Brian Owens Movies
Unlike most teen horror movies, Brainscan relies more on atmosphere and plot than gore and bloodsoaked effects. Edward Furlong plays Michael, a 16-year-old horror movie fan, computer whiz, and misfit who responds to an ad for Brainscan, an CD-ROM virtual reality game that promises to "interface with your unconscious." Once involved with the game, Michael dreams that he brutally stabs a stranger and slices off his foot -- only to awaken and find the foot in his refrigerator. Out of Michael's computer comes Trickster (T. Ryder Smith), a sardonic, malevolent creation who advises Michael to keep playing new editions of Brainscan to evade capture by a suspicious cop (Frank Langella). With a death count that is relatively low and mostly offscreen (amputated feet notwithstanding), Brainscan doesn't make up for its lack of onscreen violence with a particularly original script, although it should be commended for not taking the easy way out. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, (more)
A pointless and ill-advised return to the slasher movie formula -- which had long since worn out its questionable welcome by the mid-'80s. This silly endeavor begins with a hazing stunt perpetrated by pledges of the Phi Delta fraternity, who try to break into a local insane asylum to take a photograph of the homicidal Father Malius (Charles Cragin). Malius, we're told, was responsible for the deaths of several college students nearly 30 years before, and is merely biding his time until he finds the opportunity to kill again. The foolish pledges set off a chain of events allowing Malius to make his escape, whereupon he makes a beeline for his former killing grounds with pickax in hand. From this point forward we're treated to an amalgam of every tired slasher cliche in the book. The only noteworthy element of this dismal production is the brief presence of Darren McGavin, who looks rather disinterested until his lively "surprise" death scene. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
