Brainscan Movie Review

Trailer here.

Brainscan is a 1994 horror/sci-fi movie directed by John Flynn and starring Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, T. Ryder Smith and Amy Hargreaves.

Michael(Furlong) is a teen who lives on his own when his father is away for work. His mother died in a car crash and his leg was mangled. He has nightmares about it. He likes loud music, horror movies and video games. He gets into trouble at school for showing his horror movies to others in a group so the principal tells him that if he wants to show anything in the future, he will have to give it to him and he will see if it is suitable. Michael has a best friend called Kyle(Jamie Marsh) and he tells Michael about a new game called Brainscan. Michael doesn't think that it will be anything great but he orders it.

 

Michael spends his time spying on his neighour, Kimberly(Hargreaves). She knows that he is watching her. Kyle wants to play Brainscan but Michael insists on trying it first. He has to call a number to get the game. Meanwhile, there is a murder in the neighbourhood. Michael sees the police there, led by Detective Hayden(Langella). He tells Michael to go home and stop looking at the crime scene. Michael receives the first disc of the game. He starts it. The first stage is that he has to think like a killer and see a murder. He is instructed by a voice which tells him that he has to break into a house and kill a man. He is told to take the guys foot as a trophy. Michael wakes up from the game and thinks that it was intense. 

He tells Kyle about it. Michael finds out that there was a murder for real and it is exactly the same as the killing in the game. He goes to the crime scene and meets Detective Hayden again. The cop sends him away. Michael searches for the severed foot and he finds it in the fridge, He calls the Brainscan phone number but it isn't available. The game calls him. He asks the person on the phone what it going on. A man comes out of the game. He is called the Trickster(Smith). He tells Michael that he committed the crime himself. He tells him that there was a witness and he has to kill them. Michael takes the foot into the woods and tries to bury it. A dog discovers it and runs off with it. Michael gets it back and buries it.

Kyle calls to see him and he wants the Brainscan game. Michael refuses. The Trickster appears again. He wants him to play the second disc. Michael says that he is going to the police but he ends up playing the game again. This time, he films himself. He wakes up and he watches the video. He sees himself leaving and he finds a bloody trophy in the fridge once again. Kim calls to see if he is ok. The Trickster comes back and tells him that Kyle knew things about him and he could have been dangerous. Mike is upset as he has killed his best friend. Hayden calls to see him. He is suspicious. The Trickster gives him another cd and tells him to watch it and find a clue that he missed.

Hayden finds some burnt stuff in the fireplace and he takes it with him. Michael plays the game again. He goes to the crime scene to find something that he left behind. The police are there and Trickster diverts them so that Michael can look. The principal catches Michael and he is going to get the police but he gets killed before that can happen. Michael runs off. The Trickster wants him to kill Kimberly next. Michael doesn't want to. He decides to turn himself in but doesn't. He goes to Kimberly but can't kill her. Trickster shows up and he tries to stab him. Trickster swallows Michael. He becomes evil and he is going to kill Kimberly when she tells him that she loves him and that she has been watching him too. Trickster comes out of him. Hayden shows up and shoots Michael.

Michael wakes up. The game wasn't real. He meets Kyle and they go to a party. He looks for Kimberly and he asks her out. She says maybe. They kiss. Michael goes to see the principal at school. He gives him Brainscan so he can look at it. Trickster appears and he laughs. The film ends with the dog bringing the severed foot from earlier to Michael's house.

This film was okay. I didn't think that it was very good really. Furlong didn't show any acting skills at all. The whole thing just didn't work for me. The idea was pretty good but the execution was not. I was disappointed. I will give this a 4/10.