I once tried to share Brain Damage with my brother, but he couldn't make it through the entire film. He got up half way through and went into the other room of my apartment, I then heard him talking with the person in that room.

My brother - "My sister watches some weird movies."
Other person - [laughs] "Yeah."
My brother- "No, I don't think you understand, like, REALLY weird movies."
Other person - [laughs more] "I know."
My brother - [Totally serious, not laughing, not trying to joke around] "Have you ever seen Nekromantik?"

I remember laughing pretty hard at the overheard conversation and the way my brother sounded almost concerned about his little sister.

Brain Damage isn't as extreme as something like Nekromantik, but I think he was still horribly traumatized from that time he found my DVD of it in the family living room.

For my money, this movie has the greatest ever ratio of atmosphere per dollar of budget. I would say that its $900,000 bought about 15 atmospheres, which is 1.69 pascals per dollar.

To put this in perspective, something like The Neon Demon is admittedly even more atmospheric than Brain Damage - it has maybe 40 atmospheres. But on a budget of $7 million, that's only 0.579 pascals per dollar. (There are 101,325 pascals in 1 atmosphere, and that's yer actual physics.)

Anyway, I am glad to report that the beautiful clarity of the Blu-ray proves that Frank Henenlotter put all that atmosphere in the film himself, and it wasn't artificially added by being poorly transferred to VHS. You know, I never realised it was shot on 35mm.

“When it comes to blood in my underwear I wanna know how it got there!”

High art scuzz drenched in exquisite colors with a slathered in goo creature so Henenlotterian it’s not even funny. Also, homoerotic, plus Aylmer’s voice (and who it’s voiced by) is perfect. A prime slab of head trip NYC neon grime.

84

The greatest Venom movie in existence. Psychedelic, detestable, and hysterical, all at once. If you're looking for a blood-soaked anti-drug fable with questions of sexual identity that all involves a slimy munchy-brain monster who speaks in polite English, then I have a film for you! Some all-timer gross-out gags in this, with a seriousness applied to the thematic content that doesn't negate the insanity on full-neon-display. A must-see.

"when it comes to blood in my underwear i wanna know how it got there."
"it's no big deal, nothing to get upset about, it came from that girl at the club."
"what girl?"
"the girl whose brains i ate."
"what?"
"the blood came from a girl whose brains i sucked out."
"you sucked out her brains?"
"yeah, right through her mouth."
"is she dead?"

full discussion on episode 151 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.

A colorful head trip of bad taste, Hennenlotter continues to straddle the lines of both art and sleaze just as good as (if not better) than any cult director.

"Woohoo, this is fucking great!" -Brian

- Horror Hunt #24: boxd.it/5wPL8

My disembodied brain just sits around the house getting high.

In Brain Damage, Brian becomes increasingly reliant on a disembodied brain that helps him see the world in a different way and do bad things.... it's about addiction. Sometimes a number of corny and weird elements come together in a film and create something that is far greater than the sum of the movie's parts.... that's Brain Damage. It's got a frenetic pace and bizarre moments and it stays consistently engaging for the run time. The special effects are appropriately disgusting and cheesy allowing the film to master this grimy and creepy vibe that I really enjoy in horror.

Definite recommend.

84

Neon-scuzz-poetry.

A bad movie that doesn’t even try to be good, but it’s not completely unforgettable, thanks to some schlocky moments of levity at the right place and time. A low blow to cerebral films the world over.

Why are the stars always winkin' and blinkin' above...?

Everything I might look for in a good cult horror film, made even better through watching it for the first time at a Drive In.

Whoever made this was on LSD or something 😂

Instead of those shitty DARE campaigns they should’ve just shown this instead. The worm’s voice alone’ll take kids off drugs easy.

i’m only halfway through the movie and it’s already the f*cking best

The main character is named Brian.

Brian Damage

Probably the best directed b-movie ever. Every frame bears the signature of the auteur, the effects are mostly believable and pretty much flawless. Gory perveted scenes and a general uneasyness permiates the film like being strung along a very bad trip with atmospheric music and absurdist comedy sequences. In the end very bleak but also irresistibly fun at every turn.

I need a Basket Case and Brain Damage crossover. I desperately want to see Aylmer and Belial fight!

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the be all, end all fellatio scene that this movie provides.

Personally, I enjoy it when a filmmaker isn't afraid to use a little blue goo to get the job done.

Rewatch: Henenlotter does it again. I’m never disappointed with his contributions to the genre. Aylmer is kind of adorable. This movie is nasty & I love it.