6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A teenager is part of an interactive video game where he kills innocent victims. Later, the murders become real.
Starring: Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, Amy Hargreaves, T. Ryder Smith, David HemblenHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The early to mid nineties saw the release of a number of "tech gadget" features—narratives that foregrounded computers, multimedia, interactivity, video games, and/or virtual reality in their plots. John Flynn's Brainscan contains each of these ingredients "except for the glasses," as composer George S. Clinton notes in a recently recorded interview on this Shout! disc. The Gazette (MTL) reported that Flynn and his crew filmed in the newspaper's native Montreal during a nine-week shoot in the summer of 1993 on the slender budget of $6 million. This was Edward Furlong's fifth movie and first staring role, which reportedly didn't sit well with Flynn. He was reputedly frustrated with Furlong's performance and didn't believe he truly had the acting chops.
Furlong plays sixteen-year-old Michael, a video game and horror film addict who hangs out in his father's upstairs attic. Michael is a shy, lonely, and isolated teen haunted by the memory of his mother's fatal vehicular accident. Michael was also injured in the crash and walks with a gait. Kyle (Jamie Marsh) is one of Michael's few friends and also obsessed with the same things. The two try to screen a "video nasty" as part of their planned "Horror Club" at their high school but are caught and reprimanded by the principal. While in his lair, Michael is a serious reader of Fangoria (a hobby that this reviewer also shared) and finds an ad for an intriguing game titled Brainscan. He instructs his robot Igor to call 1-800-555-FEAR so he can place his order and hears some creepy, cryptic message. A CD-ROM later arrives in the mail and when he inserts the game in his player, he's put in an electronic trance, entering a game world that may not be all that different from his own. A gangly figure with a rock star's appearance and vermilion mohawk literally comes out of Michael's TV screen and into his private domain. The film does a nice inversion of I Was a Teenage Frankenstein and the poster is appropriately plastered on Michael's wall. The Trickster, whose played by stage actor T. Ryder Smith, is really a creation borne out of the darkest desires and deepest aggression within Michael's Id. In a sense, Michael brought The Trickster in by purchasing the game and playing it. Michael realizes he is in trouble when he slays a sleeping man in his bedroom in the game. This same homicide is later reported on the local news in the "real world."
This is the first time that Brainscan has reached Blu-ray and Shout! has given the twenty-four-year-old film an above- average transfer on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Shout! has slightly modified the framing by opening it up to 1.78:1, which approximates the theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. As you can tell from these screenshots, the lighting is very dark for both interiors and outdoor scenes. Film artifacts could have used some more cleaning up as white speckles pop up from time to time. Detail on close-ups is impressive (see the perspiration marks on Furlong in #15). The transfer boasts an average video bitrate of 31998 kbps.
A dozen chapter breaks are encoded for the 94-minute feature.
Shout! supplies Brainscan's original sound mix, rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1848 kbps, 24-bit). Dialogue is competently reproduced on this track as it's audible and clear enough. Sound f/x emanating from the game receives good directional support from the two front speakers. Clinton's guitar and keyboard sounds sound adequate put they would have been better amplified with a lossless 5.1 remix. The same goes for the heavy meal songs.
Optional English SDH can be accessed through the main menu or via remote.
In evaluating the critical mass' response to Brainscan, I believe that a majority of reviewers understood what the filmmakers attempted and appreciated those efforts (even if their star ratings were low). I also did but feel that the narrative is occasionally scattershot and achieves less than the sum of its parts. While Furlong's off-screen issues have been well-documented, I still like him and am glad that his more of his films from the nineties have become available on Blu-ray. If you own the very good German DVD of Brainscan, you'll still want to upgrade with this deluxe edition. While not a frame-by-frame restoration of the negative, the transfer here looks solid and the uncompressed sound track sounds fine. Shout has put together numerous bells and whistles in the supplemental category, including a couple of excellent interviews. RECOMMENDED to fans of the film.
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
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