The Film (5/5)

    I have practically been begging for Frank Henenlotter's Brain Damage to hit Blu-ray since there was a Blu-ray format, and now 11 years after the format’s inception the rights issues that have bogged down the film's release have now been cleared and we now have Frank Henenlotter's ultimate masterpiece of horror on the format. Not only that, but it is out through those masters of genre home video releasing Arrow Video, who have made sure the long wait was not wasted, and put out the film in a stacked limited edition release.

    Brain Damage stars Rick Herbst (Days of our Lives) as Brian a young man who shares an apartment with his brother Mike. One night he wakes up feeling ill, and in a pool of his own blood. He immediately inspects himself, and finds an injury on the back of his neck, moments later a creature known as "Aylmer" who looks like a penis crossed with a brain reveals himself to Brian.  He put a hole in Brian's neck and will inject it with a blue liquid of his creation should Brian take him out at night. This liquid acts as a psychedelic agent, and becomes addictive to young Brian. However, Brian is unable to remember what happens while under the influence of Aylmer's blue liquid. As it turns out Brian is taking Aylmer out to feed in exchange for his new high, and what Aylmer needs is brains.

     It took 6 years for Henenlotter to follow up his cult classic Basket Case, but 1988's Brain Damage proved that none of that time was wasted. The film shows Henenlotter at his strongest with a film that is visually his most impressive with loads of colorful stylistic quirks including scenes that depict Brian drowning in Aylmer's blue liquid, and one simple, but fun sequence with Brian viewing various colors in a junkyard.  

    The film maintains a powerful anti-drug subtext that is quite obvious to anyone watching, but actually works better than many films that utilize real drugs to convey a similar message. Performances across the board are quite solid with Rick Herbst turning in an excellent performance as Brian, and of course, the late John Zacherley putting in a fine vocal turn as Aylmer. The Special FX by frequent Henenlotter collaborator Gabe Bartalos are fantastic, and worth the price of admission alone.

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

    Brain Damage is presented by Arrow Video in a splendid 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the film's OAR. Everything here looks absolutely fantastic.  Colors pop, blacks are deep, detail is excellent, and grain is rendered very well.

    Audio is presented with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 in English as well as LPCM mono. Both tracks are quite solid with dialogue and score coming through nicely. I did not detect much in the way of issues, and nothing like cracks or hissing here.

Extras (5/5)

    A splendid extras package with a commentary by Henenlotter, an hour long documentary created specifically for this release, and a barrage of documentary shorts, and interviews sure to please the Brain Damage faithful. There is also an isolated score track, galleries, and trailers.

Overall

    11 years waiting and finally BRAIN DAMAGE IS ON BLU-RAY! Arrow Video has done a fantastic job restoring this film and making it looks great for the Blu-ray era. It is packed with extras, and if you could not tell this one is going to be HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!