Brain Dead (1990)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Adam Simon

Writers:

Charles Beaumont (screenplay)
Charles Beaumont (story)

Release Date:

19 January 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

From the writer of the original "Twilight Zone" comes the most terrifying film of the decade.

Plot:

A psychological thriller from the writer of the original "Twilight Zone!" In a showdown of man vs. machine...

Plot Keywords:

Cult Favorite | Psychotronic | Independent Film

Cast

Bill Pullman	...	Dr. Rex Martin
Bill Paxton	...	Jim Reston
Nicholas Pryor	...	Man in Bloody White Suit / Ramsen / Ed Conklin
Patricia Charbonneau	...	Dana Martin
George Kennedy	...	Vance
Brian Brophy	...	Ellis
David Sinaiko	...	Berkovitch
Lee Arenberg
Andy Wood	...	Brain Surgeon
Maud Winchester	...	Crazy Anna
Lisa Moncure	...	Board Member
Jon Kellam	...	Board Member
Willie Garson	...	Board Member
John Paxton	...	Board Member
David Sklare	...	Board Member

Also Known As:

Paranoia (USA)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | France:-16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

New Horizons

Trivia:

Dr Martin mentions that he went to "Miskatonic University", the college where Re-Animator (1985) took place. Miskatonic University is supposedly located in Arkham, MA, a fictional town created by H.P. Lovecraft.

Quotes:

Jim Reston: [Reston proposes a chain of brain surgery boutiques with an unique advertising campaign] Had a bad childhood? We can fix it!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Carnosaur (1993)

That's the sound of your brain…CRACKING!

Odd little movie, this "Brain Dead"…but nonetheless interesting and worth a look in case you can appreciate imaginative low-budget movies. This ultra-cheap looking gem (produced by who else than the Roger Corman clan) might look like one of those numerous and repetitive dream/reality intrusion thrillers that were made in the late 80's/early 90's, but that's only until you discover that the guy who wrote this film actually is Charles Beaumont, who died in 1967! So, this "Brain Dead" really is a trend-setter, when you come to think of it! This film teams Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman who're both quite famous and respectable actors with many B-horror movies on their repertoires. Both men work in some sort of medical research center; Pullman as the brilliant but confused Dr. Martin and Paxton as the shifty board member Reston. The latter convinces Dr. Martin to perform brain surgery upon their former colleague Dr. Halsey, who went paranoid and butchered his family. Shortly after the operation, however, Dr. Martin himself begins to experience Halsey's hallucinations. Pretty soon it becomes impossible to tell the difference between dreams and reality and Dr. Martin can't trust his own pair of eyes anymore. The downfall of paranoia and despair Pullman's character goes through is atmospherically illustrated with surreal landscapes (stormy clouds) and nightmarish visions (the doctor with his bloody white coat!). Too bad the very last sequences are overly misleading and you almost unwillingly stop to care. It feels like co-writer and director Adam Simon didn't really know how to end his film and he inappropriately inserts poetry-elements and fake mystery. A lame climax to an overall decent movie.