The Brain Machine (1977)Several people volunteer for a scientific experiment about mind-reading and memory, but the experiment goes horribly wrong. Director:Joy N. Houck Jr. |
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The Brain Machine (1977)Several people volunteer for a scientific experiment about mind-reading and memory, but the experiment goes horribly wrong. Director:Joy N. Houck Jr. |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| James Best | ... |
Rev. Emory Neill
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Barbara Burgess | ... |
Dr. Carol Portland
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| Gil Peterson | ... |
Dr. Elton Morris
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| Gerald McRaney | ... |
Willie West
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Marcus J. Grapes | ... |
Judd Reeves
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Doug Collins | ... |
Dr. Roland Roth
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Ann Latham | ... |
Minnie Lee Parks
(as Anne Latham)
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Thomas Hal Phillips | ... |
The General
(as Thomas Phillips)
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Christian Garrison | ... |
Garrison
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Stocker Fontelieu | ... |
Saxon
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Tom Dever | ... |
Bodyguard
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Stuart Lancaster | ... |
Senator
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Zephirin Hymel IV | ... |
Dr. Krisner
(as Zephirin Hymel)
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Sam Sherrill | ... |
A Guard
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Stephen C. Burnham | ... |
Williams
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Several people volunteer for a scientific experiment about mind-reading and memory, but the experiment goes horribly wrong.
"The Brain Machine" is one of those action films with relatively little action and lots of "filler" sequences between the action scenes. But that's OK in this case, because what we get is intriguing filler. At times endearing filler....entertaining filler....but above all intriguing filler. This is also one of those films in which you don't really know what's going on a good deal of the time, or even most of the time. And at times you don't even know who some of the characters are supposed to be (antagonists? PROtagonists? NEUTRALS??). But that's OK in this case, since what is on the screen is interesting even when it's incomprehensible. "Brain Machine" keeps your attention and gets you to think. I like the way Joy N. Houk, Jr. mixes "modernistic" and "postmodern" elements. The whole production, from a design point of view, has a "modernistic" orientation (obsessive use of the color blue in the decor, the appearance of abstract expressionist paintings as wall murals, the overall sleek and clean look, etc.). Yet the storytelling style and characterization are decidedly POSTmodern, i.e., ambiguous, amorphous, and ill-defined. "Brain Machine" tells the stories of a group of disturbed individuals living in a disturbed, uncertain universe. The film may be more than thirty years old, yet in some respects it is quite contemporary........