Self-proclaimed B-actor Bruce Campbell makes his directorial debut with Man with the Screaming Brain (which he also co-wrote), a modest film shot on location entirely in beautiful downtown Bulgaria — luckily, the action is supposed to take place there so we’re not expected to believe our characters are actually in New York or L.A.
While the film itself is modest, the complex plot most certainly is not. As Campbell himself describes it: “Man with the Screaming Brain is a story of greed, betrayal and revenge in the former Eastern European block. William Cole, wealthy industrialist, goes looking for a tax shelter in the wrong part of the world and winds up the guinea pig for a mad scientist, having his brain merged with that of Yegor, a former KGB operative. The two couldn’t be more different, but they share one thing - both were killed by the same woman. William and Yegor form an unlikely partnership to track down their common nemesis. If I were pitching it in Hollywood, I’d say it’s The Out-of-Towners with a brain transplant.” (Of course, he has also been known to describe the movie as: “Man. Brain. Screaming.”)
Campbell plays Cole and his main costars — Ted Raimi, Stacy Keach, Vladimir Kolev, Antoinette Byron and Tamara Gorski — are well-cast, keeping up with him ably. The movie serves as a fond reminder of mad scientist fare from the classics (Young Frankenstein) to the clunkers (They Saved Hitler’s Brain); and while leaning more toward the clunker side, Man With the Screaming Brain is entertaining enough. It begins to wear thin during a long sequence showing how Cole and Yegor get along when each of them share half a brain in one body; there’s the old shtick of each of them wanting something different at a restaurant (shades of Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin in All of Me), not agreeing on which outfit to wear (take your pick of Freaky Fridays), and finally, the self-beating-up-self scene (no-one, um, beats Ed Norton in Fight Club).
The chase and brawl scenes are amusing and as I mentioned, the casting is right on. Gorski is especially good as the psychotic femme fetale who wears a wedding dress and packs a punch. Raimi practically steals the show as the rappin’, scratchin’ scientist assistant with an affinity for robotics. Kolev is funny as the former KGB operative-turned-Gypsy-cabbie. And of course, Campbell scores as the selfish smartass who turns out to have a heart of gold.
The way in which the loose ends in the film are tied up (no spoilers here) is both humorous and rewarding, but unfortunately by the time you get there you might have a worse headache than the proverbial Man.
While Man with the Screaming Brain is not a great film by anyone’s stretch — it’s more silly than screamingly funny — it’s still borderline refreshing to see something other than a Hollywood remake mangling a classic or an A-horror featuring yet another long-haired girl-ghost.
Additional release material on the DVD includes some interesting and entertaining commentary from Campbell and his producer on the film, David M. Goodman. Most of the time they are just stating the obvious (“…and now, Cole is going to drive away…”) but when they aren’t doing that they reveal some fascinating insights to the making of a low-budget film in this day and age where anyone with a video camera can be a bona fide filmmaker. Some of the factoids aren’t quite so fascinating… I could have lived without the knowledge that one of their main locations was the community bathroom for the city’s homeless population. There are also two Making-of featurettes (Brain Surgeons, and Neurology 101), storyboards, and art from the Man With the Screaming Brain comic book.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
