Brain Damage

1988 "It's a Headache from Hell."
6.5| 1h26m| R| en
Details

Brian comes under the addictive spell of a parasite with the ability to induce euphoric hallucinations in its hosts.

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

Stream on any device, 7-day free trial Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Also starring Jennifer Lowry

Also starring Gordon MacDonald

Reviews

Wordiezett So much average
Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!
Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
TheMarwood The first 10 minutes of Brain Damage are awful and hard to watch, as an elderly couple are trashing their apartment looking for Alymer and then we get an overlong hallucination from our main character Brian. Then we are introduced to the Zacherle voiced parasitic Alymer, with a show stopping "hi" and the film just goes bonkers and never stops. There's nothing quite like Brain Damage, a tale of a young man who gets addicted to the intoxicant that a parasitic creature injects into his brain and while running about hallucinating, Alymer feeds on unsuspecting victims brains. It's hilariously gory and thanks to the uncut version finally on the market, the brain removing fellatio sequence is intact in its full ridiculous glory. Henenlotter was firing on all cylinders while making this classic B masterpiece.
PeterMitchell-506-564364 We've got a new killer freak, it's size less than the length of my hand: Elmer. He attaches himself the the brain of this poor sod, giving him wonderful highs, but if Elmer doesn't get what he wants, e.g. to suck out the brain of a whore, our poor Brian gets monster headaches. How smart was this film? Basket Case fans will love this. Brian's Girlfriend and his brother start to sense changes, as Brian becomes comes a recluse, staying in his bedroom. His brother seizing the chance, even makes the moves on his girlfriend. When Brian catches them in bed, he doesn't even care. We too can feel Brian's high, and Elmer's funny to look at, if captivating, we can barely make out his mouth. Enough gore to satisfy, that's for sure, in this follow up to the superior Basket Case, this quiet straight to video flick is worth the watch. We even have a surprise guest on a train, carrying a basket no less.
Master Cultist This starts off well enough, with the rather intriguing idea of a parasitical creature that drugs its victims in order to procure the brains of those around it, but it never really gets going anywhere, and I quickly hoped for a bit more action. Similarly to that other Henenlotter classic Basket Case, this makes use of stop motion animation to render the creature on screen, and it is hit and miss in terms of the success. At times it seems quite realistic, at others like a piece of plasticine.A nice idea all round, it's just a shame it couldn't have had a bit more energy and, if checking out Henenlotter for the first time, I'd go with Basket Case every time.
BA_Harrison Tackling biological body-shock horror with a deliciously dark sense of humour and a bucket or two of low-budget gore, director Frank Henenlotter is—in my opinion—the David Cronenberg of schlock cinema.Like his better known Canadian counterpart, Henenlotter has dealt with deadly twins, the darker side of sexuality, parasitic creatures, and the hidden powers of the mind. But Whereas Cronenberg's output tends to be sober in tone, Henenlotter's movies are garish slices of demented fun—full of OTT splatter, sleazy characters, and moments of sheer lunacy.Brain Damage stars Rick Hearst as the unfortunate Brian, who wakes up one morning to discover that he has become host to a charismatic worm-like creature by the name of Elmer, who can deliver a euphoric high by injecting the brain with a highly addictive hallucinogenic liquid known as 'juice'. In return for these blasts of sheer bliss, the parasitic pusher merely asks to be fed—with human brains! Trippy visuals and outrageous gore scenes ensue, as a progressively messed up Brian lurches around New York, unwittingly providing his phallic pal with the nourishment he desires.As an allegory of the destructive effects of drug abuse, Brain Damage is effective stuff: despite their best efforts, Brian's nearest and dearest are unable to save him from the inevitable—an overdose that results in him blowing his mind (literally). And as an exercise in gross out visuals and bad taste gags, it's even better, delivering some incredible gory effects and enjoyably crass moments, the best bit being the oft-mentioned blow-job scene which sees an eager young woman accidentally giving head to Elmer, who proceeds to snack on her brains.Elmer himself is primarily achieved through puppetry and stop motion animation, although later scenes on a subway train see him briefly rendered via traditional animation; these effects vary in quality, from the passable to the rather shocking, but the character itself is so endearing that it is fairly easy to forgive his sometimes crude execution (Henenlotter managed the same trick with Belial in his superb debut Basket Case—a badly sculpted lump of rubber, but one with imbued with a well defined personality).