Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)

Over at my film review gig for 366WeirdMovies, the odd reader or colleague has been given to wonder: Do I have a bias in picking out what movies to review? Well of course I do, and don’t let any reviewer tell you different. You can see that I try to tie together my two last remaining blogging gigs (the ol’ bloggin’ biz ain’t what she used to be), as often as not.

Brainscan (1994) was not one of those picks. It was a reader request – you know how you Lyrics Interpretation readers nominate new songs to discuss in our huge discussion archive? Readers at 366 Weird Movies suggest a weird movie to review, then we reviews share the trough. That’s how Brainscan came to me – but I admit, the ‘90s grungecore mall rat in me senses a gravitational pull to this movie for far different reasons.

That fire soundtrack! I do mention a few of the more recognizable band names (given a 2024 audience) near the end of the review, but now we can go over those selections in detail. But first, let me settle your curiosity about the film here:

Brainscan is Actually a Fun Watch Anyway

Unlike some other film soundtracks I’ve hashed out here over the years, I can make a light recommend for this film. It is first of all a movie that had its finger on the cultural pulse of 1994, making it a near time capsule. It is well-made and entertaining – IF! - you have a stomach for cheesy horror/sci-fi. The movie takes itself just the right amount of not-that-seriously. As I point out in the review, the high audience rating it has signifies a cult classic for some. I would call it “a Wes-Craven-knock-off” at my least generous.

Briefly: It’s a satirical take on the “dangerous video games” panic of 1994. Boy orders game, plays it, it possesses him, boogies abound. The young man in question: Michael (post-Terminator Edward Furlong) and his nerd friend Kyle (Jamie Galen) discover a hot new game in some Nintendo-Power-type rag. Michael orders a CD – after an impressive phone sale – and the game turns out to be a “murder simulator” – only the murders appear to be happening in real life. Michael tries to quit the game, but this utterly hideous in-game avatar called “the Trickster” (played by T. Ryder Smith with all the gusto he had in him) pops out and forces him to play through to the end. Meanwhile a police detective (utterly wasted Frank Langella) closes in on his case. In short, Michaels’ whole life goes to hell in a ham-basket from an “extreme” video game.

Why, yes, on paper, that premise sounds dumb as wood. In execution, the pumping soundtrack and decent-for-1994 special effects, combined with the Trickster’s wacky antics, makes a cheesily entertaining movie that could fit somewhere next to Wes Craven’s Shocker (1989) or Wishmaster (1997). High-concept horror/sci-fi/thrillers aimed at an energetic audience whose blood-Red-Bull rating is pushing 0.8. It is delightful cinematic junk food, but I’m not about to tell anyone that their life is not complete for lacking a viewing. Not that great, maybe not that memorable.

Brainscan Soundtrack: Perfect 1994 snapshot

Let’s start with my pick of the 1994 Brainscan soundtrack:

Primus – Welcome to This World

From their Pork Soda album, Primus’ “Welcome to This World” is classic distilled Primus, made out of bizarre atonal riffs on what sounds like a host of twanging rubber bands, with Les Claypool’s demented genie voice chanting lockjaw lyrics that are all madness and mayhem. The song gets a special highlight in the film (I include the scene in the video movie review), as the “Trickster” chooses it from Michael’s music collection and puts it on the stereo, commencing to frolic to it until Michael gets him to knock it off.

Mudhoney – Make It Now

Here I already praised Mudhoney’s presence in the 1992 (otherwise forgettable) film Singles, and here they are again. Mudhoney is just an unappreciated band, one of the first to define grunge’s possibilities and build the bridge to alternative rock by the late 90s. Everything by Mudhoney sounds like only Mudhoney could have made it, as opposed to the many wanna-be grungers who copied Pearl Jam or Nirvana and called it a day.

Butthole Surfers – Leave Me Alone

Far from the Butthole Surfer’s only classifiable hit (“Pepper”), “Leave Me Alone” is here to remind you that they are primarily a noise rock band, here not so much playing their instruments as flaying them alive at 90 miles an hour. Still, you can not ask for a more counter-commercial sound than mid-90s Butthole Surfers. I confess, I do like the occasional noise rock single, even if it doesn’t fit onto any of my favorite playlists. It’s pure anarchy in audio form.

White Zombie – Thunder Kiss ‘65

Is this starting to sound like the best of mid-1990s, or what? Enough with the atonal hiccups and noise rock, here’s the very danceable “Thunder Kiss 65” from White Zombie’s break-out (and third) album La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One. Volume two: not yet heard from. White Zombie brings their groove-metal sound in a video vaguely scented with Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fun fact, “La Sexorcisto” is a reference to the 1975 nunsploitation flick Satanico Pandemonium: La Sexorcista – the same movie which inspired the Selma Hayak character in From Dusk Till Dawn(1996). We’ll leave you with that mental image of Quentin Tarantino sucking on a toe…

Dandelion – Under My Skin

Speaking of derivative 90s grunge acts, here’s the all-too-permissible Nirvana-clones Dandelion. They were actually one of the first to ride the grunge wave of popularity, getting a few MTV spots and a slot on Beavis & Butthead. Unlike their Seattle counterparts, they hailed all the way from Philadelphia. While it’s not very fair to call them Nirvana-clones exactly, Dandelion faded out fast after failing to distinguish themselves from the rest of the 90s alternative pack. Still, banging tune, even if the ghost of Kurt Cobain is haunting it.

Tad – Grease Box

Poor Tad! Nobody remembers them, but they were once good enough to open for Soundgarden, and played on numerous album labels throughout the 90s. The lead, eponymous singer Tad Doyle even had a part in the aforementioned Singles. True, “Grease Box” indeed sounds like it could have worked just as well as a Stone Temple Pilots or Soundgarden song, but Tad was pretty darn good! They had some bad luck by being too daring with some label art, and generally never caught that lucky break to top billing. Still, banging tune from the top of their form.

All in All, a Prime mid-90s Snapshot!

Rounding out the rest of the soundtrack is more mid-90s grunge hangers-on like Pitchshifter, Alcohol Funnycar, and O.L.D.. Not to be mistaken, George S. Clinton – not the funk musician – does the soundtrack’s main theme, which belongs more in a slasher flick but gets jammed in here as a hybrid theme for this hybrid of a movie.

Wedged between cyberpunk and horror, Brainscan may be no more than a cinematic curiosity, but its soundtrack is a time warp to 1994, so authentically grunge that it sweats Teen Spirit.

 

###