Brain Dead and Low Expectations: A Movie Review

Writer: Dale Gelineau.

Brain Dead is a film from director Kevin Tenney, who is most famous for his work on the original Night of the Demons. This film was completed in 2007 by Prodigy Entertainment and not released to audiences until this year on DVD (October 5th); this should provide some hints to the quality of the film. This film is being distributed by Vicious Circle Films, the horror division of Breaking Glass Pictures, and this zombie, alien influenced film is a bit of a no-brainer. Not only are many of the characters left brainless, but viewers will not need their thinking claps, as the focus of the film is mostly on "boobs and blood" (Oh The Horror).

An alien invader crash lands in a local hick's brain for the beginning of a short alien invasion. Brains explode, a parasite discharges from a vagina, and many characters experience decapitation through strength enhanced punches or machete attacks. Soon, the earth is returned to normal, after two characters go tow to tow with a brain hungry creature of unknown origins.

Hey, this is independent filmmaking and your expectations need to be low going into Brain Dead: "there are cheap gags, but fans of gore will have a good time with them...do not expect much else in the way of horror - suspense is minimal and any dread atmosphere is nonexistent" (Oh The Horror). Tenney seems to forget that audiences are intelligent nowadays and they require something more substantial than just low brow humour and "gratuitous nudity" (Breaking Glass). However, there are some nice gore shots and creature effects: "gratuitous tit shots, (and) cheap gore effects...ensue," (Dread Central) but that is about it.

The film, as stated above, is moving to DVD October 5th and the release will host several special features including: a behind-the-screams featurette, a blooper reel and deleted scenes. A Z grade zombie film, Brain Dead will be enjoyed by those familiar with the indie' horror film market: "the shoestring budget keeps this one Z-grade through and through" (Oh My Gore). Opinions will differ and below are other reviews on the project.

Acting/characterizations/believability: 5 (wow, beautiful, but not great in the acting department).
Plot/story/closure: 6 (just a simple comedy really).

Overall: 5.5 out of 10.

The film reviewed at Oh the Horror by Brett G.:

http://www.oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=693

The film reviewed at Dread Central by Serena Whitney:

http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/brain-dead-2008

The trailer can be found at Killer Film, located here:

http://www.killerfilm.com/articles/read/dvdebut-kevin-tenneys-braindead-43631