Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

phanthinga I'm so glad that i found Frank Henenlotter cause his movie has been entertain me non-stop for the past few days.Brain Damage is a horror movie gem in the late 80s that i encourage many people see it cause it not just another cheesy over the top horror movie but also a powerful social commentary about drug abuse.After a tired day the main character Brian get infected by a worm like creature called Aylmer.With the voice smooth like silk it drug Brian with some blue juice produce by itself and start eating brain of people around him.The plot is as crazy as it can get when it featuring many trippy images,the weirdest oral sex scene ever and a nice cameo with Bradley while holding his brother Belial from Basket Case.It suck when the director doesn't get the attention he deserves but fan like me will never forget

TheMarwood The first 10 minutes of Brain Damage are awful and hard to watch, as an elderly couple are trashing their apartment looking for Alymer and then we get an overlong hallucination from our main character Brian. Then we are introduced to the Zacherle voiced parasitic Alymer, with a show stopping "hi" and the film just goes bonkers and never stops. There's nothing quite like Brain Damage, a tale of a young man who gets addicted to the intoxicant that a parasitic creature injects into his brain and while running about hallucinating, Alymer feeds on unsuspecting victims brains. It's hilariously gory and thanks to the uncut version finally on the market, the brain removing fellatio sequence is intact in its full ridiculous glory. Henenlotter was firing on all cylinders while making this classic B masterpiece.

gavin6942 One morning a young man (Rick Hearst) 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.After "Basket Case", Frank Henenlotter wanted to do a project called "Insect City", but that fell through due to funding and other issues... so he instead went for a twist on 1950s science fiction. He posited the idea: what if someone had a parasite, but one they actually wanted? This is an interesting concept, and was fleshed out to the idea of an "aylmer", this creature that was passed down from great ruler to great ruler for centuries. The story was so well-written that you feel it must have been at least partially based on some legend. Nope, just Henenlotter's genius.The film is now widely seen as a metaphor for drug addiction, or addiction in general. But interestingly, this seems to be an afterthought. Henenlotter said the idea came to him like this: first, he thought of a creature attached to someone who needs to kill. But then, going with the concept of a "welcome" parasite, he wondered why the host would allow this, so he came up with the drug aspect. So rather than this being a story about the side effects of drugs, it is actually quite the other way around...And, of course, as a selling point we have Henenlotter gore. While this film ranks beneath "Basket Case" and "Frankenhooker" as far as overall quality, it has some of the best gore... with scenes that had to be cut (for both the MPAA and the distributor!) but have since resurfaced. For those who love extreme films, the alley scene can only be enjoyed uncut.As a bonus for horror fans, we even have the voice of Zacherle. Interestingly, Zacherle worked uncredited because he was in SAG and could not be in a non-union film at the risk of getting fined or tossed out of the union. His voice being so recognizable, some saw his lack of credit as an insult, but just the opposite was true: to give him credit would have opened him up to great punishment!The legacy of "Brain Damage" cannot be ignored. Like all other Henenlotter films, it has acquired a cult following. Not as much as "Basket Case", but more so than "Bad Biology". And lead actor Rick Hearst has done well for himself, going from this independent production to becoming the king of daytime television, becoming a regular on no fewer than five soap operas! Quite the change of pace from low budget gore.But most interesting is probably editor James Kwei, whom most people have never heard of. Kewi had been in horror for a while with "Christmas Evil", "Maximum Overdrive" and others. But after this, he increasingly became associated with the films of Martin Scorsese, including "Goodfellas". While he had already been with Scorsese since "After Hours" (1985), it was at this point (1988) where he really switched gears.The Arrow Video Blu-ray is crammed fuller than Mr. Creosote. There is a brand new audio commentary by Frank Henenlotter and several featurettes. We have "Listen to the Light: The Making of Brain Damage", a brand new documentary featuring interviews with actor Rick Herbst, producer Edgar Ievins, editor James Kwei, first assistant director Gregory Lamberson, visual effects supervisor Al Magliochetti and makeup artist Dan Frye. There is "The Effects of Brain Damage" with FX artist Gabe Bartalos, and "A Look Back" with assistant editor Karen Ogle.And still more... "Elmer's Turf: The NYC Locations of Brain Damage", sort of a supplement to the tour Henenlotter gives on the "Basket Case" Blu-ray. The interesting "Tasty Memories: A Brain Damage Obsession" interview with superfan Adam Skinner. A "Brain Damage" Q&A with Henenlotter recorded at the 2016 Offscreen Film Festival. And certainly not least of all, "Bygone Behemoth" (2010), an animated short by Harry Chaskin, featuring a brief appearance by John Zacherle in his final on screen credit.

Tromafreak Let me just say it right off the bat. God bless Frank Henenlotter. This guy is a master of 80's B-Horror every bit as much as Lloyd Kaufman. Henenlotter is known mainly for what I consider the greatest Horror movie of the 80's, that's right, Basket Case. But later on, in the late-80's, Henenlotter would work his low-budget magic once again.Now, this is what I call an intriguing storyline... Meet Brian, Brian lives with his brother in a New York apartment, he mostly keeps to himself in his room. Brian isn't some kind of a freak or anything, he's just depressed and bored. Well, things are about to liven up for Brian, because there is a thousand year old worm-like parasite loose in the building. Meet Elmer the Aylmer, Elmer can produce a highly-addictive psychedelic liquid, and inject it into peoples brains. Elmer drugs Brian, who is now experiencing his first good day in quite awhile. The fast talking Elmer aims to make friends with Brian. Naturally, Brian welcomes the little fella with open arms. Just like every other drug, and pretty much anything that makes you feel good, there is a catch. Elmer survives on one thing, human brains. And you guessed it, it's now Brian's responsibility to bring home the bacon, so to speak, or no more good days (brain damage). With his brain only half fried, Brian still has half a conscience, and just like any drug-addict who has that moment of clarity, poor Brian has some detoxing to do. But in this case, Brian's drug of choice will quite literally be taunting him the whole way back. I don't know about you, but I would have told that thing to go to hell and gone out and got a bottle of Southern Comfort, or something.After Frank Henenlotter's original masterpiece, the man brings us the most entertaining anti-drug flick since Bood Freak. Enough disgusting gore, bad acting, and outrageous B-charm to satisfy any fans of Basket Case, even our pal, Kevin Van Hentenryck stops by for a spell, so, you know this psychedelic shin-dig is not to be missed. Too bad Henenlotter hasn't made more movies over the years, although, I do hear good things about his new one, Bad Biology. I can't say I've ever seen Frankenhooker, or that I approve of the Basket Case sequels, but as far as I've seen, Lightning has struck at least twice for Mr. Henenlotter. 9/10