From the director of BASKET CASE comes his second feature, and this one's his best. And we also get a Collector's Edition DVD from Synapse with a couple of extra goodies.

There's a parasite loose in an apartment building named 'Elmer' who infects a guy named Brian (Rick Herbst) and addicts him to his blue 'juice'. In order to get more juice, Brian has to bring Elmer some more brains to eat. Elmer even smiles and sings in the bathroom sink. What a cute little turd. (laughs) He's so detestably obnoxious that I can't help but like the little b***ard.

It's kinda neat that when Brian brings Elmer out, he attacks people by latching onto their foreheads and burrowing into his victims skulls and eating out their brains with what looks like a long straw. Most of the jerks Elmer does this to, deserve it anyway.

This collector's edition DVD restores the long censored fellatio scene where Elmer pops out of Brian's pants and goes down the prostitute's mouth. And when Elmer's done eating, big hunks of gray matter come popping out of the hooker's mouth. It's a riot!

And there's also the scene where Brian hallucinates during his withdrawal from Elmer's blue 'juice' and imagines pulling a string of tissue out his ear until his ear pops out and the side of his head gushes blood. Cool gore scene.

The Synapse DVD uses an excellent wide-screen print with a great 80s synth soundtrack that includes the song, "Corruption" by The Swimming Pool Qs. Not at all like the crummy, muddy-looking censored VHS tape from a few years back. The only drawback is that there aren't many extras beyond a very interesting separate audio track commentary by director Henenlotter, and a movie trailer for the film.

It's an all out classic in my book. Watch it! Get it!

8 out of 10

In the overall mainstream horror business of the 80's, the few movies directed by Frank Henenlotter were an absolute relief and a breath of fresh air. His movies are weird tales that take place in dark and depressive surroundings. The budget he spends on his productions are kept very limited but that really gets compensated by a lot of creativity, inspiration and humor. Brain Damage actually has a lot in common with that other quickie of his, Basket Case. Except that this movie is a lot more light-headed and Frank inserts a lot more comedy aspects here. But not your ordinary kind of comedy. Twisted and perverse humor is a better term to describe it.

SPOILERS AHEAD ***** Brain Damage handles about a young man, named Brian, who gets taken over by some sort of reptile creature. It feeds on brains and he uses Brian to find victims. In exchange for that, he provides Brian by visions and good feelings that are caused by a juicy liquid. The creature - Aylmer - takes complete control of Brian and makes him start a killing spree in his neighborhood. **** END SPOILERS. Brain Damage is a lot less atmospheric than Basket Case and that's all due to the portrayal of the creatures in both movies. Basket Case's Belial is a terrifying monster while Aylmer is a funny looking puppet. His eyes make him almost look cute and his voice is too stylish. But, don't let that spoil the fun because Brain Damage really is a must for low budget cult freaks and admirers of exceptional horror movies. Gorehounds will like it for the huge amount of blood that is shed and the bit more critical fan will appreciate it for its originality. Recommended.