surpassed Basket Case, you can tell Henenlotter matured as a director. I liked how he focused his strength in exploiting the hallucinatory element of the movie. When Brian takes the blue juice, you can be sure you'll be in for a trip. A visual one that is. I love how Henenlotter managed this without a huge budget. He just used lots of creativity with his shots, so my hats down to Mr. Henenlotter with this movie which most certainly was a step up technically while it still retained its low budget b-movie charm.

But this isnt just any old B-movie. No siree, this one is a bit deeper then youd expect this type of movie to be. It makes a great point on the horrors of drug addiction. How it changes a person until you transform into a lifeless human, who only thinks about his next fix. It goes into how it affects your relationships, how it affects the decisions you make and how you have no controll over your life once the drugs take over it.I thought it was great how a little low budget movie like this one could adress all these issues and still come out at the end with an entertaining movie to watch. Not something preachy which is great cause who likes to be preached to? No one.

What makes Brain Damage special in my book are the hallucinatory sequences in which Brian is under the influence of the drug and he starts seeing all sorts of crazy shit. And the things Brian does when he is high are really out there, which of course translates to fun for you and I as the viewer. Theres this one scene in which Brian is eating with his girlfriend in a restaurant and he is trying to explain to her what he is going through with the whole creature/blue liquid/hallucinations deal and he starts to look at the plate of spaghettis and meatballs he is eating and he starts looking at the meatballs, and the meatballs themselves start looking like little pulsating brains....its just an insane image. Thats just a taste at the sort of crazy thing youll be seeing in this movie. Im not gonna get into a scene that involves oral sex. If you survive that scene, you'll know you can survive the rest of the film.

But of course, the major draw here is Aylmer. "Who's Aylmer?" you might ask. Well, Aylmer is non other then the worm like creature that supplies Brian with his regular drug injection. Aylmer looks like this little slimy worm creature, which at the same time looks like a mix between a turd and a brain. Its crazy I know, but thats the kind of movie this is. His got tiny eyes and a huge mouth! He talks in the most eloquent and educated way possible! He talks like this nice, calm person. Its hilarious because he is anything but that! He eats human brains to live! And he makes you his bitch by making you addicted to his blue liquid which he injects through the back of your neck! Well, anyhows, Aylmer has to be seen to be believed.

So if youre in the mood for a truly weird film, that falls well within the real of the bizarre,  look no further then this film! Brain Damage is sure to shock, and amaze with its gore and situations. But at the same time the film serves as a cautionary tale about drug addiction. If you shop around for this film, make sure you get the uncut version cause theres a couple of really good gory scenes in there that are worth a freaking fortune.

Rating: 4 out of 5