Man With the Screaming Brain
Originally Written: August 2005
“Man With the Screaming Brain” is inspired silliness. Unapologetically B-grade in its’ production value, “Brain” is the culmination of a 19-year odyssey for B-movie god Bruce Campbell, who co-wrote, directed, and starred in the movie, made with the good graces (i.e. finances) of the people at the Sci-Fi Channel. It will be released on DVD in October, but through a bit of serendipitous luck I was able to see this film recently at Atlanta’s Landmark Midtown Art cinema. Making the event of particular delight was the fact that Campbell- best known for his role as Ash in buddy Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” trilogy and his recent triumph as an aged Elvis in the cult hit “Bubba ho-Tep”- was there in person, signing autographs and holding a Q&A session before the film.
Admittedly, I was less excited about the movie than the chance to see the man behind the movie (his 45 second cameo as “Snooty Usher” in “Spider-Man 2” changed my life), but I was excited to see the movie nonetheless. As Campbell himself will tell you, his career isn’t all great “Spider-Man” cameos or inspired horror-comic lunacy-turned-cult favorite- he’s made his share of shit over the years (there was a great feature on him in “Entertainment Weekly” last summer where he talks about some of his films). In production values and tone, “Man With the Screaming Brain” is closer to the shit than the super in his filmmography. But 10 minutes into the film, you’ll see that’s the point. This ham- both the movie and star- doesn’t take itself/himself too seriously, giving the film an endearingly goofy quality that no one with a sense of humor could ever take seriously. If you aren’t laughing hysterically with a stupid grin on your face as the movie ends, then you just aren’t on Campbell’s train of thought, and you probably never will be.
The story is just complex enough to make Ed Wood jealous- an American pharmacy big-wig (Campbell) and his wife- who haven’t gotten along for years- are in Bulgaria as the big-wig is looking to diversify his company’s interests. He gets a cab with smart-ass ex-Communist driver who he pays to drive him and his wife around while they go about their business. Meanwhile, across town (as we’re helpfully told), a scientist and his assistant (played by Ted Raimi, a Campbell buddy who is a massive ham to the point that he makes Campbell look subtle (as he helpfully told the audience in the Q&A preceeding the film)) are working on an experiment to combine cells from two different hosts in a way where they can coexist…or something like that. Long story short, the big-wig and his driver are killed by a heartbroken gypsy assassin who will later kill the wife (who screwed the driver before they all died), and the scientist combines both the big wig and the driver’s brains into a functioning whole, while having to resort to putting the wife’s brain into the body of his assistant’s dancing robot. It’s not long before the big wig (who has a huge scar from the experiment on his head) and his robot wife are on the loose in the city- doing separate things- while the geeky, incompetent assistant is on their tail. Hey, it’s like I said- if you aren’t down with Campbell’s train of thought, you probably won’t be ever.
But the movie wasn’t the main reason I was there. It was a good reason to be there- you probably won’t see a movie like it in its’ wonderfully entertaining absurdity all year- but not THE reason to be there. That was the great Mr. Campbell. I haven’t had the opportunity to see many filmmakers in person in my time as a movie buff, and I unfortunately missed the chance to get Campbell’s autograph on my copy of his best-seller “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-movie Actor” that I just started to read (reading about his childhood makes mine seem profoundly dull; of course, I’m an only child- he had two brothers). Still, the Q&A- and the movie- made this probably #2 all-time on my greatest moviegoing experiences, not far after going to see “Buffy’s” lovely Amber Benson in Birmingham in 2002 with the world premiere of her directorial debut “Chance,” followed by a Q&A (that experience is also chronicled on this website).
Now, if you didn’t know Bruce Campbell’s personality, he might have come off as a complete asshole during the Q&A. But I have read interviews, listened to commentaries, and seen the movies- it is who Bruce is. God bless him. If only more actors were willing to cut through the bullshit and stop being egotistical blowhards. Campbell is a breath of fresh air in that he understands and accepts his place in the Hollywood foodchain. And he loves the fans, and they love him. I haven’t heard such laughter in a theatre in a good long while as Campbell- with irrepressible wit and wizardry- made us lowly question-askers come off like complete dumbasses; I was afraid to ask him anything as a result, though later I was longing to ask him if he and buddy Sam Raimi’s ’73 “Classic” had patched things up after Campbell reportedly ordered an execution of the car on the set of Raimi’s “Crimewave” back in 1985. Hey, this is the kind of person Campbell is- I think he would have gotten a kick out of it…before kicking my ass verbally with vicious precision.
The subjects of the questions ranged from the absurd (one asked him about the pathos he brought to his cameo in “McHale’s Navy”) to the relevant (when asked about the role he’ll undoubtedly play in “Spider-Man 3,” he not only mentioned that he’s the only one to defeat Spidey- as “SM 2’s” Snooty Usher- but also that he would be playing Spider-Man in the third movie) to the highly comical (when concerns were voiced on the planned “Evil Dead” remake, he pointed out that they were looking at Ashton Kutcher in the lead, and asked the audience, “Who wouldn’t love to see Ashton Kutcher raped by a tree?”, pointing to one of “Dead’s” most disturbing scenes). The subject of the rumored “Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash” was brought up (to put it lightly, Campbell made plain he’s not interested), as was the status of “Bubba Nosferatu” (MGM’s purchase by Sony has it in limbo), “Evil Dead 4” (not as long as Sam Raimi is rolling in wheelborrows of “Spider-Man” cash), internet movie piracy (as one of the creators of movies, he’s against it), and a Bruce Campbell comic/documentary (a city is attacked by a giant monster, and bring in Bruce, only to see MORE damage occur). All in all, every bit of information a healthy film geek like yours truly needs to get through his sad, sorry existance of discussing movies on the internet.
As geeks wiser than me once said (OK, they’re not wiser, just pals of mine I went to Saturday night movie trivia with and still get all geeky with), “just wait until my chatroom hears about this.” An event of such high nerd importance can get no greater compliment from me at this time.
