Brain Damage (1988)

Director:

Frank Henenlotter

Writer:

Frank Henenlotter (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 1988 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

It's A Headache From Hell!

Plot:

One morning a young man wakes to find a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but in return demands human victims.

Plot Keywords:

Brain | New York City | Apartment | Restaurant | Drug Trip

Cast

Rick Hearst	...	Brian
Gordon MacDonald	...	Mike
Jennifer Lowry	...	Barbara
Theo Barnes	...	Morris
Lucille Saint-Peter	...	Martha
Vicki Darnell	...	Blonde in Hell
Joseph Gonzalez	...	Guy in shower
Bradlee Rhodes	...	Night watchman
Michael Bishop	...	Toilet victim
Beverly Bonner	...	Neighbor
Ari M. Roussimoff	...	Biker
Kevin Van Hentenryck	...	Man with basket
Michael Rubenstein	...	Bum in alley
Angel Figueroa	...	Junkie
John Reichert	...	Policeman
Don Henenlotter	...	Policeman
Kenneth Packard	...	Subway rider
Artemis Pizarro	...	Subway rider
Slam Wedgehouse	...	Mohawked punk
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daniel Frye	...	Zoned out Clubgoer (uncredited)
John Zacherle	...	Aylmer (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Henenlotter

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frank Henenlotter		writer

Produced by
Andre Blay	....	executive producer
Al Eicher	....	executive producer
Edgar Ievins	....	producer
Ray Sundlin	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Clutch Reiser
Gus Russo

Cinematography by
Bruce Torbet

Film Editing by
Frank Henenlotter
James Y. Kwei

Art Direction by
Ivy Rosovsky

Makeup Department
Gabriel Bartalos	....	makeup effects
Dan Frye	....	makeup artist
Richard Mayone	....	makeup effects crew
James McLoughlin	....	makeup effects crew
Nick Santeramo	....	makeup effects crew

Production Management
Ed Walloga	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Greg Lamberson	....	first assistant director

Visual Effects by
Al Magliochetti	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Boyle	....	second grip (as Rick Boyle)
Peter Clark	....	camera operator
J. Michael Muro	....	Steadicam operator (as James Muro)
Karen L. Ogle	....	still photographer
Mike Spera	....	camera rental

Editorial Department
Jim Finn	....	negative cutter
Briton J. Petrucelly	....	assistant editor
Michael Tobias	....	dailies editor
David Block	....	colorist (uncredited)

Other crew
Gabriel Bartalos	....	creator: "Elmer"
David Kindlon	....	creator: "Elmer"

Production Companies

• Palisades Partners

Distributors

• Palisades Entertainment Group (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Scotia-Cannon (1988) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Synapse Films (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Mackinac Media (2004) (worldwide) (all media)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (1988) (France) (theatrical)
• CNR Film & Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Norstar Home Video Inc. (1988) (Canada) (video)
• Panarecord (Italy) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Brain Damage (La maledizione di Elmer)" - Italy (imdb display title)
"Egefaliki vlavi" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Ekrixi egefalou" - Greece (video title)
"Elmer" - West Germany
"Elmer le remue-méninges" - France
"Il succhiacervelli" - Italy (poster title)
"Pgua mohin" - Israel (Hebrew title) (imdb display title)
"Zniszczenie mózgu" - Poland

Runtime:

84 min | USA:86 min (uncut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | New Zealand:R18 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Australia:R | France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated | Iceland:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Palisades Partners

Trivia:

On the subway, Brian sees a man carrying a big basket with a lock on it. The character is from Frank Henenlotter's previous film, Basket Case (1982).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brian wakes up bloody, the blood on his left hand disappears and reappears between shots.

Quotes:

Aylmer:You're a wreck, Brian. You've got to relax. Why don't you put me on your neck and 'calm down?'
Brian:No way! It's not gonna happen again!
Aylmer:What isn't?
Brian:Killing people!
Aylmer:Oh.
[laughs]
Aylmer:I thought you meant getting high!
Brian:We can't keep killing people every time you're hungry!
Aylmer:Oh yes we can. We'll do anything I want us to do. You're mine now, Brian. I *own* you...

Movie Connections:

References The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Soundtrack:

Elmer's Tune

Elmer the Aylmer

From the director of BASKET CASE comes his second feature, and this one's his best. And we also get a Collector's Edition DVD from Synapse with a couple of extra goodies.

There's a parasite loose in an apartment building named 'Elmer' who infects a guy named Brian (Rick Herbst) and addicts him to his blue 'juice'. In order to get more juice, Brian has to bring Elmer some more brains to eat. Elmer even smiles and sings in the bathroom sink. What a cute little turd. (laughs) He's so detestably obnoxious that I can't help but like the little b***ard.

It's kinda neat that when Brian brings Elmer out, he attacks people by latching onto their foreheads and burrowing into his victims skulls and eating out their brains with what looks like a long straw. Most of the jerks Elmer does this to, deserve it anyway.

This collector's edition DVD restores the long censored fellatio scene where Elmer pops out of Brian's pants and goes down the prostitute's mouth. And when Elmer's done eating, big hunks of gray matter come popping out of the hooker's mouth. It's a riot!

And there's also the scene where Brian hallucinates during his withdrawal from Elmer's blue 'juice' and imagines pulling a string of tissue out his ear until his ear pops out and the side of his head gushes blood. Cool gore scene.

The Synapse DVD uses an excellent wide-screen print with a great 80s synth soundtrack that includes the song, "Corruption" by The Swimming Pool Qs. Not at all like the crummy, muddy-looking censored VHS tape from a few years back. The only drawback is that there aren't many extras beyond a very interesting separate audio track commentary by director Henenlotter, and a movie trailer for the film.

It's an all out classic in my book. Watch it! Get it!

8 out of 10