Excellent but underrated film

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I'm so glad that i found Frank Henenlotter cause his movie has been entertain me non-stop for the past few days.Brain Damage is a horror movie gem in the late 80s that i encourage many people see it cause it not just another cheesy over the top horror movie but also a powerful social commentary about drug abuse.After a tired day the main character Brian get infected by a worm like creature called Aylmer.With the voice smooth like silk it drug Brian with some blue juice produce by itself and start eating brain of people around him.The plot is as crazy as it can get when it featuring many trippy images,the weirdest oral sex scene ever and a nice cameo with Bradley while holding his brother Belial from Basket Case.It suck when the director doesn't get the attention he deserves but fan like me will never forget

I consider myself a pretty well adjusted horror fan. Most gory body shocks don't bother me, except decapitation, gratuitous ugly violence and torture, stuff involving the eyes, what's between the legs, the spine-and the brain! This movie's metaphors and allegories have got to be the most obvious ever. I don't usually care for that."This is a metaphor for that, that is a social commentary on this." Boring! I'm very literal minded and don't watch films that way. Probably don't have the brains for it, truth be told. A lot of people in the movie sure don't! But with this movie it's so perfectly done that I quite like it. Like with Basket Case I liked the grittyness, although Brain Damage looks a tad nicer than that film and it is an entirely different kind of 80's. And then of course there is that sweet special magic that I've only ever seen with Henenlotter. He had such a wonderful talent with people, of bringing out and expanding on the qualities of pretty much ordinary people and making them seem like such, freaks! I like his lack of style! I once watched this when I was about 13 and I found it so stupid that I had to turn it off. Just goes to show how one's perspective can change. The colour blue is definitely a theme here, just like purple with Frankenhooker. Everyone knows the plot. Elmer and Brian meet, and they do make a connection, there's what you could call a full on chemical reaction, it's(if Bob Martin's anything to go by) possibly brought by some kind of dark divine intervention, although Elmer is definitely no shining li-ight! Heh. Yo Elmer, juice me! The "awe inspiring famous one" is so small and cute you'd think he wouldn't be able to hurt a fly. You'd be dead wrong! When you first watch the movie and first see Elmer, for a horrible few moments he looks really silly, but then you hear those deceptively lovely tones and he becomes something much more. One of the best evil laughs(I believe it's called a chortle)I've ever heard. All my favourite scenes in the movie are the twisted back and fourths between him and Brian. Particularly the "cold turkey" scene. For me it is so good to see Elmer finally die at the end, after all the death and misery the evil little b*****d has been causing for who knows how long... I love that ending! What with the juice-overloaded Brian with a little electric blue storm crackling above what's left of his head, looking quite serene. An epiphany, he burns so pretty... It lingers on the ethereally beautiful image for a few seconds and then-bzzm! The movie ends with a little blip of a sound like a TV going out, or Brian's life... On the DVD commentary Bob Martin talks about his book of the film. I've got one. Bob is supposed to be Frank Hennenlotter's good friend, so you may as well take the following as official canon. 6 Things about the Elmer you never knew: 1 "Said to have the power to make a king out of a commoner, and a conquerer of a king." 2 His juice can make the host age much slower. 3 Elmer can read people's minds. 4(oh god, this is really sad!) It's skin feels like a slimy sponge. 5 The reason it can get through a human skull so fast is because it's fangs secrete a bone dissolving acid. 6 "A water dweller, without it, it will become dormant and become something like a shard of driftwood, or a tight leather shell. It can stay this way for centuries if it needs to, until water gives it life again." Apart from a vague reference to it being meditated into existence, there is no definite answer as to what the Elmer is and where it comes from. I thought this sounded right: "A creature that is partly made from the earth and partly made from dreams, hallucinations and nightmares. He is only what you dream him to be-a devil who sells you what you already own at the price of your soul." When Brian sees Dwayne on the train he can sense something different about him and his basket, and Dwayne can feel the same thing. After Brian dies he goes to some kind of bizarre blue Elmer-type afterlife and sees a giant god-like version of Elmer, glaring balefully and triumphantly down at him. They touch and he becomes a part of it forever. Also, Beverly Bonner's bit character is the same one from Basket case! Hope someone got a kick out of all that, that was for every fan of the movie who said they wished to know more about Elmer. This is a great movie, it's Henenlotter's silver to the gold that is Basket Case!

I really enjoyed this movie. I love absurd situations in horror movies, and this was really up there. If you like the relationship of that creepy little baby-creature from Eraserhead, you'll enjoy the Jiminy Cricket-esque cadence that this creature has with Brian, the main character (Brian...Brain...get it). It was really weird that Brian and his friend looked so much alike. I love the club scene and how this chemical that Brian is on makes him act like he's taken too much ecstasy. One of the best lines was "Elmer? His name's Elmer?" Look for it. Anyways, if you're looking for a good movie to kill some brain cells and have fun with, check this out. 7 stars.

Only a genius mind like Frank Henenlotter's: The Basket Case Trilogy (1982-1990-1992), Frankenhooker (1990), Bad Biology (2008) can come up with this. I have seen all of his films. There is not a director to touch him in his style of horror. The only problem is why he hasn't made any films during 1993-2007. THAT'S 14 YEARS !!! He has really denied us and let us down for this.If he had needed money for his films, I would have given him from my own piggy bank!!! Please if there is a GOD in this world give me 1000 films of Henenlotter's to watch before I die. I would really appreciate it.This is very, very sad not for him but for horror addicts like me wasting away. The best moments of my life were the horror films I enjoyed as a child during the late middle 80's and 90's. The horror film industry went to SH*T after '95.The directors now are an absolute joke with no imagination whatsoever. It was really good to watch Bad Biology (2008) after 15 years !!!Plot of film: a parasite named Aylmer (of ancient origin - probably deep in Africa) escapes from his elderly captors and finds a new host - a young man called Brian (Rick Hearst). It injects him with a secretion that its body produces via a proboscis pushed through the back of the neck and into the brain, while he was sleeping.He experiences strange hallucinations due to the secretion and cannot explain why. Later he discovers the talking parasite in the bathroom. Aylmer is very friendly towards Brian and they soon become the best of friends.... till Brian discovers the source of Aylmer's food. Don't want to tell you any more - it might spoil it for you, if you haven't seen the film yet.Special effects within the budget are brilliant. This film is of a CULT STATUS so special-effects wise this film is legendary. Gabriel Bartalos is responsible for the excellent creature Aylmer. John Zacherle plays Aylmer's remarkable voice which is superbly done. This guy has gifted voice - no doubt about that!Henenlotter's direction is superb throughout the horrifying climax of the film. The scene at the very end of the film will send you running from your room screaming!!!So Mr. Hennenlotter if you need a protégé or someone to carry on your work your legacy I AM THAT MAN. Email me at [email protected]. Can't wait to make Brain Damage 2 - Aylmer's BACK!!!Expecting to hear from you sir.