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THE FEATURES ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listen to the Light: The Making of Brain Damage (54m 13s, HD)
Produced in-house by Arrow, this is a nice look back at the
making of the film. It features interviews with the effects guys, along with
the producer and lead actor. It is kind of weird that Frank Henenlotter is
nowhere to be found here, but he does pop up in other places. This doc is a
little bit heavy on the effects talk, but it is still an entertaining and
informative sit through.
The Effects of Brain
Damage (10m, HD)
Gabe Bartalos takes us through the different effects that
were done for the film. There is a lot of
behind the scenes footage and we even
get to see some of the effects that Bartalos kept.
Animating Elmer (6m
40s, HD)
This is an interview with Al Magliochetti, who worked on
some of the effects and did the stop motion animation for Elmer.
Karen Ogle: A Look
Back (4m 29s, HD)
Karen was the still photographer on the film and she gives
us a few stories about working on the film.
Elmer’s Turf: The NYC
Locations of Brain Damage (8m 48s, HD)
Michael Gingold of Rue Morgue Magazine gives us a tour of
the locations used for the film. He is
joined by Frank Henenlotter for the
first stop of the tour.
Tasty Memories: A
Brain Damage Obsession (10m, HD)
Adam Skinner, a Brain Damage “superfan”, talks about Brain
Damage and what he loves about the film. He shows us his collection of Brain
Damage memorabilia from around the world and then him and his band, The Statutory
Apes, play a some songs from their album that is all about Brain Damage.
After this featurette ends, we are taken to a hidden menu
that allows us to listen to four more songs from the Brain Damage album that
Skinner put together. The four songs are:
-The
Band From Planet X “The Man with the Basket/Blowjob (2m 58s, HD)
-Bull
Milk “A Club Called Hell” (3m 30s, HD)
-Daiqurri
“Movies I Like” (3m 20s, HD)
-Ultron
Aterides “Terrible Purpose” (3m 3s, HD)
Frank Henelotter
Q&A (20m 36s, HD)
Recorded at the Offscreen Film Festival in Brussels on March
13th, 2016 after a screening of Brain Damage, Frank Henenlotter
tells some fabulous stories about the making of the Brain Damage and dispels some
rumors that have been floating around.
Image Galleries
-Stills (258 Images)
-Behind the Scenes (95 Images)
-Ephemera (52 Images)
Original Theatrical
Trailer (1m 15s, HD)
Bygone Behemoth (5m
8s, HD)
Directed by Harry Chaskin, this stop-motion animated film is
about a monster who was the toast of the film world, starring in many monster
movies, before he got old and became obsolete. This is a fantastic short that
contains almost no dialogue, but tells a sad story of fading fame and growing
old.
This film also marks the last onscreen appearance from John Zacherle, who
voiced Elmer in Brain
Damage.
Commentary with Frank
Henenlotter
Isolated Score
I love features like this as it allows us to experience the
film without any dialogue or sound effects. The score is very good and I was
surprised to see this feature here.
THE PACKAGING N/A
This disc was sent to me by Arrow Video and thus is a screener
copy. This is essentially the retail disc, just without disc art, so what I am reviewing
is what will be in stores. That being said, this is a two disc (one blu-ray,
one DVD) set that comes with the standard Arrow booklet featuring essays about
the film. The set also comes with a nice slip cover which, along with the
booklet, is limited. The box cover is reversible, with custom art on one side
and the original theatrical poster on the other side.
The Blu-ray is REGION FREE and the DVD is REGION ONE
The Blu-ray is REGION FREE and the DVD is REGION ONE
This is what the set will look like:
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THE PICTURE ⭐⭐⭐1/2
Brain Damage was shot on 35mm, so fans of Basket Case (which was shot on 16mm) are in for a treat. The film retains the grit and grim that Henelotter is always going for while still looking like a professional film. Blue is a dominant color here and it comes through very nicely. There is also a nice layer of film grain and detail is fantastic throughout. I know that there will be the videophiles who will go over the picture quality with a fine tooth comb and nitpick every imperfection that they see, but the picture is really nice and should be applauded for that.
THE SOUND ⭐⭐⭐
The sound here is nice. We are given a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track and it works well here. The dialogue comes through crisp and clear and the score, which has some amazing parts to it, never overwhelms the track.
THE FILM ⭐⭐⭐
I love Frank Henenlotter. He makes some of the most fun, off the wall, batshit crazy films. He broke out onto the scene with Basket Case (1982), a film that I love, and would go on to make the wonderful Frankenhooker (1990) along with two Basket Case sequels. There was only one film that eluded me, 1988’s Brain Damage and now that I finally seen it, I can say that I am happy that I saw it.
Plot: Meet Elmer. He’s your local, friendly parasite with
the ability to induce euphoric hallucinations in his hosts. But these LSD-like
trips come with a hefty price tag. When young Brian comes under Elmer’s
addictive spell, it’s not long before he finds himself scouring the city
streets in search of his parasite’s preferred food source – brains!
Brain Damage is
the worst of the film’s that Frank Henenlotter has made, but that isn’t a
negative thing. Every film that he has made has more heart and soul than a
hundred Hollywood blockbusters. It’s just with this film I didn’t connect with
the characters like I have with his other films. The main character, Rick, is
likeable enough and the actor playing him does a good job.
The brother and girlfriend characters are the ones that I am
talking about. The brother doesn’t come off as a good guy, but more of a creep.
It isn’t right out in the open, but the man does not sit on my good side. It
seems that he just wants Rick to fuck up so that he can sleep with his girlfriend.
When Rick runs away (to go and try to get off of the “Elmer juice”) the first
thing that his brother does is fuck his girlfriend.
The girlfriend is another story. She comes off as a person
who could care less about Rick and just wants the status of having a boyfriend.
(There are plenty of women out there that do this every day) When she can see
that Rick is in trouble, she doesn’t do the rational thing and try to figure
out what is going on. She just fucks his brother.
Now, I know that Henenlotter wrote these characters as such
so that we don’t have any sympathy for them when they get in the end, but I
would have rather had characters I cared about than ones that are just annoying
to watch. Sure, I was happy when they got their just desserts, but whenever
they were onscreen, I counted the minutes until Elmer would show up or
something crazy would happen.
Speaking of Elemer, he is one of the strangest yet amazing
characters I have ever seen. He has the voice of John Zackerle, who was a TV
horror host, and his voice is so soothing and nice. Having that voice coming
out of something that does horrible things to people was a stroke of genius on
Henenlotter’s part.
The film is also filled with sleaze. This being a
Henenlotter film, you know that he shot in New York in some of the grimiest
areas he could find. He says elsewhere on the disc that the studio where they
built the sets was a haven for hookers and drug addicts. Every morning, on
their way into the building, the cast and crew would have to try and not step
on the all of the used condoms and broken crack viles on the street and
sidewalk. If that isn’t sleaze, then I don’t know what is.
The effects, done by Gabe Bartalos, are very impressive so
such a low budget. Elmer looks like a penis mixed with some broccoli or cauliflower,
dipped in blue and purple paint and yet has the voice of an angel. The decaying
effects, done of the elderly couple who lose Elmer at the beginning of the
film, are subtle, yet effective. Every effect done here is done well without
having any bad effects.
Brain Damage is a
film that I liked but didn’t love. Over time I know that my view will change.
It happened on Street Trash and it will happen here. The film is really funny,
but I was expecting a bit more in horror department. That and the brother and
girlfriend characters do hamper the film a bit.
Other than that Brain Damage is a film that many will
love and even more will be offended by.
OVERALL ⭐⭐⭐1/2
I liked, but didn’t love Brain Damage. This is the type of film that, if it doesn’t grab me
during the first viewing, it will later. I liked a lot of what I saw, but was
turned off by some of the supporting characters. Arrow Video has done a damn
fine job with the film. The picture and sound are really good, but it is the special
features that really won me over. I had such a great time learning about this
film. A must buy especially before the slip cover and booklet disappear.
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