User reviews

Bill Pullman plays a brilliant surgeon who decides to perform an operation on a psychotic mathematician.He tries to unlock corporate secrets hidden in his patient brain.As the result Pullman is plagued by a series of bizarre dreams and nightmares."Brain Dead" by Adam Simon is often confused with Peter Jackson's insanely gory horror comedy "Braindead".The script is clever and sophisticated,the atmosphere is quite chilling and the acting is solid.The film has pretty warped sense of humour,unfortunately the action is slow and there is no gore.A must-see for fans of "Twilight Zone","Blue Sunshine" or "Strange Behavior".7 homicidal mathematicians out of 10.

Dr. Rex Martin (Bill Pullman) is a leading neurosurgeon specializing in the cerebral malfunctions that cause mental illnesses, whose expertise is called up by an old school chum, Jim Reston (Bill Paxton), who is now part of the mega-corporation Eunice.

If you happen to be one of those people who cannot tell Pullman and Paxton apart, this might not be the film for you... they spend a fair amount of time on screen together. If you happen to be a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, this might be the film for you. While the writer is known for his work with "The Twilight Zone", there are at least two Lovecraft references in this story. Can you catch them?

I was already intrigued from the beginning with the wall of brains in jars and the face that could be remote-controlled. But I was in hook, line and sinker when Jack Halsey (Bud Cort) showed up -- he is the epitome of insane genius. The phrases, the mannerisms... even his appearance. Thank you, casting director. You aced a hole in one. The homeless guy is a nice touch, too.

Bonus: Kyle Gass of Tenacious D appears as an anesthesiologist.

This is a very underrated movie that somewhat reminds you of Jacob's Ladder. The movie starts out with Bill Pullman as a doctor who studies brains and has a lab full of brains in glass bottles. Pullman is friends with Bill Paxton and Paxton is in some trouble with the corporation he works with and tries to get Pullman to help him. Pullman agrees and and he has to try and find out if a brilliant doctor, played by Bud Cort, who went and killed his family is actually insane or not. Pullman says he his insane and Paxton isn't too happy about it because Cort has some top secret information in his head and Paxton doesn't want it to ever get out. Pullman operates on him and then and the next thing Pullman knows he is in a mental ward and his entire reality starts to mess with him and he can't tell what is real and what is not. It's a great movie that should be more well known.

Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton star in this ambitious sci-fi thriller from director Adam Simon ("Carnosaur") and the late, great writer Charles Beaumont (known for his work on 'The Twilight Zone' and Roger Corman films). Pullman stars as Rex Martin, a brilliant young scientist who becomes involved in a plan to pry vital information from the mind of Jack Halsey (Bud Cort), an equally brilliant mathematician. Also worked into the plot is the idea of erasing unpleasant memories from peoples' brains, or otherwise changing their personalities.

It's all quite an intriguing set-up by Beaumont, although the film doesn't really reach its full potential due to ultimately telling a rather routine story. And it's a story that falls back on the time-honoured theme of forcing the lead character and audience to figure out what is fantasy and what is reality. As this tale progresses, Rex suffers from visions and hallucinations that may well be the product of a deteriorating mind. Eventually, it resolves itself in a way that isn't exactly unpredictable.

Still, the ride taken here is interesting. "Brain Dead" is certainly a notch above most product created by Concorde, the company formed by Corman after his departure from New World. It's played as well as it can be played by a top cast, with Pullman and Paxton in fine form. (One of the questions posed is whether or not Paxton, as Pullmans' friend, is a smarmy, self-serving jerk just out for himself.) George Kennedy does not get to do much as a corporation head, but sexy Patricia Charbonneau is easy to watch as Pullmans' wife, and character actor Nicholas Pryor has a field day in a trio of inter-related roles. Other familiar faces include Lee Arenberg, Willie Garson, Brent Hinkley, and Kyle Gass. Paxtons' father John has a bit as a board member. But it's Cort, a longtime specialist in quirky and offbeat parts, who tends to steal the show much of the time.

"Brain Dead" is, overall, adequately filmed, and it shows its audience a pretty good time. Some gore here and there, decent makeup effects (especially the "experimental face"), and a fine score by Peter Rotter help to keep it watchable.

Produced by Cormans' wife Julie.

Seven out of 10.

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.

Brain Dead is many things, including a mess, but with an ambitious story which is enough to hide the idiocy (mostly), it becomes a fairly enjoyable mess.

Dr. Rex Martin is a renowned brain surgeon who is approached one day by a representative of the Eunice corporation. One of the corporation's best mathematicians has gone Brain Dead, but there are still some numerical data locked in the back of his mind which Eunice wants. Dr. Martin is asked to operate, but as he manages to tap into the patient's mind, he triggers something in his own. He starts behaving strangely. What follows is a seemingly endless series of dreams and illusions that follows the old rhetorical 'what is fantasy and what is reality' question.

As messy as Brain Dead is, it's not dull. The question is whether you enjoy being confused. Making do with a fragmented budget, first time director Adam Simon has constructed the film with a kind of post-modern sci-fi approach. There are times when it resembles some of David Cronenberg's early work, which shows that the film has intellectual potential, but I would'nt call Brain Dead an intelligent film. Then again, next to Carnosaur (simon's proceeding feature) This is actually pretty brilliant.

If I am interpreting correctly, it looks as if Brain Dead is trying to say that the brain is not merely a vital organ, it is a living thing. Whether I am right or not, means nothing. You can interpret this film any way you want.

(There are Spoilers) You begin to realize some 15 to 20 minutes into the movie "Brain Dead" that the film must have been badly edited and put together out of sequence. Things happen in the movie that give you the impression that they should have happened before rather then after the event your watching at the time.

For example when Dr. Martin, Paul Pullman, meets Vance, George Kennedy, the CEO of the Eunice Corp.it's obvious that Vance has never met Martin before but just some 10 minutes earlier in the film we see both Vance and Dr. Martin together at a board meeting at the Eunice Building. Scenes like the out of place Vance and Dr. Martin meeting are repeated all throughout the film giving it a dream-like quality but without a cohesive plot confusing the audience. like Dr. Martin who ends up like the title of the movie says "Brain Dead", if not all together deceased, if what's happening on the screen is real and not a dream or nightmare on Dr. Martin's part.

Being a top brain surgeon who loves his job, and his hundreds of jars of former patient's brains, Dr. Martin is called on by his friend Eunice executive Jim Reston, Bill Paxton, to go to the Lakeside Mental Facility. Martin's to talk to a former Eunice Corp. book-keeper as well as scientist Dr. Halsey, Bud Curt. Martin's meeting with Dr. Halsey is to get a secret formula, or numbers, that's vital to Eunice's future plans and operations. As Dr. Martin works on Dr. Halsey, getting friendly with him,to get the secret numbers hidden deep in his mind things start to go haywire for Dr. Martin with his laboratory. All the brains in Matian's lab were confiscated because the government cut his grants to operate it. Dr. Martin himself not only on the verge of losing his own mind by ending up as part of a dream that originates straight out of Dr. Halsey's sub-conscious.

The movie "Brain Dead" starts to get even weirder with suggestions that Dr. Martin isn't even real but a figment, or alter-ego, of Dr. Halsey's imagination. We begin to see Dr. Martin being totally ignored, as if he were invisible, by everyone he comes in contact with even his wife Dana, Patrica Charbonneau. Dana's having an affair with Marta in's best friend Reston as he just stands there unable to do or say anything. There's also a scene that immediately follows where Dr. Martin falls into a body of water that has Dr. Halesy swimming and drowning in it,or being eaten by a shark, that's supposed to be the inside of Dr. Halsey's brain!

The movie keeps getting stranger as it reaches it's final conclusion with Dr. Martin, or Dr. Halsey, being unsuccessfully lobotomized where he ends up dead on the operating table without giving the secret formula that Vance and the Eunice executives and shareholders so desperately wanted; as if the film-makers forgot what the original story of "Brain Dead" was supposed to be all about.

Nothing made sense in the film and even as a mind-blowing cult movie with a surprise ending, that at least ties a number of loose ends in the film together, it failed miserably. "Brain Dead" leaves you totally confused to what you were watching for the last 85 minutes and wishing that you forget what you saw as soon as possible.

The first act is a little slow, and once the plot does pick up it quickly becomes so deliberately scattered that the disparity is glaring. Even at that, we can readily make guesses as to where the plot is going - yet it's to the credit of screenwriter Charles Beaumont, and in turn filmmaker Adam Simon, that where exactly it will all end up remains shrouded in mystery. Why, I rather wonder if Beaumont hadn't fashioned his screenplay so that even he didn't know what the ending was going to be until he found it; alternatively, multiple endings could have been written. That is the tenor of psychological thrillers generally, yes, but this one seems particularly adept at shifting between broken realities and making one seem just as plausible as the next. This makes it all the more surprising, perhaps, that it was accordingly originally written for Roger Corman in the 60s, only to be rediscovered and updated; one can easily imagine how this might have looked if it had been produced 20-30 years earlier.

There's nothing specifically revelatory about 'Brain dead,' yet I'm pleased with just how good it is. It has no illusions about being something it's not; it's evident the budget was comparatively modest, and production values hover somewhere in the unremarkable middle ground. Yet the sets and filming locations are swell nonetheless, plus those stunts, effects, and props that are employed. There are some noteworthy names appearing here, given to some measure of recognition even in 1990, and in the very least Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman were no small get. Pullman is a solid lead, for that matter, ably navigating the spaces between all that is required of him at various points. Meanwhile, strong scene writing is extra important when the material deals with fractured perspectives, and the screenplay serves up a rich cornucopia of ideas while fashioning a compelling, satisfying narrative. I'm not saying that the title doesn't still leave a bit to be desired, especially as some themes and ideas rise and recede in accordance with the hops of the story, but overall the result is admirable.

Some spicier flavors of science fiction and horror likewise come and go throughout as this mystery thriller advances, though by and large the tone is such that, again, we can handily envisage it in Roger Corman's hands twenty or so years before. One way or another, the feature ably keeps us watching for the ultimate reveal, and the ride along the way is a fun one. Simon's direction is splendid in shaping the whole, and I think editor Carol Oblath deserves distinct credit for helping to shape the jumble into its final form. At length there's nothing so singular and grabbing about this as to demand viewership, but if one happens to come across it it's a good time, and worth checking out. It's neither as striking or as complex as some similar pictures, but 'Brain dead' stands quite sturdily on its own feet, and if you do have the opportunity to watch then I think it's worth checking out.

Mind bending horror Brain Dead (not to be confused with the 1992 Peter Jackson film of the same name) is one of those films where it's hard to determine what is real and what is imaginary. It features dreams within dreams (and maybe even dreams within dreams within dreams), with a central character who becomes increasingly unsure about his own identity. Based on a story by Twilight Zone scribe Charles Beaumont, the film becomes more and more labyrinthine, leaving the viewer in a state of bewilderment, waiting for a coherent conclusion that never comes.

Starring the two Bills Ps, Paxton and Pullman (which might be confusion enough for some viewers), the film sees neurosurgeon Rex Martin (Pullman) approached by associate Jim Reston (Paxton), who asks Rex if he can perform surgery on an old employee, mathematician Jack Halsey (Bud Cort), who has some vital information locked in his brain, but who is now residing in an asylum, having slaughtered his own family. What follows is a hallucinatory trip of a movie that delivers plenty of weirdness, all of which proves moderately entertaining, but would have been a whole lot more satisfying if director Adam Simon had managed to wrap up matters in a more comprehensible manner.

4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

Brain Dead...where do I begin? One could easily go crazy thinking about this movie. Brain Dead was written by the late Charles Beaumont (the man responsible for some of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes) and was directed by Adam Simon (The American Nightmare). It's basically one long chaotic nightmare and, at the same time, one of my favorite films. It's a real head trip where one is constantly questioning the sanity of the main characters. Is Bill Pullman crazy, is Bill Paxton out to get Bill Pullman, should the two Bills be taken seriously? In this movie, yes. The Bills are excellent and so is the rest of the cast. This is the film that really made me take notice of Bud Cort. He's hilarious as Halsey. If you're up for some serious insanity, give Brain Dead a spin. I give this movie a 10 on the psychological mind bender scale. It ranks up there with Cronenberg's Videodrome.

Note for genre buffs: Miskatonic University is mentioned by Dr. Martin in the film. That is the same school Dr. West attends in Re-Animator and is mentioned in many films based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

As Keanu would say "woah"... So during pandemic I've been watching a LOT (like many people I'm sure) and I've watched everything on Netflix im done with "modern tv" I'm now onto Tubi and especially the genre of 70s/80s/90s horror/adventure/thriller. It just suits my 420 style (know what I mean?) to a) be able to watch actual plot driven movies over the effects driven drivel of today, and b) to be able to have a laugh at some old classics I've never seen.

So if this sounds like you and you're just chilling at home with time to kill and poppa got a brand new bag I highly (!) recommend this movie.

I suppose the best word to describe this unusual film would be "weird".

'Brain Dead' is a good depiction of sanity vs insanity, but ultimately too weird. I guess not all is what it seems and one should read between the lines here. This is a complex and confusing story that will benefit from more than one viewing, but I'm not sure I want to sit through it again.

I rest my case on this one. It was just weird.

Would I watch it again? No.

It was only while browsing the Tubi selection that I found this little gem: a sci-fi horror thriller, that star two actors who are often confused as each other by the average Cinephiliac wanna-be.

This movie has the feel of a Cronenberg flick (without most of the flagrant body horror special effects) mixed with the likes of "The Lawnmower Man," "Altered States," and "Re-Animator."

It has a conspiracy-driven plot, riddled with paranoia and a disconnect from reality. The common theme here is "shared mental disorder." You can chalk this up as a stimulating "mind-melder" or a simple "popcorn flick." Either way, I'm a mere purple people. Er, person pimple.

You know what I mean.

Good movie, worth a view, especially as a time waster.

Bill Pullman plays Dr. Rex Martin who is a neurosurgeon who works on brains. His old roommate and buddy Jim Reston (Bill Paxton) shows up to let Dr. Martin know that a mathematician Jack Halsey (Bud Cort) who once worked for the company he is employed by Eunice has gone bananas and is being held at a mental institution. Reston is wanting Dr. Martin to work on his brain. That is just the start of it. There are some really cool twists that start near the middle of the movie. It was at this point I wasn't sure if I was really enjoying the movie or not. The twists come off quite nicely, made me enjoy the movie much more and plays out like an extended version of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Which is kind of interesting because original screenwriter Charles Beaumont wrote for that TV show. Director Adam Simon got ahold of the script and rewrote it for modern times (or 1990 anyways). Also starring George Kennedy.

This sci-fi/horror film may in fact not be for everyone, but I enjoyed the twists and certainly know that it will be one I will watch again to piece some things together hopefully.

Bill Pullman is happily married to Patricia Charbonneau, and doing research in coordination with Bill Paxton. They are mapping the bodily functions on the brain, mostly by opening the skulls of patients and inserting probes. Their employer is a corporation run by George Kennedy. They look forward to a future in which mental illness can be cured in a simple, mechanical manner; in fact, there's an encounter in which they spitball a string of stations that do this sort of work. At that point, Pullman goes mad. Or perhaps, he has become a subject of the experiments rather than an experimenter.

It's a story by Charles Beaumont that had been sitting in Roger Corman's files for a quarter of a century before it was pulled out, and given to writer-director Adam Simon for some updating. The result is a movie that is gruesome and occasionally disgusting. It also has a sense of humor. That's something that's apparent in Beaumont's short stories, but rarely gets carried over into movies based on his writing.

Even worse than the worst David Lynch "confusathon", "Brain Dead" makes no sense whatsoever. Shamefully wasted talent (Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton), bounce around like they are in a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon on acid. There is negligible character development. It simply starts climbing the "strange scale", until climaxing in total chaos. Do not get sucked into this because of the above fine actors. They are given nothing to work with, and you will be wondering what's going on throughout the entire, unbearable 85 minutes. I highly recommend avoiding "Brain Dead" at all costs, unless you are into scattering your brain with what amounts to total nonsense. - MERK

Everyone knows you can't judge a book by its cover, but Adam Simon's "Brain Dead" (not to be confused with the superior Peter Jackson comedy) isn't a book so I figured I'd be fine. However, it isn't nearly the Z-grade extravaganza I had expected it to be, though it has some elements that could steer it in that direction. You have your cheap sets, you have your silly-looking props, you have your sound that appears recorded through a tin can and you most definitely have your hammy horror acting that brings images of dopey campfire kids with flashlights to mind. What you don't have however is a decent story, it's really just one uninspired hallucination after the other. The movie never really seems to go somewhere, it seems satisfied with playing out like a third rate "Eraserhead". Nothing wrong with a third rate "Eraserhead" of course, but there are so many more entertaining ways to completely waste your evening. What is real and what is fake in this movie? The makers don't care, neither should you. The early 90s brought us many B-movie gems, this just isn't one of them.

Brain Dead is a very hard movie to describe because of its constant twists and turns. This movie truly turns you in circles and can be very confusing upon first viewing. Still, this is a really good film with good acting from Pill Pullman and Bill Paxton. The whole concept of the film is based on whether this is a dream or reality and the rest is left to the viewer. The ending is rather sudden but very appropriate and dramatic. This is definitely the type of film you sit through the credits at the end in bewilderment. Truly a surprise, especially considering the fact that this is a Concord produced film and most of their movies are mediocre at best. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is into the David Lynch style of film-making. This is definitely a true mind-bender. 9/10 stars

5.5 stars of 10. This film has turned into a bit of a Cult Classic through the years. The story is good, but many of the individual lines are not, and the directing is not good.

However, Bill Pullman picks up momentum about halfway through the film & ends up putting in a good performance with his subtle intricacies that we now know about as his career unfolded, and still is unfolding. We have to remember, this was only the 2nd good movie that Pullman starred in as 2 years earlier he starred in 'The Serpent And The Rainbow'. So this was very early in Pullman's career. Pullman got a late start to his movie career as he was in his mid-30s when he starred in each of these films. Pullman star's alongside Bill Paxton & Bud Cort in this movie & Cort puts on an extremely good performance in the film. Cort puts on a controlled dynamic performance that certainly works.

We lost Paxton at a very young age, a talented Actor & Director. He plays his role strangely but it works okay. While his performance is competent, it's not his best work & not one of his better roles as we learned what he could do in films that came after during his great career.

All together, this is a fairly good film that is lifted by Pullman, Cort & the story.

The cover of Brain Dead sort of seems to advertise itself as more of a straight horror movie, but Brain Dead is more of a psychological horror movie. The movie becomes purposefully confusing in the second and third acts, which directly mirrors how the main character is feeling and experiencing reality as well.

Its VERY late 80s and some of the writing is bad to the point that it is kind of funny. Big fans of this era of horror movie will like it, but I'm not really sure who else will.