Brain Dead (1990)

Psychological horror can be one of the most effective techniques in cinema. Instead of being afraid of what's around the corner, you fear the reality of the situations you're in… what's real, what's not. Going deeper leads you to the ancient question of what, precisely, is reality and existence.

Brain Dead is a film that explores reality and perception very differently than others, even the similar Jacob's Ladder which came out at the same time. Instead of taking itself too seriously it relies on the comedy of the absurd and ridiculous. It's very much a sleeper cult flick, and I very much enjoy watching it.

You know you're in for a treat when you get to experience both Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton in all their 1990s glory. These guys were just becoming well known after Spaceballs and Aliens and had the balls to commit entirely to a bizarre B movie rendition of something you would see in a Twilight Zone episode. That's to be expected considering it was written by one of the head writers of the original series. What fascinates me about this film is how it's both goofy and serious, how it makes you laugh and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's an experience that defies genre and refuses to be neatly categorized.

Pullman plays a brain surgeon who has been researching abnormalities that cause mental illness. Paxton works for a large corporation that hires Pullman to perform his theoretical surgery on one of their employees who's gone mad but still might have classified mathematical equations knocking around in his head. After operating things start to get very weird and Pullman becomes a sort of victim on a psychotic roller coaster, with you in the seat next to him laughing maniacally. "By the perception of illusion we experience reality," Pullman mentions early on, and yes, the fun of this movie is to determine which is which.

When the end credits roll you probably won't know what to think or exactly how you feel, but you will have been thoroughly entertained.