Movie Search

[Andrew]

The thread about hokey Valentine Day movies made me remember a film I have been wanting to identify.  It might be an episode from a TV show as well.  Anyway, here goes.

There is this boy mad scientist who is evil.  He takes the brain out of an alcoholic Irishman or Scotsman and puts it into an aquarium.  The thing is hooked into a camera so that it can see and it can also talk through something (a speaker perhaps).  To reward the brain, the evil kid dumps alcohol, probably scotch, into the water.

Along with this is a younger girl who eventually falls in love with the brain and the brain with her.  There is one rather creepy scene with the girl responding to what the brain is telling her that he would do (if he had a body).  

Eventually the brain ends up in a new body, I think it was the evil kid's and I think the boy mad scientist's brain is in the aquarium.  The aged alcoholic brain/new body and the young girl run off together.

[JohnL]

I don't remember as many details as you do (I don't think I ever saw the first half), but I'm pretty sure I've seen this same movie on SciFi a few years ago. It was on a couple times *LATE* at night. I do remember the girl falling in love with the brain.

Assuming we're both thinking of the same film, I believe it was called Grey Matter, and the girl was Ellen Blain (I recognized her from other things I'd seen her in);

Ellen Blain

She had a kind of strange name, I believe it was Sugar.

Also, if I recall correctly, I believe it was fairly short, an hour or a little over. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find ANYTHING on this film.

You might try contacting SciFi, or maybe searching the discussion boards there to see if anyone knows anything about it.

Sorry I can't be more help. If you do find it, please post the details as I'd like to see it again too.



Post Edited (02-16-04 05:46)

[JohnL]

I guess Andrew and I are the only ones here who've seen this?

[Cullen]

Fraid so.  Sounds odd, though.

[raj]

It sounds vaguely familiar, especially the brain in a fish tank part.  I probably caught part of it on tv years ago.

[JohnL]

I'm curious why it's so obscure. It's not listed on the IMDB or anywhere else. Even a search for "Ellen Blain" and "brain" doesn't find any mention of it. I'm 99.99% sure I have the right actress.

[Andrew]

I am not certain and cannot turn up anything by searching for that name, the actresses' name - I even tried different spellings and mashing words together.  Maybe I'll ask over at the IMDB boards, since a huge number of insomiacs post there.

Having pondered over this one, now I am really in the mood to write a piece about it.

[JohnL]

>I am not certain and cannot turn up anything by searching for that name, the
>actresses' name - I even tried different spellings and mashing words together.

Me too. Unless I'm mixing her up with another teenage actress, it was the same girl as the younger sister in Encino Man, which is Ellen Blain. I've even tried leaving out her name and doing web searches for keywords like "brain", "tank", "sugar" etc, but to no avail. I've also tried searching the IMDB for the character name "Sugar" with no luck. It's strange that there doesn't seem to be any info on this film online. I seem to recall looking it up right after I saw it and not being able to find it.

[Cricket21a]

It kind of sounds like "The Crawling Brain"

check this site out and see if that's it

http://www.cultcuts.net/reviewsmovies/c/thecrawlingbrain.htm

[JohnL]

>It kind of sounds like "The Crawling Brain"
>
>check this site out and see if that's it

Nope. The movie I saw (which I'm pretty sure is the same one Andrew saw) wasn't really a horror movie. Imagine an hour long episode of Tales from the Darkside, only a little more mean-spirited than that, and you'll have a good idea what it was like. In fact, when I first stumbled across it, I thought it was some goofy kid scientist movie like you might expect to see on Disney, at least until the boy and girl (I think they might have been brother and sister) started screaming at each other. Now that I think about it, it kind of reminds me of Tim Burton's early short film Frankenweenie, where a kid re-animates his dead dog, only not as innocent or good natured as that film.

Thanks for the link though, The Crawling Brain looks like an interesting movie.

[Cricket21a]

I also came across a movie called Donovan's Brain that look sort of interesting, too.  I am interested in knowing what the movie is that Andrew is searching for.

[JohnL]

>I also came across a movie called Donovan's Brain that look sort of interesting,
>too. I am interested in knowing what the movie is that Andrew is searching for.

I'm pretty sure it was called Grey Matter, or Gray Matter, I just can't find any information on it, ANYWHERE.

[Andrew]

> I'm pretty sure it was called Grey Matter, or Gray Matter, I
> just can't find any information on it, ANYWHERE.

Me either.  I even asked the question on the IMDB board and have no joy thus far.  At least I know that I am not imagining things.

[Cricket21a]

I found a web site that has a little about a movie called Grey Matter but it doesn't quite sound like what you described.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/GreyMatter-1057332/preview.php

[Cricket21a]

check this one out, too.

http://www.horror-wood.com/brain.htm

I hope this helps.