Review of the 2005 Horror Spoof, The Man with the Screaming Brain

Man with the Screaming Brain is a story of greed, betrayal and revenge in the a small Bulgarian town. William Cole, wealthy industrialist, winds up with part of his brain replaced by that of a Russian cab driver Yegor. The two couldn't be more different, but they share one thing - both were killed by the same woman. Brought back to life by a mad scientist, William and Yegor form an unlikely partnership to track down their common nemesis. -IMDB

When I saw this advertised, I had already heard about it from people who saw it at conventions and didn't like it. Based on this, and the obviously over-the-top yet unoriginal title, I went into this with low expectations. To be honest, I'd of skipped this completely if not for Bruce Campbell starring, writing and directing it.

This is a B-movie so, as expected, the plot is rather weak, the SFX are cheesy and much of the dialogue is pretty juvenile. But this is NOT just another crappy B-movie horror. It's a bit reminiscent of the 1950s sci-fi movies but with an added twist of macabre humor, as only Bruce Campbell can do. However, the basic premise is not that original - one example is in the 1980s, Steve Martin did a similar movie titled "The Man with Two Brains". Campbell played his part very much like Martin would have done it but with his own style.

The acting isn't the best but most of it is intentional and probably partly due to the budget. The main characters are played fine. The two stars of this film are (at least to me) Bruce Campbell (of course!) and Ted Raimi.

Bruce Campbell plays William Cole, an obnoxious and rude American businessman. He plays it well and pretty straight until he's killed and receives brain surgery. Then he changes into his zany, Three Stooges mode, as only he can do. This is the movie's main redeeming quality. without him, it'd be pretty weak.