This week back in 1988, Brain Damage was released.
I bought this on Blu-ray some time ago as it looked like the kind of 80s film I'd like, so I was excited to watch this for the first time!
I didn't recognise anyone in this, but our main character was rather dishy. Rick Hearst played Brian, and he did really well considering this was his first acting role.
I really wondered what was happening at the start. It was all very ominous. We had something kept in the bath tub being fed brains. So obviously, I loved it already!
This film is very trippy. Someone was definitely taking something when they wrote this one! Let me explain why. We are introduced to a phallic shaped parasite with a brain that looks like he's made of plastercine, talks in a soft, calm voice and he has a name! Alymer. He is voiced by John Zacherle, and Aylmer is the best thing about this film! He made me laugh out loud!
The stop motion and mechanical puppetry used is what I love about these movies, though it all looks a little dated now. I love the effort that went into these films before CGI was around. The effects were fun and there were plenty of blood and gore with a partcularly gross ear scene!
Alymer injects a fluid that puts Brian in a euphoric state, which seems to become addictive. But he needs to feed on brains. It very much reminded me of another film I have watched, but I can't remember the title!
There were some flashing scenes when Brian was 'high' that did get annoying. There were also a few very funny scenes, like the sex worker scene and basically anytime Aylmer spoke. However, overall the story struggled to keep my attention. This had the same director as Basket Case (Frank Henenlotter), which was also wacky, but didn't quite hit the mark for me. If you're a fan of 80s movies though, it's certainly one you have to watch at least once.