Decades of Horror 1980s Gruesome Podcasts

Brain Damage (1988) — Episode 113 — Decades of Horror 1980s

“Uh oh, Brian. Now you’re REALLY losing your mind.” The mysterious creature Alymer (John Zacherle) is giving Brian (Rick Hearst) a pretty hard time. Acting like a real parasite on the back, you could say. Thus, the premise of  Brain Damage  comes to life. Just your average 80s “Say No To Drugs” special. You got it all; the young relatable protagonist, a drug pushing worm monster, and hallucinations that combine every drug imaginable. Frank Henenlotter’s anti-drug masterpiece has gone underappreciated for nearly 30 years. But on Decades of Horror, we don’t forget. We never forget.

Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 113 – Brain Damage (1988)

Brain Damage  is one weird movie. Then again, a low budget flick from Frank Henenlotter (Frankenhooker, Basket Case) is bound t. The story of a young man getting addicted to drugs via a brain sucking parasite is pretty messed up. Especially when you become a vehicle to murder. Brain Damage  has everything. Brains being sucked out of heads. Bizarro acting. An oral sex scene that turns into A Nightmare on Elm Street.  It’s a startling combination of  Little Shop of Horrors  and  Reefer Madness  that has to be seen to be believed.

Here to see and believe are Thomas Mariani and his guests Santos Ellin Jr and… his own pride and joy Mariana?! Yes, The Black Saint has brought his spawn to talk  Brain Damage. Both go over their family bonding over a brain sucking slug. Thomas, on the other hand, is new to this one. He has plenty to say about the Reagan era drug film subversions and Zacherle’s underrated voice acting. They’re all so excited, they just need a drop of Almyer’s juice. Just one to tide us over, man!

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Special thanks to  Neon Devils  for their awesome song Bone Chillin!

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Day of the Dead (1985)

 

Doc Rotten
Doc Rotten is the founder of Gruesome Magazine. He is also a film critic for Gruesome Magazine and the podcast host & producer for Horror News Radio, Monster Movie Podcast, Decades of Horror: 1970s, The American Horror Story Fan Podcast and Hannibal Fan Podcast. He is also co-host of the Dracula podcast on TV TALK and is a contributing reviewer for HorrorNews.Net and Widescreen Warrior. Doc a lifelong fan of horror films, sci-fi flicks and monster movies first discovering Universal Monsters and Planet of the Apes as a young child in the 1970's searching out every issue of Famous Monster of Filmland (and, later, Fangoria). Favorite films include Jaws, The Car, The Birds, The Tingler, Vampire Circus and The Exorcist. Still a huge fan of horror films from the 70s, Doc continues consuming horror films to this day for the site, for the podcasts and for the fun of it all.
http://www.docrotten.com