Antionette Byron, Antoinette Byron, Bruce Campbell

The Man with the Screaming Brain is cult superstar Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead 2), who also makes his directorial debut in this loopy blend of '50s-style science fiction thrills and slapstick com...( read more  read more... )edy. Campbell plays a businessman who meets an untimely end at the hands of a vicious Gypsy femme fatale, who has also done in her ex-fiancée, an KGB-agent-turned-taxi-driver. Mad doctor Stacy Keach provides a solution for both men by stitching together their brains inside Campbell's dome; with no other option but to work together, the pair sent out to find their killer. What results is a broadly funny and frantic showcase for Campbell's physical comedy skills, with Ted Raimi (Spider-Man, Xena) offering hilarious support as Keach's wacky assistant. Campbell fanatics will appreciate the DVD's extras, which include a featurette on the film's lengthy gestation (18 years from conception to completion), and commentary by Campbell and producer David Goodman; a trailer, behind-the-scenes footage, and storyboards round out the supplemental features. --Paul Gaita

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46% liked it

1,335 ratings

Critics

36% liked it

11 critics

Unrated, 90 min.

Directed by: Bruce Campbell

Release Date: April 3, 2005

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DVD Release Date: October 4, 2005

Stats: 512 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (512)


  • September 30, 2009
    Being a big Bruce Campbell fan, I may be a bit biased in giving this film such a high rating. The story is fantastic as is the acting but it just seems like years of Bruce and co trying to get the film made, seeking financial backing and getting it from the Sci-fi channel, has co...( read more)me at too much of a compromise. Shot in Bulgaria back to back with Alien Apocalypse to save money really changed the original script and story and Bruce and Co did really well to work around that. I do feel that their baby was not as great as it could have been thanks to the short sightedness of the producers and I don't blame them for finally giving in. All that said though, they did a fantastic job, this film is a Cinematographer and a higher budget short of being the most classic of cult films ever! Shame, but still very much worth a watch.
  • February 21, 2009
    A great time. One outragiously funny and original movie that has the old school 1950's sci-fi style and material. It packs great laughs, mayham and crazyness. Bruce Campbell brings his great nack for comedy as well as a great directional debut, proving he can handle being the sta...( read more)r and crafting his own film.
  • January 27, 2009
    In this Sci Fi original type movie Bruce Campbell loses all of his good Indie cred by doing his same old tired schtick.
  • September 5, 2008
    Bruce is alright, but the movie needed some help. These made for sci fi movies should be b movies, but they often aren't good enough to even be that.
  • June 9, 2007
    Bruce Campbell rocks!!! This is ultimate B-movie cheese, intentional for a change (at least I THINK it's intentional) and as long as you're not expecting Citizen Kane, a lot of fun.
  • September 4, 2009
    Love Bruce Campbell so much. This movie is funny.
  • August 30, 2009
    Typical B-Movie fare, not even Bruce Campbell could lure me into enjoying this...
  • June 30, 2009
    bruce campbell made two amazing movies. This is not one of them. Theres is one really good cat fight though.
  • June 23, 2009
    If you are a Bruce Campbell fan, this film is for you, for it boasts no less than three of them: screenwriter Bruce Campbell, director Bruce Campbell and actor Bruce Campbell, the last of whom is probably the one you are already familiar with. All three of them are rumoured actua...( read more)lly to be the same man, under three different hats, presumably to hide the ugly scars on his forehead.

    Had I seen Carl Reiner's "The Man With Two Brains", I would probably say this film is a rip off, but since I haven't, I won't suggest any such thing. "The Man with the Screaming Brain" does involve a kind of brain transplant, and a lot of (not too bright or too original) slapstick humour about a body (Campbell's) controlled by two different and generally disagreeing wills: that of an obnoxious and patronising American CEO, and that of a very Yegor and resourceful Bulgarian taxi driver.

    Other characters include a gynoid (which I believe was called P-Money Mobot), an overly made-up Bulgarian femme fatale with an evil grin, Stacy Keach as a would- be Nobel-Prize-winning Bulgarian scientist and Ted Raimi (the other Raimi's little brother) as his completely goofy assistant - the presence of so many Bulgarians, of course, being due to the film's being set in Bulgaria.

    This kind of film rests on its silliness and preposterousness reaching a certain critical mass, but I'm afraid it doesn't quite make it and fails to really achieve the campiness of, say, "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra." However, there are some rather brilliant stunts rivalling anything from the James Bond movies, such as the one involving a clothesline, a pink Vespa and a nondescript, stationary Eastern block car.

    My favorite parts were the robot dance (though I've seen much more impressive stuff on YouTube, but I have a soft spot for the form) and the rap song that plays over the end credits, which suggests that my reason for not giving this film more stars is not that it was too stupid for me.
  • April 5, 2009
    Terrible. But Funny. Nice rapping Ted Raimi. Probably just for Bruce & Ted fans.

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