The Brain Machine (1977)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Joy N. Houck Jr.

Writers:

Christian Garrison (writer)
Joy N. Houck Jr. (writer)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Several people volunteer for a scientific experiment about mind-reading and memory, but the experiment goes horribly wrong. |

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

James Best	...	Rev. Emory Neill
Barbara Burgess	...	Dr. Carol Portland
Gil Peterson	...	Dr. Elton Morris
Gerald McRaney	...	Willie West
Marcus J. Grapes	...	Judd Reeves
Doug Collins	...	Dr. Roland Roth
Ann Latham	...	Minnie Lee Parks (as Anne Latham)
Thomas Hal Phillips	...	The General (as Thomas Phillips)
Christian Garrison	...	Garrison
Stocker Fontelieu	...	Saxon, Project Chief
Tom Dever	...	Bodyguard
Stuart Lancaster	...	Senator
Zephirin Hymel IV	...	Dr. Krisner (as Zephirin Hymel)
Sam Sherrill	...	A Guard
Stephen C. Burnham	...	Williams, Engineering

Also Known As:

Gray Matter (USA) (video title)
Grey Matter (USA) (video title)
Mind Warp
The E-Box
Time Warp

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Mississippi, USA

Company:

Howco Productions Inc.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the scene where the computer first fails, the boom mic is clearly visible in the center of the top of the screen after the close-up of the technician.

Sheriff Rosco as you've NEVER seen him before!

James Best (Rosco From "Dukes of Hazzard") plays an emotionally tortured clergyman who volunteers for a secretive government experiment in this tepid, badly-edited thriller. The other participants in the experiment are: a fat slob, a hillbilly woman, and a wimpy guy played by Gerald McRaney. They seem like normal (if annoying) folks at first, but they all have terrible secrets in their past. The government wants to put these people in something called the "E-Box," which looks like a big cubicle filled with lawn furniture. While inside, their darkest, most embarrassing memories are dredged up for the world to see. Of course, the experiment goes horribly, horribly wrong, and there's a lot of pain, suffering, and death in the last half hour of the movie. The rest is just a rather confusing series of scenes showing big office buildings and people in lab coats. There are about 372 shots of a swimming pool for some reason. If you love establishing shots, THIS IS THE MOVIE FOR YOU. They establish the HELL out of these scenes. The exact point of the experiment remains a mystery to me. Surely, there are cheaper and more efficient ways for the goverment to make people feel bad about themselves. So in summary, "The Brain Machine" -- rent it, won't you?