Brain Damage

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Brain Damage

R

1988

1h 34m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

A boy (Rick Herbst) grows addicted to psychedelic jolts from an eel-like brain-eating monster called Elmer.

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Walter Goodman

New York Times

Written and directed by Frank Henenlotter, this oozer specializes in unspecial effects and unspeakable acting.

May 21, 2003

Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

An ooey gooey exploitation film injected with enough dark humor to keep things entertaining amidst the deathly serious drug addiction allegory.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 27, 2025

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

An absolutely delightful (and exceedingly gay!) exploitation film about a boy, the girl who won't abandon him, and the parasite that wants to suck him dry. For a first foray into Frank Henenlotter's oeuvre, this one has the juice.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 22, 2025

Full Review

Josh Goller

Spectrum Culture

The amusing stop-motion creature animation and practical gore effects imbue Brain Damage with an icky quaintness that makes it a compelling midnight movie.

Jul 15, 2022

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Brain Damage is rather joyfully tasteless.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Sep 4, 2020

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Gruesomeness finds its way into this drug-fueled trip, utilizing puppetry, stop-motion animation, and buckets of blood as the wrinkled gastropod feasts on brains.

Rated: 3/10

Aug 31, 2020

Full Review

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Robson C

Brian, um dia, acorda e descobre que um parasita chamado Aylmer o está infectando. Aylmer injeta uma substância em Brian que o deixa eufórico e tendo alucinações. Por outro lado, Brian tem que ajudar o parasita a encontrar sua fonte de alimentos: cérebros humanos. Frank Henenlotter é um dos grandes diretores destes filmes B baratos. S sua imaginação já nos deu o irmão siamês de Basket Case (que acabou virando uma franquia) e a prostituta frankenstein de Frankenhooker. Aqui é claro que a metáfora é sobre o consumo de drogas, mas o diretor, mesmo mostrando algumas cenas de abstinência dos hospedeiros de Aylmer, não está querendo conscientizar as pessoas sobre o perigo delas, mas serve mais para encaixar no conceito de horror do diretor. Produção barata, o parasita Aylmer é um fantoche que chega a ser risível, mas Henelotter sabe como usá-lo para causar o terror necessário. Os efeitos visuais são extremamente baratos. O diretor caminha sempre no limite entre o terror e a galhofa em todos os seus filmes e aqui não é diferente. Para os fãs da visão excêntrica deste diretor.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/26/25

Full Review

Nick O

Frank Henenlotter's long awaited follow up to Basket Case and even with such big shoes to fill, it was worth the wait! Horror legend John Zacherle as the silver tongued, brain-suckin’ slug monster in this psychedelic exercise in excessive weirdness.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/28/25

Full Review

Rich C

Loved this film! Worth the watch!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/26/25

Full Review

Farah R

This has got to be a joke. How can this movie be anything but rotten on the tomato meter? It’s absolute nonsense coupled with deranged effects. I got brain damage from watching it.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/30/25

Full Review

Zack D

One of the wildest movies I've seen. A fair amount of camp and some of the acting leaves a bit to be desired, but you haven't seen another movie like this.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/25

Full Review

Teddy B

Frank Henenlotter makes this interesting plot watchable with just the right amount of camp, overacting, and bad taste. 'Brain Damage' is definitely a good watch amongst the fodder of 80's brain rot horror movies.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/23/24

Full Review

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Frank Henenlotter

Director

Rick Herbst

Brian

Gordon MacDonald

Mike

Jennifer Lowry

Barbara

Theo Barnes

Morris

Lucille Saint-Peter

Martha

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Synopsis

A boy (Rick Herbst) grows addicted to psychedelic jolts from an eel-like brain-eating monster called Elmer.

Director: Frank Henenlotter
Producer: Edgar Ievins
Screenwriter: Frank Henenlotter
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 25, 2019
Runtime: 1h 34m

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