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The Brain  (1988)
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(Foreign Titles)
Tagline(s):Mind Over Matter.
 The Pounding of the Afterbrain Signals Vengeance and Death!
 Out of the heavens comes an evil brain, whose mind controls the channels.
 Catch the latest wave in shock cinema! Imagine a pulsating mass of alien grey matter with a thirst for knowledge and an appetite for human flesh! THE BRAIN is cold-blooded terror at its mind blowing best - that will give you plenty of food for thought!
Nomination Year: 1992
SYNOPSIS: 

As a troubled teenager, one would think Jim would be used to not being believed, but this time he's telling the truth. A hideous Monster Brain from Outer Space has landed in his suburban town and, with the help of a human lackey, is taking over the minds of the populace through psychic waves transmitted over the local television signal.

As if that weren't bad enough, Jim and his girlfriend Janet have a bigger problem -- the whole town's after them! And if it isn't stopped, the mutant, man-eating, alien Brain will soon take over the world!

Bryan Cassidy
Smithee Award Nominations
Smithee Award Winner! Oblivious
If You Hurry, You Can Still Head 'Em Off!
Our two youths are in a tight spot. They've been arrested, sure, but that's not the half of it. An axe-weilding maniac, Dr. Brain's toady, has just decapitated the arresting officer. The pair takes off. The chubby maniac can't keep up, but he has a better idea. Here comes another cop car! So he flags down the passing police cruiser with the bloody axe and yells: "It's that kid! He's crazy! He killed him -- chopped his head clean off! They went that way!" Of course, the cops head off to chase the teens. The henchman drops the axe and leaves.
Stupidest-Looking Monster
Brain Food
Our teens are in a tight spot (again). They're being chased by the murderous fat henchman (Verna) through a boiler room. They round the corner. Verna rounds the opposite corner. Bam! They all run slap into the Brain itself, finishing the last bites of our heroes' friend Willie! The Brain looks kinda like a giant foam brain, but with some major differences: It's got a huge, angry face on it, complete with eyes, a tentacular tongue, and a gaping maw. Poor Willie!
"WHAT?!"
The Great Hood-ini
Having escaped from the axe-weilding lunatic, they hide out in the local (closed) high school. Problem: they're each wearing a set of handcuffs. So the boy pops off down to the metal shop to look for something to free them, while the girl makes an obligatory "Don't-worry-about-me-Daddy-I'm-all-right" call, so as to let her mind-controlled father find out where they are; but I digress. In the metal shop, the boy has located just the thing: a pair of long-handled bolt cutters! We see him pick them up with his cuffed hands. Next thing you know, the camera's cut to the hallway, where the girl has just hung up the phone. Walking down the hallway is the boy, bolt cutters in one hand, broken handcuffs in the other. Now there is no way in Heck he'd have been able to free himself with those cutters, if you think about it. The cutters rely on leverage, which means you have to grasp the handles at the widest part to do anything with them -- and the cuffs would have prevented him from moving his hands apart. Plus, even if he could have done that, he'd have had to be cutting toward himself, another sticky leverage problem. You'd have to be a Toon to use those things without help, but then, you wouldn't need them.
Directors
Director Claim to Fame
Ed Hunt Director of Bad Sci-Fi! Plague, Starship Invasions, Alien Warrior, Point of No Return and more! 
Cast
Actor Character Claim to Fame
Tom Bresnahan Jim Majelewski Tried to launch a film career, but ended up in Bad movies like The Brain (Jim), Mirror, Mirror (Jeff), and The Kingdom (Rex Burr). Did some small parts on TV. Sometimes his name was spelled "Breznahan." 
Cynthia Preston Janet AKA "Cyndy Preston," this Canadian/American (both, thus the slash, not a hyphen) beauty played lots of small TV parts, voiced Princess Zelda on "The Legend of Zelda" cartoon, played Faith Roscoe on "General Hospital," and Sarah Monroe in Prom Night III: The Last Kiss
David Gale Dr. Anthony Blakely You've probably seen this long-faced character actor playing some baddie or would-be-distinguished scientist. Was Dr. Carl Hill in the Re- Animator franchise; Fulton Balcus in The Guyver; and Rusty Sentell, Sr. on "Search for Tomorrow." 
George Buza Verna Hefty and mustachioed (and often bearded), you've no doubt seen him as a heavy or a sidekick to both heroes and villains. Was Doubar on "The Adventures of Sinbad" TV show; Turner Edison on "Maniac Mansion"; and Chief Jake McKenna on "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show." Voices a lot of cartoons, including Hank "The Beast" McCoy in the "X- Men" franchise and Grandpa Granger on "Beyblade." 
Christine Kossak Vivian AKA "Christine Kossack," only did this, Three Men and a Baby (one of Jack's girls), and Where the Heart Is (as a runway model). 
Susannah Hoffmann Becky Did four episodes of "Anne of Avonlea" as Jen Pringle; Elissa Fleiss in Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss; and Susan Melbourne in Millennium. Also spelled "Hoffman." 
Steve Mousseau The Weird Man Roy in Darkman II: The Return of Durant. Plays lots of background TV cops. 
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