Hi!
To conclude my Bruce Campbell segment of this month, I’ll be looking at quite a weird one: Campbell’s feature- film directorial debut, ‘Man with the Screaming Brain.’ It was made in 2005 for the Sci- Fi Channel and has a bit of the same modern- day B- movie feel that you’d see in that network’s movies, though it’s nowhere near as horrible as the usual crap you see in their made- for- TV movies.
Campbell plays William Cole, a rich and obnoxious American drug company CEO coming to Bulgaria with his wife in pursuit of a rather shifty business deal. They are shown around by a Russian cab driver named Yegor. The two men argue for a while about capitalism and Communism. Yegor is ex- KGB, so he’s not adjusting terribly well to life under capitalism, while William complains about how he doesn’t feel Bulgaria is Americanized enough. Cole’s wife Jackie, however, develops quite an attraction to Yegor, and the two go at it in his cab while William’s at a meeting.
At the same time, a mad scientist named Dr. Ivanov (Stacy Keach) and his idiot assistant Pavel (Ted Raimi) are on the verge of a scientific breakthrough in their study of perfecting organ transplants. They have created an anti- rejection drug similar to one that Cole’s company is working on, and through it have found a way of combining parts of multiple different brains so they can fuse together relatively seamlessly. The only things he could use are some more money and to be able to do a couple pesky little human trials to test it.
Both Yegor and Cole are killed in the same scene by the same woman: Tatoya , a beautiful yet scheming Gypsy hotel maid that Yegor used to be engaged to, and that Cole tried to hook up with. Pavel recovers their bodies so that Ivanovich can use them as guinea pigs for his experiment. The right side of Cole’s brain was damaged in the attack, so Ivanovich replaces it with a portion of healthy tissue from Yegor’s brain. This causes Yegor to sort of communicate telepathically with Cole, and form a kind of split personality with him. The two men sharing the same body decide after a while to work together to take down Tatoya and thus avenge both their deaths.
This is a weird, weird movie, and it does have some problems. One noticeable problem is that some of the dialogue scenes are a bit boring. Another is that Sam Raimi’s Pavel is a bit too annoying. I know he’s one of those characters who is supposed to be annoying, but he still got on my nerves. Also, the title is rather misleading, as Cole’s newly- altered brain never screams at him; Yegor’s voice talks to him occasionally, but usually in a calm voice. One last problem is that while Yegor mentions that he broke off the engagement with Tatoya, he never mentions why he did it.
Now, for what is good about ‘Man with the Screaming Brain.’ Of course, I must talk about the humor. There are quite a few intentionally funny parts in this movie, especially the physical comedy from segments in which the two brain personalities are fighting for control over Cole’s body, everything from what direction he walks in to what he should order in a restaurant. Also, the makeup effects for the huge surgery scars on Campbell’s head after the procedure look great. Speaking of whom, he again does a very good job in it. He starts the film acting like basically the ultimate epitome of the “Ugly American†as he’s lecturing Yegor in the cab, but it’s after the procedure when he really shines, through his great physical performance during the aforementioned split personality scenes. It’s similar to what Jim Carrey did in ‘Me, Myself and Irene.’
And so, that’s ‘Man with the Screaming Brain.’ It’s cheesy as hell, but definitely funny, and one of the few remotely good movies Sci- Fi Channel’s been involved with. If you’re a Campbell fan, give it at least one viewing.
That wraps up my Bruce Campbell theme of this month (I would have done one for his more recent film ‘My Name is Bruce,’ but I couldn’t find a copy; Maybe next year). Come back tomorrow to see what the next theme is.
