The Man With The Screaming Brain

Film: The Man With The Screaming Brain
Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy
Director: Bruce Campbell
Year: 2005
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Stacy Keach, and Ted Raimi



Bruce Campbell is one of the coolest cats of all time, and there is no denying that (it's a scientific fact.) But, can a man known for being a mainstay in B-movies keep one from being a stinker? Only time will tell... or perhaps watching some of his lesser known works might as well. The Man With The Screaming Brain is a film made for the Sci-Fi channel (before it's mutation into Sy-Fy), and was directed by Campbell, and shot on location in Bulgaria.

Rich medical industrialist William Cole (Campbell) and his wife travel to Bulgaria to complete a business deal, when tragedy strikes. After arriving in Bulgaria Cole, his wife, and a former KGB agent turned taxi driver are killed by an insane gypsy woman. Meanwhile a scientist (Keach) and his assistant (Raimi) have developed a process in which two halves of separate brains can inhabit the same cranium, allowing for knowledge from one to be passed on. Following their demise Cole and the taxi driver end up stuck in Cole's head, and Cole's wife is eventually placed in a robot body. With the body mix, Cole sets out to get the woman who killed him and his wife, thinking revenge is the way to mental peace.

This movie is a modern day B-movie, with a low budget, few actors, absurd plot, and use of cheesy and simple effects. The sets are fairly minimalistic, with Keach's laboratory being the most elaborate, but then again how many of those old black and white sci-fi films had fantastic production design? The acting is extremely hammy, mainly with Ted Raimi's performance leaving no scenery without a chewed quality. Along with all this silliness the use of stock sound effects makes it all seem rather cartoonish, the cheesy sound of many people gasping left me snickering every time.

I've gone on about the absurdity of the film, but in all actuality it does not take itself seriously at all. Had it been made by people who believed this to be their masterpiece, and felt it as a work of art it would be something completely bad, and an example of naive camp. But this is really more a loving tribute to those b-movies of old, giving a loving homage to the underdog film maker who just wanted to tell their stories, entertain, and make some money as a side-note.


Memorable moments:
• After a chase taking place on a pink Vespa Cole falls off of the scooter and it slams into a car. In an anti-climax it only makes a wee-spark instead of an explosion.


(As the Cool Scale uses Bruce Campbell as a benchmark for maximum coolness, I have decided that in the case of a Bruce Campbell movie being reviewed, Steve Buscemi will represent the apex of coolality.)