The Brain (1988)


There are so many movies that do whatever they can to hide their main monster.  Animatronics often were touchy, rubber suits look like rubber suits, and when they did the reveal there was usually qite a bit of darkness and fog to cover up how sketchy everything looked.  Not so with The Brain.  This movie had a miniscule budget, but most of that went into creating the creature, and director Ed Hunt was not going to be shy about showing it. 

Dr. Anthony Blakely (David Gale) is a popular television psychologist whose show, Independent Thinking, has captured most of the town of Meadowvale in its spell.  Broadcast from the Psychological Research Institute, Blakely is on the verge of taking his show nationwide.  However, there are concerns in Meadowvale about strange murders and suicides.  When Jim Majelewski (Tom Bresnahan) plays one trick too many at school his guidance councilor Mr. Woods (Kenneth McGregor) convinces Jim's parents to refer him to PRI for help.

Jim finds the atmosphere strange at the institute and, after being subjected to several tests, starts to hallucinate and wrecks his car.  He stumbles into the restaurant where his girlfriend Janet (Cynthia Preston) is working, but is soon brought back to the Institute against his will by an orderly named Verna (George Buza).  While escaping a second time Jim encounters the creature, a giant carnivorous brain, and finds the entire town brainwashed against him thinking he is a serial killer.  

There are a number of similarities to Videodrome, but Hunt doesn't take any of this material as seriously as David Cronenberg did.  This is a straight-up monster movie where there is a threat and, as usual, no one believes the teenagers who end up having to save the day.  There are some interesting scenes and ideas, but the actors' flat performances and a so-so script work against it the entire way.  With a little more effort this could have gone from merely amusing to a true cult classic.

After all, it does have David Gale as the main bad guy, although he doesn't get to ham it up like he did in Re-Animator.  It seems he unfortunately got typecast into the mad scientist role after Stuart Gordon's movie became popular.  He isn't given a whole lot to do and probably banged out all of his screen time in a day, but he's still fun to watch.  Finally, the creature is well-done despite the budget, with quite a number of movable parts and a suitably slimy appearance. 

In the end The Brain is a rather inconsequential movie.  It takes place around Christmas time but, other than the decorations strewn about, it never presents itself as a holiday film.  It also doesn't have any scene as shocking as the one in the mall from Rabid to at least do something with the seasonal setting.  The movie is amusing in a quaint sort of way but could have been improved in so many ways. 

The Brain (1988)
Time: 94 minutes
Starring: Jim Bresnahan, Cynthia Preston, David Gale
Director: Ed Hunt                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

 

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