Customer Reviews

Man with the Screaming Brain

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

B-movie hero Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell makes his feature film directorial debut here with some hilarious results. The Man With the Screaming Brain stars Campbell (who also co-wrote the story) as an American industrialist in Bulgaria with his wife. Their marriage is failing rapidly, and it isn't too long before Campbell, his wife, and an ex-KGB cab driver all fall victim to a pretty, murderous gypsy woman who dreams of getting married. Before you know it, a mad scientist (Stacy Keach) re-animates Campbell's body; with pieces of the cab driver's brain inside his head to match. From this point on, it's easy to tell that Man With the Screaming Brain is meant to be as ridiculous as can be, with Campbell giving one of his most manic and wonderfully comic performances to date. Keach is hilarious as well as the mad professor, and Ted Raimi (brother of Sam) is great too as his Igor-like assistant. As you can tell by now, this isn't a movie for everybody, but for those loyal (and some obsessed) followers of Bruce Campbell, this is a must see.

I saw this movie over the summer as part of Bruce Campbell's tour. While it was originally screened in a few arthouse movie theaters, the movie is a sci fi channel production and can be watched on tv as of September 10, 2005.

The idea for this flick originally was proposed in 1986. Bruce Campbell got funding from scifi to make two movies. Originally envisioned as taking place in East Los Angeles, they moved the production to Bulgaria. The budget was shoestring, and at times it shows. However, this is all part of the fun of independent cinema, and Campbell got the most out of every dollar.

Exempting Bruce Campbell, Stacy Keach and Ted Raimi, the movie is cast almost entirely with local unknown actors. Stacy Keach plays a mad scientist and Raimi plays the role of a modern day Igor, with a taste for Cross Colors clothes and hip hop music. They spend all day in the lab playing with brains and trying to make intelligent robots.

Plot wise, the movie is pretty simple. An American goes abroad to set up some contracts in a strange city. His wife cheats on him with a cabbie. The cabbie and the American both end up dead, so the mad scientist (played by Stacy Keach in one of his best roles since TITUS) puts the brain of the cabbie into the body of the American. The American escapes the lab, Monster of Frankenstein style, then runs through the streets of Sofia with a massive head scar, patient's robe and strange voice in his head arguing with him the whole way.

The rest of the movie is right out of the Bruce Campbell textbook. Campbell makes millions of rubbery faced expressions, and of course, fights and argues with himself. The scenes are some of Bruce's best since Evil Dead 2.

Of the uknown actors in this movie, the guy who plays the cab driver is spectacular. The man has this vibe real similar to Ali G, but it's hard to tell if the guy was being serious about it or not.

At many points this felt almost like a remake of Steve Martin's "The man with two brains" or "All of me", which dealt with similar themes. However, the change in scenery and the Campbell touches are unmistakable.

While I give this movie 4 stars, I am a diehard fan of Bruce Campbell's work. Those who enjoyed the evil dead movies or who cheer like wild dogs whenever Campbell makes a cameo are the people who will appreciate this movie. For the rest, you may want to watch this on the Sci Fi Channel before picking up the DVD.

Now *that's* what I expect from a Bruce Campbell movie! Crackerjack science, cheesy dialogue, just the right amount of overacting to carry off said dialogue, Czech/Russian translated as surfer boy/pop culture English, a few explosions and so many homages to A-list sci-fi/horror movies that I lost track. The "death scene" with the robot version of his wife alone just gets so much love from me; only Bruce could pull off a concept that bad and make it look good in a bad/funny way.

I wonder if Bruce's directions to Ted Raimi were, "Just channel Joxer, kid." Because I had major flashbacks to _Xena_ eps. Not that it's a bad thing at all! I loved it! And I adored his fake Russian accent, especially when his real accent slipped through on occasion along with the whiny tone of voice, just made it all that more ridiculous and fun. It was worth tuning in just to see Ted jamming to hip-hop and pulling those wonderful facial expressions.

Those two together are comedy gold; they so need to team up on more movies. Bruce could do justice to a serious A-movie role any day, but I'm so glad he keeps doing B-grade films; when he nails them, he does it but good! And Ted is such a damn fine geek. Whether he's doing a serious role or not, he's just made for that part, plays it beautifully. Together, the two of them do some sweet scenery chewing.

After being killed by a blow to the head delivered by a homicidal Bulgarian gypsy woman, industrialist William Cole (Bruce Campbell) becomes the world's first recipient of a donor brain, in the form of half of the brain of a communist cab driver. Now Cole must deal with having both a communist and a capitalist in his head, while trying to avenge his own murder.

"The Man with the Screaming Brain" is one of the most insane movies I have ever seen. Written, directed, produced by and starring Bruce Campbell (and also starring "Hercules" and "Xena" regulars Ted Raimi and Tamara Gorski), this film is so bad that it's good and is sure to go down well among Campbell fans. Campbell is a great physical comedian, and this film truly showcases his talents. Those few sad souls out there who aren't Campbell fans, however, might just find this film to be plain old bad. This film was made in Bulgaria, on what looks like a microscopic budget, in the style of those really bad 1950's B movies. If the humour isn't to your liking, then you'll probably find this film to be a complete ordeal.

As a general rule, if you're put off by the title, then you'll probably hate this film, but if the idea of a movie entitled "The Man with the Screaming Brain" makes you reach for your wallet, then buying this film is probably going to be money well spent.

Prepare to be mesmerized by the oddity of the story, while seeing a film that purposely fakes a pretense of seriousness. It is a very funny movie, kind of a dry sardonic sense of humor. It is worth watching / owning.

Man I am glad I saw it on the sci fi channel! It is a comic relief though.It is sssoooo dumb that it's good. Anyway worth a see good luck if yours is black comedy you will love it!!!!

MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN
With Bruce Campbell's next feature "My Name is Bruce going out I decided it was time to go back and watch "Man With The Screaming Brain", I watch it all the time any way so it was time for a review [last thing I remember reviewing of his was his EXCELLENT book "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor]. When this movie first came out I was extremely excited to see it and watched it on the Sci-Fi channel, shortly after I was buying it the day it came out on DVD along side another Campbell flick titled "Alien Apocalypse". Since then I have watched both films all the time, this one in particular because it was a Campbell production really with him co writing, co producing, and he also directed and stared in this one as well. So here I am ready to buy "My Name is Bruce" and the new release of another Bruce movie on the same day called "Terminal Invasion" and still I can't wait, I need my fix.

So me, my brother, my girl and a few others had a Bruce Film Festival of our own, it lasted all weekend and ends tonight right before the two new ones come out at midnight. We started with all three of the "Evil Dead" movies [Evil Dead 1 & 2 & Army of Darkness] into these select movies "Sundown, Ice Breaker, Alien Apocalypse, Serving Sara, Adventures of Brisco County Jr. [series], Jack of All Trades [series], Bubba-Ho-Tep, Maniac Cop, Waxwork 2, Burn Notice season 1 [series], McHale's Navy, The Ant Bully [animated], The Woods, Sky High, Congo, his episodes of Hercules, Xena, American Gothic and the X-Files, and ending with Man With The Screaming Brain" there are more but there are only so many hours in the day.

We star out in Bulgaria were a pretty young lady is standing with some man, it all seems nice at first. But things turn ugly quick when she stabs him to death and robs him, already we are off to a good start. From there we follow a rich couple from America one named William [Bruce] and Jackie [Antoinette Byron], right from the jump you can tell they are not too fond of each other, or at least her to him. After arriving in Bulgaria they meet a local cab driver named Yegor [Vladimir Kolev] who some what befriends them, really he just agrees to be on call for them and their American money. After a rather unpleasant run in they have in gypsy town William is off to a meeting for a business venture, and his wife Jackie is off cheating on her husband with Yegor. That's fine because when he gets home he meets our mystery woman from the beginning and starts to fool around, of course when he brings up marriage after only a few minutes he turns her down. She goes for the knife after she robs him, but he is saved by his incoming wife.

All around this time a mad scientist and his goofy assistant are trying to get William to finance this new brain procedure they have that would say lives and cure illnesses, no luck. After that the gypsy woman named Tatoya still has a grudge to pick with William and well kills him, and right afterwards kills Yegor whom she used to know. Once Jackie finds out she goes into full cat fight mode with Tatoya but to no avail when she is killed as well. Not taking no for an answer Dr. Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov [Stacy Keach] and his side kick Pavel [Ted Raimi] steal the dead bodies and perform their procedure, hence the man with the screaming brain is born as William wakes up with a nasty stitch job and sharing a body with Yegor. Jackie is not as fortunate while she does not share a brain she is stuck in a robot body, so off they all are to kill Tatoya. Really that is the story, every thing from there is them after her, and it is great.

This movie is not for everybody but for those who like low budget, sci-fi, Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, or out there movies this is a definite for you type of film. This movie is a made for TV movie though since after years of trying to get it made Bruce had to let the Sci-Fi channel co finance it. So the script was changed dramatically from more gore and a LA setting with a Latino character to a TV friendly film with a setting in Bulgaria with a Bulgarian taxi driver because it was cheaper. While I would love to see the real version of this movie this new one is great, and has a special B movie charm to it. Sure the budget is low but that makes people become more creative, and trust me they are with this one. All the special effects are great for a TV movie especially Bruce's head after the operation, and the robot dance scene while the great Ted Raimi is the DJ is hilarious. And Bruce, David Goodman [who also produces], and R.O.C. Sandstorm's script is very funny and full of off the wall situations. And for those who are wondering that R.O.C. Sandstorm credit is a story by credit and it is rumored to by Sam Raimi, or so I am told. Also there seems to be something like 14 or 15 producers for this film, seems a bit much I think. Still Bruce Campbell seems to have handled it well as his direction was great and the he made sure the film flowed smoothly.

As for the acting it ranges from great to bad depending on who it is but all the leads are well cast and do a great job. Bruce of course is brilliant as William Cole the rich jerk from America, his comedic timing is perfect as usual in fact one of my favorite things is his reaction when he thinks a statue is starring at him. Of course you all know Ted Raimi is brilliant and steals the show really with a wonderfully goofy performance as Pavel, Ted needs more roles and his Brother Sam needs to use him more often in bigger roles. Tamara Gorski plays Tatoya and is great in her villain role, she has great facial expressions and is very pretty. Antoinette Byron as William's wife Jackie is great at being a, well you know and does a good job. Stacy Keach is brilliant as the mad scientist and is one of the films best casting decisions, he works great along side Ted Raimi, and they make a great team. Valentin Giasbeily is really funny as Uri the thug that always gets his finger broken, great recurring role. Still Vladimir Kolev needs to be recognized as one of the best actors in this movie, he did a great job on this film as Yegor the cab driver and was also good in "Alien Apocalypse".

This movie was great in my opinion though I will it admit that you have to be a fan of films like this to really appreciate it. I am sure a lot of people will disagree with me but I loved this movie. Bruce Campbell is one of my all time favorite people in the world as is Ted Raimi, so maybe I am biased. Still I recommend this film to any fans of Bruce, Ted, sci-fi, or out there wired films, you should love this.

The DVD comes with a highly insightful commentary from Bruce and partner David Goodman as well as a great making of feature that is really informative. There is also additional behind the scenes features and a great special feature with Bruce and David where they literally go over 20 years of trying to get this film made. This is a wonderful DVD that every one should own.

B-movie hero Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell makes his feature film directorial debut here with some hilarious results. The Man With the Screaming Brain stars Campbell (who also co-wrote the story) as an American industrialist in Bulgaria with his wife. Their marriage is failing rapidly, and it isn't too long before Campbell, his wife, and an ex-KGB cab driver all fall victim to a pretty, murderous gypsy woman who dreams of getting married. Before you know it, a mad scientist (Stacy Keach) re-animates Campbell's body; with pieces of the cab driver's brain inside his head to match. From this point on, it's easy to tell that Man With the Screaming Brain is meant to be as ridiculous as can be, with Campbell giving one of his most manic and wonderfully comic performances to date. Keach is hilarious as well as the mad professor, and Ted Raimi (brother of Sam) is great too as his Igor-like assistant. As you can tell by now, this isn't a movie for everybody, but for those loyal (and some obsessed) followers of Bruce Campbell, this is a must see.

In this classic 50's sci-fi style story Bruce turns in an odd, but fantastic performance that is sure to please any fan of B-movies or classic sci-fi. The low budget only helps make the movie more fun to watch.

"The Man With The Screaming Brain" has to be Bruce Campbell's all time best movie, besides his Evil Dead Trilogy. I thought that nothing could top Bubba Ho-Tep, but this movie did with flying colors.

The movie has it all, comedy mixed with heart. It's almost like watching a different take on Frankenstein. The basic story of two dead men being put together and then seeking revenge on the one who killed them, what better plot than that? I have no doubt in my mind that this will go down in cult history.

The acting is top notch in this surprising film. I was very impressed with all of the actors and their acting ability. The storyline is so intriguing that you will be glued to the TV set the entire time, and not know why the movie is so fascinating. The villainess of the film is very hate able, which shows her skills as a great actress.

Overall all, a very impressive movie that took me by surprise! Like I said, if you liked Bubba Ho-Tep, you'll LOVE this film. It's pure Bruce and the fans would have it no other way. Bravo!