BRAIN TWISTERS (1991)

BRAIN TWISTERS (1991)

This movie starts out with people being given brains that want to murder people by a mad-scientist who is also a college professor, which even in real life are pretty much the same thing. Turns out he was hired by a video game maker to control the minds of the people that bought their games. As the killings continue the professor Dr. Rothman (creepily played by Terry Londeree who’s film career was very short) just kind of sweeps it under the rug as does the company that hired him. Of course their relationship goes haywire after Rothman discovered about 3 minutes worth of “maybe I am doing the wrong thing” somewhere in the recesses of his moral code. Meanwhile one of his co-workers finally gets convinced something is wrong by the detective assigned, then un-assigned to the killings.

This movie starts out much like an 80’s slasher flick, and those elements remain throughout only without as much gore involved. We do get a few solid performances and Farrah Forke stands out in her role as Laurie Stevens. Donna Bostany also does a pretty decent job as Michelle (pretty creepy when she goes nuts).  The pacing is also fine, and the story does not take long to get you wondering what is exactly going on and why.  Unfortunately the premise at this point seems completely outdated for a movie taking itself so seriously. Even the graphics used in the movie that are supposedly turns college kids into murderers looks like what you would get if you had a damaged Atari 2600 game or you had it on the wrong channel when you turned the console on.

Overall Brain Twisters has its moments but isn’t something you would run to your nearest Netflix or HULU queue to find. If you want to see a very low budget FIRESTARTER or loved BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW  for some crazy reason…this one might be in your wheelhouse.