Mikel3 Review of The Immortalizer

The Immortalizer (1989 Video)

Sort of a gory version of 'The Atomic Brain'

[5 February 2013]

I wanted something to watch while I was pedaling on my exercise bike today. I decided to pick something I wasn't expecting much from based on the ratings. A film that had a plot that sounded interesting anyway. The movie I figured might fit the bill was 'The Immortalizer' from 1989. I'm not going to say this is a good film, just that it did hold my interest from start to finish. The acting was pretty bad. Still I've seen plenty worse. The premise is one I've always found scary. Doctors who find young healthy bodies for extremely wealthy old people. In this case they use a glowing green serum that looks like something out of the re-animator films. The use of this serum allows them to transplant living brains from one body, kidnapped young people, to another. The idea's been done before in films like 1963's 'The Atomic Brain'. Or in variations on the theme as in 'Seconds' (1966), 'The Skeleton Key' (2005) and 'Free Jack' (1992). Some of these stories don't involve actually transplanting a brain, still an old person gets a young body. There was even a Twilight Zone once with a more lighthearted variation with a moral to it. The problem I had most with this film was too much gore. I had to look away from many scenes. That's one reason it's not for everyone. There were the usual characters doing stupid things, like the sheriff who refused to believe one of the guys when they escape. On the plus side it did have predictable yet still fun twists especially at the end. I did laugh out loud at the absurdity of a few scenes so the Mystery Science Theater fans might enjoy this. The ending was fitting...and frightening. Overall I'll give it a 4 out of 10 rating.