Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful B-movie horror/spoof from Bruce Campbell, September 16, 2005
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.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Bruce Campbell, all the way , September 9, 2005
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.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a scream!, January 8, 2006
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.
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