Brainscan | | Cast : | Edward Furlong, Frank Langella | | Director : | John Flynn | | Studio : | Columbia Tristar Hom | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | April 22, 1994 | | DVD Released Date : | April 01, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | April 08, 2005 | | Summary | Consciousness, Poetry, and Mayhem | Content
 | This movie is wicked. This movie is funny. And it is certainly wickedly funny. It will also change the way many people who watch it look at the world.
It delivers in every facet of movie making. Each of the main characters owns his role so thoroughly that the viewer can't imagine anyone else doing it. The cinematography is lush, the sound is riveting, and the pacing is so tense it's almost painful.
It is everything good that this sort of surrealist phantasy usually isn't. It is mind-blowingly weird, yet each step of the plot follows step like an equation. No character is a one-dimensional cartoon. Frank Langella manages to be ominous and sympathetic. Edward Furlong does the alienated teen bit but with a moral sense rare for that kind of part.
There are even scenes which are painfully gruesome to watch which yet leave the viewer chuckling when the movie is over in the same way that a really improbable punch line makes a joke memorable.
Nobody will think the money nor the time spent watching wasted. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 27, 2005 | | Summary | "GAME OVER, YOU LOSE!" | Content
| Without a doubt, this is one of the most entertaining horror flicks of the early 90s packed with plenty of suspense and thrills and of course, EYE CANDY! "Brainscan" is an incredibly fun, psychological nightmare that stars Edward Furlong (who also starred in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" in 1991) as troubled teen Michael Bower who lost his mother as a child and seldom ever gets to see his father who is always away on business trips. He finds refuge with close friend, Kyle (James Marsh) and his collection of violent low-budget horror movies, while having a crush on the sexy girl next door, Kim (Amy Hargreaves).
After reading an add for the all-new virtual reality game (the title name of the movie itself) in an issue of Fangoria magazine, Michael receives a trial version in the mail and decides to try it out, considering that it is claimed to be the ultimate experience in terror! The gameplay is simple: Michael must find and kill someone within a certain time limit, or it's Game Over! But soon, Brainscan turns out to be more than just a game when Michael discovers that people die for REAL!
The police arrive to the scene of the crime and Michael must clear his name off the list of suspects with the help of the mischievous Trickster (a creepy and campy performance by T. Ryder Smith) However, to do this he must continue playing all four parts of the game. The only problem is that now the whole neighborhood is on the search for the serial killer and Michael will have to remain anonymous, while destroying all pieces of evidence before the clock runs out! A(n) original plot and script, great acting, and awesome special effects make up this 1994 low-budget blockbuster hit! Take my word for it, there normally isn't that many good modern horror flicks, but this is one of the very few that actually ARE! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! :) |
| Rating | | | Date | February 24, 2005 | | Summary | are you playing the game? or is it playing you? | Content
| you have to ask yourself that when you see this comical, sick and twisted and powerful sci fi adventure/ horror movie
the ending is brilliant
the cast is amazind
Edward Furlong could never let me down with the roles he does
he was amazing in the Terminator 2 movie. he was amazing in Pet Semetary 2. he'll never let me down
I have this on dvd
saw it when I was 14 with my dad for rent on vhs
the visuals and story haunted me
that's how powerful this movie is
it really lets you realize that sometimes the game you play is the real life thing and what you thought you didn't really do you really did ;)
a lesson learned from this movie you will get
I could watch this again and again
truly a great movie |
| Rating | | | Date | January 29, 2005 | | Summary | A strange, curious little movie | Content
| I liked Brainscan when I was younger but it seems a bit dated now, even for a film made in 1994. It just makes such a big deal out of CD-ROM technology. I guess the only game out back then was Myst.
Michael Brower (Furlong) is a lonely kid. His mother is dead and his dad is often away on long business trips leaving him alone in his attic bedroom with his massive computer station big enough to be the Skynet system core (one presumes his dad is computer salesman or something). Horror movies are his obsession and spying on his would-be girlfriend next door breaks up the day. For him, life is easier when seen through a TV rather than dealing with it up front.
His attention is drawn to an ad in Fangoria, a video game called Brainscan which promises the ultimate high in interactive gaming. It's a horror game that is so real it'll chill your blood etc etc. Michael is sceptical but goes along with it anyway. He dials the number and gets his (apparently free) Brainscan disc.
The object of the game is to kill and that's exactly what Michael does. He's sent into a state of deep hypnosis through the TV and wakes up on his ultimate killing high. So THIS is what it feels like to be Jason Voorhees!
Trouble is it appears that Michael really is killing people and when he tries to shut the game down wonderfully mad character called The Trickster pops out of the TV and involves himself in conversations regarding the nature of horror that become a bit too philosophical.
Brainscan ends with a plot twist that is quite ingenius and caught me totally off-guard the first time I saw it. However, a couple of plot points that occur after this make no sense and throw the whole logic of the plot into confusion. Written by Andrew Kevin Walker (the very man who gave us Se7en and 8mm) you can expect there to be a certain tightness to the structure of the film but it seems to be to small and restricted for it's own good. If more opportunities created by the bizarre story were explored and fleshed out it could have been a great film instead of only being a good one.
The Brainscan DVD is in average looking 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with average Dolby 2.0 sound. The region 1 disc is really the only way to go as the Region 2 is in crappy fullscreen. Neither have any features. Don't pay more than 5 bucks this if you really want it. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 08, 2004 | | Summary | Want to Play? | Content
| Wow. This was an experience. A horror movie that's actually different than the typical 'I-wear-a-mask-and-kill-you' fare that seemingly never ends. Edward Furlong, pre-drug crisis, plays a kid who gets this new video game called "Brainscan". It supposed to be the ultimate experience in terror. He doesn't believe it, but once he plays, it becomes apparent that it's true.
The game, it appears, peers into your psyche and what makes you tick. Furlong has a problem with his principal in real life, in the game he sees himself kill the principal in the middle of the night. Then, the incidents happening in the game begin to become real. More deaths happen. And more. Frank Langella plays a detective that's suspicious of the kid, 'cause he appears in the area every time there's a murder. Furlong wants everything to stop, ...but he has to finish the game to end it all.
Horror fans will like this movie. It's something rare: Different. |
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