June 22, 2009 Our unjustly forgotten horror movie of this week could possibly be categorized as a justly forgotten horror movie -- except it has one of the stars of "Re-Animator" in its cast.

1988's "The Brain" made its way to VHS in the late '80s/early '90s, but never wound up on DVD. And don't keep your fingers crosses for any kind of arrival in the format.

A pretty awful late 1980s attempt at Frank Henenlotter-style horror, "The Brain" does benefit from the presence of "Re-Animator" star David Gale as an evil TV self-help guru, who keeps a giant brain that he feeds thoughtwaves from his TV audience. The giant brain-monster also visits some of psychiatrist Gale's teen patients in the form of Nightmare on Elm Street-like dream sequences, where tentacles reach through walls and inspire troubled young folk to kill their own parents, etc.

Horrible acting and cheesy special effects add to the production's bad-movie entertainment value. Breznahan plays a one-dimensional high school student who is forced to go under psychiatric care after he blows up the school's plumbing system as a practical joke. (The film even warns audiences during the end credits not to attempt this prank at school.) Preston plays his doting girlfriend. Naturally, he's sent to see Dr. Anthony Blake (Gale), whose TV show "Independent Thinking" is just about to be syndicated across the country. It isn't long before Breznahan has Nightmare on Elm Street-like visions. When he and his girlfriend investigate Blake's gigantic psychiatric compound, they're chased by a giant brain that has fangs, eyes, and a strong urge to eat living people. After escaping the compound, they also find themselves on the run from local police, and begin noticing viewers of "Independent Thinking" killing loved ones who won't watch the show.

If you're a fan of bad cinema, you might want to check this out. It does have plenty of unintentional laughs and one of the dumbest looking monsters of the past quarter century. Don't expect this to make its way to DVD anytime soon, although worse movies have made it into that format. Likely the only way you'll ever see it is by scoring a 50 cent copy on VHS at your local flea market. It's a good flea-market find for sure, but don't spend much on it.

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