Man with the Screaming Brain
Encyclopedia
Man with the Screaming Brain is a 2005
science fiction
/slapstick
film directed
by, co-written by, and starring Bruce Campbell
. It is Campbell's feature film
directorial debut. The film was co-written by David Goodman and co-stars Ted Raimi
.
it was shot in Bulgaria
instead, in order to save production costs.
The production was financed in part by the Sci Fi Channel
, where it was aired for the first time on television on September 25, 2005. It premiered on April 3, 2005 at the IHouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. It was supposed to premiere that same night at the Broadway Theater in Pitman, New Jersey
; however, that theater went bankrupt earlier in the week and a new venue was found (the IHouse).
Campbell then took the film with him on his book tour and it was shown at a limited number of theaters throughout the summer of 2005.
) is the wealthy CEO of a U.S.
drug company who travels to Bulgaria in the hopes of diversifying his company's financial interests. Cole is a stereotypical
ugly American
who constantly complains about the lack of Americanization
of the former communist country. He is accompanied on his trip by his wife, Jackie (portrayed by Antoinette Byron). They hire taxi
driver (and former KGB
agent) Yegor (played by Vladimir Kolev) to chauffeur them throughout their trip. William asks Yegor for help finding a piece of jewelry for his wife, and Yegor sells him a diamond ring.
William and Jackie have a fight, and she ends up having sex with Yegor. She walks in on William kissing the hotel maid, the gypsy Tatoya (played by Tamara Gorski
), Yegor's ex-fiancée. Tatoya steals Cole's money and the ring that he had planned to give his wife (which, it is later revealed, was once her engagement ring). He chases her, and she hits him over the head with a pipe, putting him in a coma. Yegor witnesses the attack, and Tatoya then kills Yegor with his own gun.
Dr. Ivan Ivanov (Stacy Keach
) and his assistant, Pavel (Raimi) have been developing an anti-rejection drug, and they have been trying to get Cole's attention. They obtain the bodies of William and Yegor and replace the damaged parts of William's brain with healthy tissue from Yegor's brain. For most of the remainder of the film, Cole has a very large scar on his head from the brain surgery.
When he awakes, Cole begins to realize that he is not alone in his brain; he sees his own death from Yegor's point of view. He begins to hear Yegor speaking to him inside his head. The two work together and vow to take revenge on the woman that killed them both.
Meanwhile, Jackie Cole seeks revenge on Tatoya as well. Jackie has had William's life support plug pulled. She finds Tatoya in her family's apartment, and Tatoya throws Jackie down the stairs, killing her. Dr. Ivanov and Pavel again obtain the body, this time transplanting her brain into a robot.
Robot-Jackie and William/Yegor chase Tatoya through the town. William/Yegor finally kills her, just as Robot-Jackie's batteries begin to fail. William/Yegor collapses after he and his wife reveal their true feelings for each other. Pavel takes the three bodies back to Dr. Ivanov.
The film ends with Cole alive and well, back in the United States, on his way to a brain trauma benefit. He is still sharing his brain with Yegor. His wife Jackie is also very much alive, though her brain has apparently been transplanted into Tatoya's body.
approval rating of 33%.
published a four-issue comic book
series based on the film.
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
film directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by, co-written by, and starring Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
. It is Campbell's feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
directorial debut. The film was co-written by David Goodman and co-stars Ted Raimi
Ted Raimi
Theodore "Ted"/"Half Ted" Raimi is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Lieutenant Tim O'Neill in seaQuest DSV and Joxer the Mighty in Xena: Warrior Princess/Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
.
Production
The story for Man with the Screaming Brain has existed in various forms since the mid 1980s. It was originally supposed to take place in East L.A., but after the fall of communismCommunism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
it was shot in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
instead, in order to save production costs.
The production was financed in part by the Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, where it was aired for the first time on television on September 25, 2005. It premiered on April 3, 2005 at the IHouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. It was supposed to premiere that same night at the Broadway Theater in Pitman, New Jersey
Pitman, New Jersey
Pitman is a Borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the borough population was 9,331.-Geography:Pitman is located at ....
; however, that theater went bankrupt earlier in the week and a new venue was found (the IHouse).
Campbell then took the film with him on his book tour and it was shown at a limited number of theaters throughout the summer of 2005.
Plot
William Cole (Bruce CampbellBruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
) is the wealthy CEO of a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drug company who travels to Bulgaria in the hopes of diversifying his company's financial interests. Cole is a stereotypical
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
ugly American
Ugly American
Ugly American is an epithet used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless and ethnocentric behavior of American citizens mainly abroad, but also at home...
who constantly complains about the lack of Americanization
Americanization
Americanization is the influence of the United States on the popular culture, technology, business practices, or political techniques of other countries. The term has been used since at least 1907. Inside the U.S...
of the former communist country. He is accompanied on his trip by his wife, Jackie (portrayed by Antoinette Byron). They hire taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
driver (and former KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent) Yegor (played by Vladimir Kolev) to chauffeur them throughout their trip. William asks Yegor for help finding a piece of jewelry for his wife, and Yegor sells him a diamond ring.
William and Jackie have a fight, and she ends up having sex with Yegor. She walks in on William kissing the hotel maid, the gypsy Tatoya (played by Tamara Gorski
Tamara Gorski
Tamara Gorski is a Canadian actress. She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.- Filmography :-External links:*...
), Yegor's ex-fiancée. Tatoya steals Cole's money and the ring that he had planned to give his wife (which, it is later revealed, was once her engagement ring). He chases her, and she hits him over the head with a pipe, putting him in a coma. Yegor witnesses the attack, and Tatoya then kills Yegor with his own gun.
Dr. Ivan Ivanov (Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
) and his assistant, Pavel (Raimi) have been developing an anti-rejection drug, and they have been trying to get Cole's attention. They obtain the bodies of William and Yegor and replace the damaged parts of William's brain with healthy tissue from Yegor's brain. For most of the remainder of the film, Cole has a very large scar on his head from the brain surgery.
When he awakes, Cole begins to realize that he is not alone in his brain; he sees his own death from Yegor's point of view. He begins to hear Yegor speaking to him inside his head. The two work together and vow to take revenge on the woman that killed them both.
Meanwhile, Jackie Cole seeks revenge on Tatoya as well. Jackie has had William's life support plug pulled. She finds Tatoya in her family's apartment, and Tatoya throws Jackie down the stairs, killing her. Dr. Ivanov and Pavel again obtain the body, this time transplanting her brain into a robot.
Robot-Jackie and William/Yegor chase Tatoya through the town. William/Yegor finally kills her, just as Robot-Jackie's batteries begin to fail. William/Yegor collapses after he and his wife reveal their true feelings for each other. Pavel takes the three bodies back to Dr. Ivanov.
The film ends with Cole alive and well, back in the United States, on his way to a brain trauma benefit. He is still sharing his brain with Yegor. His wife Jackie is also very much alive, though her brain has apparently been transplanted into Tatoya's body.
Reception
Screaming Brain received mixed reviews, earning a Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
approval rating of 33%.
Adaptations
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
published a four-issue comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series based on the film.