Brain Damage

Friday, May 23 - Saturday, May 24, 2025

After altering the landscape of trash-horror history with BASKET CASE and FRANKENHOOKER, the brilliant Frank Henenlotter unleashed BRAIN DAMAGE, his ultimate Grimm’s Fairy Tale for perverted adults. This is a slimy, grimy, gore-soaked slice-of-NYC-life that follows a poor schmo who is addicted to a drug called Aylmer. But unlike heroin or cocaine, Aylmer is a mutant penis monster who needs to eat human brains in order survive. Hooray! BRAIN DAMAGE is hilarious, unsettling, and jam-packed with bad taste gags that would probably cause John Waters to reassess his life’s work. Do not miss.

“Belongs to a tradition of ‘80s-era NYC-centric horror that suggests the cinematic equivalent of graffiti, and has a foot rooted in the outrage voiced by British punk.” — Chuck Bowen, SLANT

Screening as part of our series Waverly Midnights: Ecstasy in Polychrome

• Country USA
• Year 1989
• Running Time 86 minutes
• Format DCP
• Distributor AGFA
• Director Frank Henenlotter
• Cast Rick Hearst, John Zacherle, Gordon MacDonald, Jennifer Lowry, Theo Barnes, Lucille Saint-Peter
• Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.