Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
pesic-1 This is one of Campbell's best films, that actually benefits from the low budget. The casting is good, the production team is competent, Bulgaria is... Bulgaria. However, there are moments when direction becomes underwhelming or when the script shows certain weaknesses. With a better director and after a re-write of the script the film could have become a classic. Nevertheless, it is a very entertaining film that knows exactly what it is, and it never gets boring. One of my personal objections is that the mad scientist isn't really that mad, and that his laboratory looks unbelievably dull. Also, his assistant is not given enough to do in the film, which is a shame. Ultimately the Russian guy steals the show, and it doesn't feel that much like a Bruce Campbell film. Interestingly enough, at times Campbell looks like John Cleese, which is weird.
Bezenby Anyone who is a fan/stalker of Bruce probably knows that he's been trying to make this film for about 20 years or something, and now that he's finally managed to birth his own movie baby the question is this: Is it good? I've had to import the copy I watched from America for my misssusususus birthday, so I dunno where people in the UK are gonna get their copy. I'm not entirely sure of the full story of the making of this film, but the cover has the artwork taken straight from the comic books of the same story (dunno what came first like), so from the outset it looks like Bruce is aiming for a kind of kooky b-movie niche type movie.good? I'm getting to that bit...William Cole (Bruce Campbell, from the last 20 seconds of Darkman and Moontrap) and his wife Jennifer are two overfed, rich American upper middle class corporate types who head to Bulgaria to spread democracy and create and wee tax break. They don't like each other much either, because he's a loudmouth moron and she's a spoilt bitch. However, after meeting taxi driver Igere (I think) and mental murderous gypsy Tatanya, their lives are changed forever or something.BASICALLY Bruce ends up getting killed, and so does Igere. Luckily Stacy Keach (Long Riders) and Ted Raimi (from Seaquest DSV) are two scientists who have just almost perfected a method of getting cells to live with each other, and Bruce becomes their new subject.So that's the set up: Murderous gypsy baddie, Bruce with two brains, and Ted Raimi being Ted (which is good) - Just when I thought that the film was awfully draggy and uneventful, it turned out that Bruce was deliberately acting subdued so that when he did start fighting himself and screaming it worked all the better. You get what you'd expect from Bruce here, rather than the sublime performance we got in the ittedly better Bubba Ho-Tep. But f*ck it - I want to see Bruce punching himself in the face! And Ted doing the slapstick bit! This is a film for Bruce fans, mainly. Ted's in there too, so you're basically getting two for the price of one. For a directional debut (save for episodes of Xena) Bruce does okay, although the lack of budget stands out a mile (not a really a problem that though). There's maybe a slight lack of originality to what he does here, but it's an entertaining 90 mins nonetheless.The DVD has a good few extras on it too, and unlike other DVD extras, I'm always willing to watch Bruce Campbell blabbing on about this and that. He's just a likable fellow, which is why we love him.See it now if your a Bruce fan or a fan of kooky low-budget films. Those expecting otherwise may be disappointed.
Coventry 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.
Stanley Strangelove I like Bruce Campbell from his Evil Dead and Army of Darkness roles so I was hoping The Man With The Screaming Brain would be better than it is. Unfortunately most of it is a bore. There is some good satire at the beginning of the film then it degenerates into a wannabe horror film. Ted Raimi steals the show doing a Shemp Howard (Three Stooges) impersonation which is certainly over the top but it's the only funny thing in the movie. The two women in the film look great -- Antoinette Byron and especially Tamara Gorski with her fiery eyes. Vladimir Kolev as Yegor the cab driver is very good. Stacy Keach is wasted, another aging actor placed in a horror film like so many have been in the past.You can see Bruce Campbell trying to pay homage to Sam Raimi's directorial style in a few scenes. Filmed in Bulgaria.
