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Brain Damage

Play trailer Poster for Brain Damage R Released Apr 22, 1988 1h 34m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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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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Brain Damage

Critics Reviews

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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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 Read all reviews
Brain Damage

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Cast & Crew

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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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Brain Damage

Brain Damage (1988) Brain Damage (1988) View more photos

Movie Info

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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