When you're an avid fan of horror and cult cinema, you're inevitably also an avid fan of Bruce Campbell. That almost goes without saying. He's one of the few actors for which the name alone is enough reason to see a film, regardless of how bad or derivative it may be or regardless of how small his part is. Suffice to say many fans, myself included, very much anticipated "Man with the Screaming Brain" because, not only does Bruce play the lead part in this, it also marks his debut as a director! Sadly though, it isn't a very good film and not something I'd immediately recommend to non-Campbell fans. It still definitely has its moments of ingeniousness and originality, but the overall accomplishment is far below any expectations. Maybe it was wrong to expect a typical B-movie homage to cheesy horror cinema, as the emphasis here clearly lies on comedy. But even as a comedy, "Man with the Screaming Brain" is too derivative and too random to ever become a cult favorite. The first half of the film is still very okay, because you wonder where Campbell is going exactly with all the bizarre and eccentric characters he introduced in such an unusual setting, but once the plot has fully unfolded, you'll be shocked at how simplistic and dull it actually is. Bruce stars as a sly and scumbag US businessman, visiting Bulgaria for one of his fraudulent practices, along with his spoiled and terribly bored wife Jackie. They become involved with a local taxi-driver, but they all get killed by a beautiful gypsy woman who's clearly frustrated no man will marry her. No worries, because the brilliant scientist Dr. Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov discovered a method to successfully separate brain-functions from the nerve system and even to transplant two brains into one head. It was Ivanov's biggest wish to show his breakthrough to the American, so he might as well use him as a guinea pig. Once half of the brains of an ex-Russian communistic rebel is forced to co-exist with half the brain of a typically vain and cocky American, the film quickly turns into a series of clichéd situations, predictable gags and exaggerated jokes about cultural differences. The title isn't even accurate, as the brain doesn't scream, but continuously argues with
itself. A much better title would have been "The Man with Two Brains", but that already exists in the form of a Steve Martin 80's comedy. The film relies too much on familiar faces (Campbell, as well as Ted Raimi playing the clumsy assistant to Ivanov) and far too little on witty dialogs and good action sequences.
