One morning, a young man wakes to find that a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but demands h... Read allOne morning, a young man wakes to find that a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but demands human victims in return.One morning, a young man wakes to find that a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but demands human victims in return.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Rick Hearst
- Brian
- (as Rick Herbst)
Joseph Gonzalez
- Guy in Shower
- (as Joe Gonzales)
Ari M. Roussimoff
- Biker
- (as Ari Roussimoff)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring the fellatio scene, the crew walked out on the production refusing to take part. A similar incident happened during the shooting of Basket Case (1982).
- GoofsWhen Brian wakes up bloody, the blood on his left hand disappears and reappears between shots.
- Crazy creditsIn the end titles, listed under "Historical Research" is BABE WOZENTHAL. According Frank Henenlotter on the DVD's commentary, this was a joke about Jerry Lewis in "The Errand Boy."
- Alternate versionsParamount video release deletes the gory nightclub fellatio and ear-pulling scenes to avoid an 'X' rating.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Brain Damage (2010)
- SoundtracksCorruption
by J. Calder, A. Boston, J.E. Garnett, B. Elsey, & B. Burton
Performed by The Swimming Pool Q's
Courtesy of Irving Music, Inc.
Featured review
My review was written in April 1988 after a screening at Cine 42 on Manhattan's 42nd St.
"Brain Damage" is an overly ambitious but nonetheless rewarding low-budget horror film using the monster genre as a timely metaphor for drug addiction and its ills.
Unfortunately, pic has been poorly promoted and instead of a careful launch it preemed at the sleziest theater on 42nd Street in Manhattan.
Filmmaker Frank Henenlotter showed promise with his 1982 pic (shot in 16 mm) "Basket Case", with many of his collaborators encoroing on this 35mm followup, which includes a funny camro (with basket) byh the first pic's lead Kevin Van Hentenryck.
Rick Herbst stars as Brian, a youngster who's bitten by Elmer the Parasite (film's working title), a centuries-old eel-like monstr being kept alive on animal brains by goofball neighbors Theo Barnes and Lucille Saint-Peter. As Brian quickly learns, Elmer gives his host a periodic jolt of "juice", blue fluid injectged into the brain which provides a psychedelic high.
Brian becomes addicted to this pleasure and carrying Elmer around under his shirt gives the monster access to human victims, whose brains Elmer dines upon. Pic climaxes when Elve4r goes after the heroine, Brian's pal Barbara (Jennifer Lowry).
At every step, Henenlotter makes clear the analogy between Brian's plight and drug addiction, including going cold turkey and radical behavior changes as a tipoff to family (Brian's brother Mike, played by Gordon MacDonald) and friends, etc. Horror format is useful in this regard, heavily leavened by outbreaks of black humor.
Elmer, created by Gabe Bartalos and David Kindlon, is an admirable achievementg, a mobile puppet-like monstr that pays homage to films ranging from "Fiend Withoutg a Face" to "The TIngle". With a wisecracking voice (uncredited, but sounding like tv horror movie host Zacherly) and cute eytes, Elmer is funny as well as scary in context.
Acting is over-the-top and film could have benefited from the casting of name talent in order to cross over to mainstream audiences with its timely thematics. As it is, Henenlotter, cinematograher Bruce Torbe and their team have maintained a harsh, cheap, underground look that fis the picture's cult ambitions. Overuse of blue filters is one drawback, however. Keyboards musical score by Gus Russo and Clutch Reiser is extremely effective.
"Brain Damage" is an overly ambitious but nonetheless rewarding low-budget horror film using the monster genre as a timely metaphor for drug addiction and its ills.
Unfortunately, pic has been poorly promoted and instead of a careful launch it preemed at the sleziest theater on 42nd Street in Manhattan.
Filmmaker Frank Henenlotter showed promise with his 1982 pic (shot in 16 mm) "Basket Case", with many of his collaborators encoroing on this 35mm followup, which includes a funny camro (with basket) byh the first pic's lead Kevin Van Hentenryck.
Rick Herbst stars as Brian, a youngster who's bitten by Elmer the Parasite (film's working title), a centuries-old eel-like monstr being kept alive on animal brains by goofball neighbors Theo Barnes and Lucille Saint-Peter. As Brian quickly learns, Elmer gives his host a periodic jolt of "juice", blue fluid injectged into the brain which provides a psychedelic high.
Brian becomes addicted to this pleasure and carrying Elmer around under his shirt gives the monster access to human victims, whose brains Elmer dines upon. Pic climaxes when Elve4r goes after the heroine, Brian's pal Barbara (Jennifer Lowry).
At every step, Henenlotter makes clear the analogy between Brian's plight and drug addiction, including going cold turkey and radical behavior changes as a tipoff to family (Brian's brother Mike, played by Gordon MacDonald) and friends, etc. Horror format is useful in this regard, heavily leavened by outbreaks of black humor.
Elmer, created by Gabe Bartalos and David Kindlon, is an admirable achievementg, a mobile puppet-like monstr that pays homage to films ranging from "Fiend Withoutg a Face" to "The TIngle". With a wisecracking voice (uncredited, but sounding like tv horror movie host Zacherly) and cute eytes, Elmer is funny as well as scary in context.
Acting is over-the-top and film could have benefited from the casting of name talent in order to cross over to mainstream audiences with its timely thematics. As it is, Henenlotter, cinematograher Bruce Torbe and their team have maintained a harsh, cheap, underground look that fis the picture's cult ambitions. Overuse of blue filters is one drawback, however. Keyboards musical score by Gus Russo and Clutch Reiser is extremely effective.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $900,000 (estimated)
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