Brainscan

A very strange film. If I had seen it as a younger kid, I think I would have been a lot more into it. With a plot about a virtual reality video game in which you get to indulge in people's sickest innermost urges (killing people).

It's a little too violent for pre-teens, yet that's why it would be such a stand out movie at that age. Unfotunately, it's a little too awkward and dumb for anyone over the age of 15 to really get into. The strange mix of the "video game plot", with the extremely voyeuristic murder scenes, and the goofy HOST of the game, "Trickster" who is reminiscent of Howie Mandell's character in Little Monsters, doesn't blend quite so well. The movie overall gives you a very uncomfortable feeling but it's too campy to be one of those "I love it because it's so incredibly hard to watch" movies like Irreversible for example.

The cheesy effects are actually pretty entertaining at least. Recommended for Edward Furlong fans and fans of simply bizarre 90's movies, otherwise not so sure.

Brainscan is a fun, shocking, and enjoyable horror film that is one of the most underrated films around. Edward (T2) Furlong stars a troubled teen named Michael who loves horror movies and horror video games. His dad is never around and his mom died when he was a kid. He also likes to spy on his school-mate neighbor as she gets dressed. One day he gets a game disc in the mail for a new virtual reality game called Brainscan. A game in which you commit murders. But Michael soon finds a severed foot in his freezer and all hell breaks loose. Especially when the creepy and bizarre Trickster appears...guiding him to certain terror. This film was a pleasant surprised that had a charm about it. Furlong is believable as the troubled teen and turns in a great performance and T. Ryder Smith is both disturbing and cool as the evil demon behind the video game. Trickster easily steals the show. There is some good deaths and some decent gore. You get some T&A, a lot of hard rock music, a nosey detective, horror movie references, and some solid special effects. The movie seems to fly by and the end is a real treat. A solid horror rental for any horror fan. I have no idea why someone tried to compare this to "In the mouth of madness". Too bad the girl next door wasn't actually cute or attractive.

This movie really did remind me of the 90s Goosebumps show. The silly premise of what if a video game took over your mind and actually made you do the violent acts in real life, the over the top villain Trickster, the mediocre acting by the main character (yeah he's awful), and the cheesy effects all feel right at home for Goosebumps, albeit with more violence and brief nudity. Had the nudity not been in the movie, this probably could've been PG-13 back then and easily PG by todays standards.

That being said, I found this movie surprisingly entertaining even if the acting and effects aren't the best. The story although basic really kept my attention. If you grew up with Goosebumps, give this a watch, it's a pure nostalgia hit.

Michael Brower (Edward Furlong), a lonely fan of horror films and video games still suffers from lingering trauma (both physical and mental) as a result of a vehicular collision that disabled his leg and killed his mother. Michael's niche interests are a point of ridicule for the student body and a point of contention for the faculty who equate such interest on the level of rape and narcotics. When Michael's only friend, Kyle (Jamie Marsh) tells him of a new interactive horror game called Brainscan, Michael calls the info number and is sent a copy without having placed an order. The game delivers on fear, but the presence of a malevolent entity known as The Trickster (T. Ryder Smith) blurs the lines of reality with the horror of the game appearing in real life.

Brainscan was one of the few Slashers still released to cinemas in a time where the genre was mostly on the decline and entries were dumped on Home Video or cable. While slasher series such as Leprechaun, Child's Play, and Candyman did emerge during the 90s, most of them couldn't hold audience interest and were met with either diminishing margins or sequels going straight to video. One of the last film's to be released by Gaumont/Columbia joint venture Triumph Releasing Corporation before reorganizing as Sony Releasing Corporation, Brainscan was a critical and box office disappointment upon release opening at a dismal 10th place upon initial release and withdrawing from theaters two weeks later. While Brainscan isn't a lost horror classic by any means, I think it does have more on its mind than most give it credit for.

The movie was released shortly after the moral panic on video games in the early 90s spawned by games such as Night Trap and Mortal Kombat that lead to the congressional inquiries of 1993 as well as the establishment of the ESRB so the industry could self regulate (not unlike the moral panic of the 30s that put an end to Pre-Code Hollywood with the establishment of the Hayes Code). Brainscan has a rather subversive attitude to its subject matter, playing devil's advocate for gory horror films and violent video games at a time when they were very much under attack. The movie even goes into breakdowns of the appeal behind this kind of entertainment with Edward Furlong's character Michael discussing such entertainment as an escape while David Hembeln's Dr. Fromberg makes hyperbolic statements on Michael's entertainment choices comparing viewing of horror films to Rape in one scene. Even once the terror of the movie begins, the movie uses its framework as a way of breaking down how we project ourselves into these types of entertainment as a way of contrasting and exploring our underlying fears in a fantastical exaggerated sense that serves as an outlet to help us understand our fears. It's a really smart breakdown of horror that feels genuine.

While the movie's take on horror from an analytical view is certainly well done, the movie as a horror film itself will be somewhat disappointing to people expecting a fright fest. T. Ryder Smith as The Trickster, a entity who appears to Michael through the video game and makes causal wise cracks about murder and mayhem is trying to be a digitized take on Freddy Kruger, but at no point is he legitimately scary and I'd equate him more with something like Beetlejuice but even Beetlejuice could be a little threatening despite being a comedic character. The Trickster I found more aggravating than funny or intimidating and the choice to model the character with an exaggerated Punk Rock style just seemed more confusing than anything else. Most of the kills in Brainscan happen off camera, and even when we do see them they're fairly tame in comparison to the high points of kill scenes in Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street. Brainscan while interesting in playing Devil's advocate for Horror films and video games isn't really all that interested in being a horror movie itself and plays more like a dark comedy.

While Brainscan will be disappointing to those expecting a digitized Nightmare on Elm Street as promised by the advertisements, Brainscan shouldn't be completely written off. The movie isn't all that scary, but it tackles the genre from a deconstructionist point of view looking at the appeal behind the genre and the purpose it serves its fans. While the movie doesn't want to be a horror film itself, it's production design and attitudes shows a real love, respect, and understanding of the genre. As long as people set their expectations correctly and are okay with a darkly comic coming of age story that happens to have horror iconography without much actual horror, Brainscan shows it does have a brain.

I originally saw this when I was maybe 13, and I found it a rather tense movie back then. While I wouldn't say that any part of the movie is "scary", I don't think that any of it even attempts to be. Instead, I found myself simply feeling uneasy while watching it.

I recently decided to rent it for the nostalgia factor and give it another watch, fully expecting it to be horrible and downright laughable, but I was surprised to find that this movie still has the power to make me feel uneasy and even uncomfortable while watching it.

The scriptwriter's alien ideas about how computers and games work are indeed rather laughable, but if you can forgive those, the movie does an admirable job of pulling you into Michael Bower's world. Anyone who has ever done something wrong, and felt that queasiness that comes with the knowledge that yes, you are going to get caught, can relate to the situation Michael is in. The main theme, played several times throughout the movie, is very creepy and mood setting; I loved it.

I found Brainscan far more compelling than the standard slasher flick or monster movie, and would readily recommend it to anyone looking for something a little more psychological.