The Brain Machine (1977)

User Rating:

3.4/10   

Director:

Joy N. Houck Jr.

Writers:

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

Genre:

Sci-Fi

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 mike is clearly visible in the center of the top of the screen after the close-up of the technician.

Painfully Boring...

I rented this as part of a weekly movie night with a friend of mine. We got this, "The Supernaturals," and "Blood Splash," also known as "Nightmare" or "Nightmare in a Damaged Brain." This was the worst of the three.

We got this under the name "Mind Warp," and decided to get it only because it looked like it could be okay. (Well, why else would we rent it?!) The story is pretty basic. Two doctors stick four people in an underground lab and start doing mental tests on them with these Star Trek computers. (Spare the constant "beep-beep...beep-beep" from the TV show.)

Nothing really happens. The film's first twenty minutes is about an escapee from the lab who has a file showing all that goes on. Apparently, these tests are pretty much illegal. He eventually gets caught and killed off. Then the four people (a war veteran, a priest, a girl, and some other guy) are tested on. It's all really boring until finally they all start going mad and either killing themselves, or each other, until the abrupt and pretty unsatisfying ending.

I say...avoid this. Really. It isn't very good at all. I found it in the horror section, and hopefully if you do, too, you will just pass it by. It has nothing to offer.