A Videodrome for the teen set? An excuse to show off an impressive low-budget brain monster that eats people? A chance to see Canadians chop heads off and stab each other with scissors and chainsaws during the Christmas season? The Brain is all of that and so much less.
It’s about this juvenile delinquent who’s so out of control that his high school and his parents both agree to send him to a skin-crawly TV psychologist played by the great David Gale (of Re-Animator sorta fame). Unbeknownst to everyone, David Gale hypnotizes his audience through the air waves, gives his patients freaky hallucinations and creates a bloodthirsty creature behind the locked doors of his lab. Things are running smoothly until our teenager, a Tom Cruise-y kid, turns out to be a little more resourceful than the doctor’s previous victims. At the very least, Canadian Tom Cruise knows how to make good use of basic chemicals and crazy glue. When he busts out of custody with a head full of hallucinations that slime beasts are after him, the chase is on to tune of the usual 80s synthesizers and programmed beats. Most memorable moment: The closing credits warning about flushing pure sodium down the toilet! Second most memorable moment: When the pro-wrestler-looking doctor’s assistant demonstrates his skills with an axe on the weasely local cop.