In the overall mainstream horror business of the 80's, the few movies directed by Frank Henenlotter were an absolute relief and a breath of fresh air. His movies are weird tales that take place in dark and depressive surroundings. The budget he spends on his productions are kept very limited but that really gets compensated by a lot of creativity, inspiration and humor. Brain Damage actually has a lot in common with that other quickie of his, Basket Case. Except that this movie is a lot more light-headed and Frank inserts a lot more comedy aspects here. But not your ordinary kind of comedy. Twisted and perverse humor is a better term to describe it.

SPOILERS AHEAD ***** Brain Damage handles about a young man, named Brian, who gets taken over by some sort of reptile creature. It feeds on brains and he uses Brian to find victims. In exchange for that, he provides Brian by visions and good feelings that are caused by a juicy liquid. The creature - Aylmer - takes complete control of Brian and makes him start a killing spree in his neighborhood. **** END SPOILERS. Brain Damage is a lot less atmospheric than Basket Case and that's all due to the portrayal of the creatures in both movies. Basket Case's Belial is a terrifying monster while Aylmer is a funny looking puppet. His eyes make him almost look cute and his voice is too stylish. But, don't let that spoil the fun because Brain Damage really is a must for low budget cult freaks and admirers of exceptional horror movies. Gorehounds will like it for the huge amount of blood that is shed and the bit more critical fan will appreciate it for its originality. Recommended.

Yes, I did laugh a lot in this gory horror comedy but I also turned my head more than I left. It takes an amusing plotline down a path of blood and guts and mixing it with sexual innuendo goes for cheap giggles which are there oh, but the film is ultimately destroyed by its lack of subtlety and of course the stupid looking creature that pops out of Rick Hearst's back.

This was the professional acting debut of the handsome Hearst who went on to great acclaim on five daytime soap operas, having lengthy rolls on two of them and winning multiple Emmy's. He fought family corporate battles on "Guiding Light" and a mobster half brother on "General Hospital", but nothing in those roles compares to the creature here who looks like phallic human waste with a mouth filled with color confetti tongues.

The film is definitely cheap-looking and the individual scenes of gore are sometimes hard to get through without looking away. The innuendo of some of the scenes does indicate a sick mind of whoever wrote it, and I felt guilty every time I had to laugh but turn away when something truly repulsive happened. Obviously it was influenced by other horror and science fiction movies of the time (particularly "Aliens"),but it's obvious that in a lot of scenes, it went way overboard.

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.