THE BRAIN (1988)
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Edward Hunt
Cast: Tom Bresnahan, Cynthia Preston, David Gale, George Buza, Christine Kossak, Bret Pearson, Susannah Hoffmann, Kenneth McGregor, Carol Lazare
When the high school prankster Jim Majelewski (Tom Breznahan, Mirror Mirror) blows up the school's bathroom after flushing a bar of pure sodium down the toilet, showering the principal in toilet water, he is sent to Psychological Research Institute (PRI) for behavioral analysis. The institute is run by Dr. Blake (David Gale, Re-Animator) who also hosts a popular nightly TV broadcast, a show ironically called "Independent Thinkers" , a self-help styled show that is really a transmission for a mind-slaving alien brain that Blake keeps in a tank at the institute.
Dr. Blake attempts to subject Jim to the Brain's mind-slavery but he resists, we learn that people who are able to resist it's alien mind-magic begin suffering hallucinations. Jim's hallucinations are more pleasing than some, imagining a nude woman standing before him. Earlier in the film we see a suburban teen girl at home envisioning tentacles emerging from her bedroom walls, and her blood streaming from her teddy bears eye, before killing her mother in a hallucinatory rage and leaping out a window to her death.
Jim resistance to the mind-control upsets Dr. Blake, who attempts to keep him imprisoned at the institute, but he manages to escape with the help of his girlfriend Janet (Cynthia Preston, Pin), who then set out to stop the alien brain and Dr. Blake before they mind-slave the whole town, but Blake is framing Jim for a series of murders so the odds are stacked against him.
The Brain (1988) was directed by Canadian filmmaker Ed Hunt (Bloody Birthday), and it's a fun throwback to the 50's sci-fi/creature features about killer-brain monsters, along the lines of Fiend Without a Face (1958) or
The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), but
enhanced with some cool-looking 80's practical special effects work. That big alien brain is pretty awesome, it's a bit rubbery in places, but it works for me, looking at times like a demonic version of those 80's Madballs toys. It's well lit with some strobing lights which give it the illusion of pulsating, managing to chomp down on a few hapless victims throughout the film, with a little bit of bloodshed, but not overly gory.
Actor Tom Breznahan who plays our teen hero is a bit of a cocky dick, which seemed a strange choice for the hero, but it makes for a fun watch as he smarmily navigates his way through this strange, maple-blooded sci-fi/horror movie. Re-Animator vet David Gale shows up as the evil Dr. Blake, and much like Dr. Hill from Re-Animator he eventuality ends up with a severed head, talk about being typecast! He gets one of the better lines in the film, after his assistant is eaten by the brain he says, "now that;s food for thought". One of the more menacing characters in the film is an orderly named Verna played by George Buza, who looks like a bearded homicidal maniac from the get-go, so when he shows up with an ax later in the film its no real surprise, he's got one of those demented faces that you will not soon forget.
The overall vibe of the film is semi-ironic and a bit campy, it's all very tongue-in-cheek, but not over-cooked with humor. Director Ed Hunt absolutely knew what sort of film he was making here and he has a lot of fun with the tropes and the silliness of it all, which makes The Brain (1988) a hell of a fun film to watch.
Audio/Video: Killer brain cheese-fest The Brain (1988) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, and it looks pretty stellar for this low-budget Canadian film. Grain is well-managed, colors are vibrant and nicely saturated and the source is in excellent shape. The image has some good depth and clarity throughout, with fine detail showcasing clothing textures and facial features, in addition to the highlighting some of the rubberiness of the alien-brain prop.
Audio on the disc comes by way of a solid English DTS-HD MA stereo mix, there's a tiny bit of hiss that pops up from time to time, but overall it's a small consideration, the score from composer Paul Zaza (My Bloody Valentine) sound nice in the mix.
This is another instance of Scream Factory really packing on the extras for a non-Collector's Edition release, which I always appreciate. There are three brand new audio commentaries on this sucker, the first is with director Ed Hunt, a second with composer Paul Zaza, and a third with star Tom Bresnahan.
There are also about 37-min worth of new interviews with actors Cynthia Preston and George Buza, plus art director Michael Borthwick. Preston speaks about her early catalog modeling career which lead into acting, her experience with with Ed Hunt and the fandom of the film. Buza, who has a long career in voice acting, including a stint as the voice of Beast from the 90's animated X-Men TV series, speaks about getting into theater for the love of girls, which is a motivation I hear a lot on these extras. He speaks about his early career, working for director Hunt and going into detail about the production and the long hours required to make the film. Assistant art director Michael Borthwick (Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe) talks about his early love of monster film, working on this film, and rescuing some of the props from the dumpster, one of which is proudly on display behind him during the interview.
There's also an 11-min appreciation of the film by super-fan John Campopiano, the co-director of the excellent Unearthed and Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary (2015) doc, who tells of how he discovered the film and fell in love with it, travelling from his home in Rhode Island to Canada to find the shooting locations, his correspondence with the cast and crew, and showing off his collection of The Brain memorabilia, including script pages, posters and home video releases from around the world. Extras are finished up with a still gallery of behind-the-scenes stuff, with lots of great shots of the the Brain being sculpted, painted and prepared for shots.
The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a 2-sided sleeve of artwork, the a-side is the original movie poster and VHS artwork for the film, which is also featured on the disc. The reverse in an image of actor David Gale's severed head from the film, though I do wish they would have used the alternate foreign market movie poster that I've seen for the reverse art option, an illustration of a brain hovering over a suburban neighborhood.
This is another instance of Scream Factory really packing on the extras for a non-Collector's Edition release, which I always appreciate. There are three brand new audio commentaries on this sucker, the first is with director Ed Hunt, a second with composer Paul Zaza, and a third with star Tom Bresnahan.
There are also about 37-min worth of new interviews with actors Cynthia Preston and George Buza, plus art director Michael Borthwick. Preston speaks about her early catalog modeling career which lead into acting, her experience with with Ed Hunt and the fandom of the film. Buza, who has a long career in voice acting, including a stint as the voice of Beast from the 90's animated X-Men TV series, speaks about getting into theater for the love of girls, which is a motivation I hear a lot on these extras. He speaks about his early career, working for director Hunt and going into detail about the production and the long hours required to make the film. Assistant art director Michael Borthwick (Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe) talks about his early love of monster film, working on this film, and rescuing some of the props from the dumpster, one of which is proudly on display behind him during the interview.
There's also an 11-min appreciation of the film by super-fan John Campopiano, the co-director of the excellent Unearthed and Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary (2015) doc, who tells of how he discovered the film and fell in love with it, travelling from his home in Rhode Island to Canada to find the shooting locations, his correspondence with the cast and crew, and showing off his collection of The Brain memorabilia, including script pages, posters and home video releases from around the world. Extras are finished up with a still gallery of behind-the-scenes stuff, with lots of great shots of the the Brain being sculpted, painted and prepared for shots.
The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a 2-sided sleeve of artwork, the a-side is the original movie poster and VHS artwork for the film, which is also featured on the disc. The reverse in an image of actor David Gale's severed head from the film, though I do wish they would have used the alternate foreign market movie poster that I've seen for the reverse art option, an illustration of a brain hovering over a suburban neighborhood.
Special Features:
- NEW 4K Scan of the Original Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary with director Ed Hunt
- NEW Audio Commentary with composer Paul Zaza
- NEW Audio Commentary with actor Tom Bresnahan
- NEW Canada on the Mind – an interview with actress Cynthia Preston (11 min) HD
- NEW From Monster Kid to Monster Man – an interview with actor George Buza (13 min) HD
- NEW Brain Art – an interview with assistant art director Michael Borthwick (13 min) HD
- NEW Food for Thought: A Love Letter to The Brain (11 min) HD
- Still Gallery (4 min) HD
The Brain (1988) is a semi-cheesy totally fun sci-fi/killer brain film with all the 80's trimmings, fun stuff from start to finish. Scream Factory's release looks fantastic and has load of extra goodies for fans of the film, highly recommended - here's hoping there's more Ed Hunt films headed to Blu-ray soon!
The Brain (1988) is a semi-cheesy totally fun sci-fi/killer brain film with all the 80's trimmings, fun stuff from start to finish. Scream Factory's release looks fantastic and has load of extra goodies for fans of the film, highly recommended - here's hoping there's more Ed Hunt films headed to Blu-ray soon!
