''Brain Dead'' is a 1989

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Adam Simon Adam Simon (born February 6, 1962) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. His directing credits include '' Brain Dead'' (1990), '' Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger'' (1992), and '' Carnosaur'' (1993). Simon, along with p ...

. It stars

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. Pullman made his film debut i ...

Bill Paxton William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A versatile character actor known for his distinctive Texan drawl and everyman screen persona, he was a four-time Golden Globe Award and a Prime ...

, and

George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supp ...

Plot

Dr. Rex Martin is a top neurosurgeon, who is active in studying brain malfunctions that cause mental illnesses. The film opens with him walking into his office, the 8 on his laboratory turned on its side in an

infinity symbol The infinity symbol () is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a ''lemniscate'', after the lemniscate curves of a similar shape studied in algebraic geometry, or "lazy eight", in the terminolo ...

. His assistant, Berkovitch, is playing games with a removed brain, connected to a separated face, using his tool to map out the facial muscles in the brain. After Rex takes over, Berkovitch accidentally knocks over Philip Montag's brain, a parietal

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

patient. Rex jokes that the place won't be the same without him. High school friend Jim Reston, a successful businessman at Eunice, shows up at Rex's office. He requires Martin's aid in reaching the mind of John Halsey, a former genius mathematician who once worked for the company and is now a paranoid psychotic at a nearby

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

. Halsey destroyed his results before losing his mind and is thought to be faking his disorder to keep it out of the hands of his employer. Dr. Martin meets with Halsey, who is convinced that a man named Conklin is spying on him and intends to kill him. Dr. Martin convinces Halsey to go through his tests and it's revealed that he is indeed paranoid. Jim Reston attempts to convince Martin to operate on Halsey to no real avail, revealing that Martin's work is already being funded by Eunice in the first place, so he'll have more leeway to operate on Halsey. Dr. Martin's surgery is intended to successfully alter the patient's mental attitude, either unlocking the corporate secrets within Halsey's brain or else leaving Halsey unable to accidentally share them with anyone else. However, after leaving his meeting with Reston, Martin is carrying a jarred brain home from the office, when a homeless man attacks him, convinced he's carrying his brain. In the struggle, Martin loses his grip on the brain, causing it to fly through the air. At the same moment, he's run over by a car—revealed to be from the Conklin Mattress Company—and hits his head on the windshield, cracking it in the process. Martin comes to in his hallway, once again spinning the infinity symbol back to an upright 8. He finds that he's lost his grant and is losing his lab. He kicks out the scientists, only for one to pull down all the jars on the wall. Martin wakes up, but his wife doesn't know about the car accident. Even Martin isn't sure if it was earlier in the day or when it happened. We learn that Halsey killed his wife, two kids, and three research assistants. Martin convinces Halsey to undergo the procedure, which is set up in a boardroom. During the surgery, we see through Halsey's eyes what each stimulation changes, altering not only the location, sounds, and people involved while still allowing him to communicate through the psychosis. The surgery seems to be a success, restoring Halsey's sanity and getting him to recognize he's a mathematician. After Martin finishes the surgical procedure, he starts to experience the same paranoid dreams as Halsey, seeing Conklin in the surgical room after the fact. These episodes grow in intensity until it becomes unclear whether Martin is a doctor imagining he's the patient, or a mental patient who succumbed to the delusion that he was a brain surgeon. In the end, it is revealed that Martin died from the injuries sustained in the car wreck and is now a sentient brain in a jar.

Cast

as Dr. Rex Martin *

as Jim Reston *

Bud Cort Walter Edward Cox (born March 29, 1948), known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor known for his unorthodox starring roles in Robert Altman's '' Brewster McCloud'' (1970), for which he was nominated for a Golden Laurel Award, and Ha ...

as Jack Halsey *

Nicholas Pryor Nicholas David Pryor (born Probst; January 28, 1935 – October 7, 2024) was an American character actor. He appeared in various television series, films, and stage productions. Early life and career Pryor was born Nicholas David Probst in Balt ...

as Man In Bloody White Suit / Ramsen / Ed Conklin *

Patricia Charbonneau Patricia Charbonneau (born April 19, 1959) is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing the part of Cay Rivvers in '' Desert Hearts'' (1985), her first film role, for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best F ...

as Dana Martin *

as Vance * Brian Brophy as Ellis * David Sinaiko as Berkovitch * Andy Wood as The Brain Surgeon * Maud Winchester as Anna "Crazy Anna" * Brent Hinkley as Dewey *

Lee Arenberg Lee Arenberg (born July 18, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Pintel, one of Captain Barbossa's crew, in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' franchise. He also had a recurring role as the dwarf Grumpy in the television ...

as Sacks

Production

In the late 1980s,

Julie Corman Julie Ann Corman (born ) is an American film producer. She is the widow of film producer and director Roger Corman. Life and career Corman was born Julie Ann Halloran in 1942. In 1970, she married film director and producer, Roger Corman, with ...

got summer interns to go through several hundred old scripts. The best one they discovered was one written by

Charles Beaumont Charles Beaumont (born Charles Leroy Nutt; January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres.Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, "Beaumont, Charles" ...

for

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

in the 1960s. Director

liked it and updated it for modern times.Julie Corman on ''Brain Dead''
at

Trailers from Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and exp ...

Reception

, the film held an overall score of 17% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on reviews by 6 critics.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brain Dead 1990 horror films 1990 films American science fiction horror films 1990s English-language films 1990 psychological thriller films 1990s science fiction horror films Films with screenplays by Charles Beaumont Medical-themed films Films produced by Julie Corman 1990s American films 1990 science fiction films English-language science fiction horror films English-language thriller films