MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Brainscan’ Packs a Jolt for Its Teen Target Audience

“Brainscan” skillfully takes us into the mind of a bright, likable but diffident 16-year-old (Edward Furlong, always a fine actor). Several years earlier his mother was killed in a car accident that also left him with a slight limp, and his father is often away on business, leaving him alone much of the time in an expensive suburban home. Somewhat shy and something of an outsider, he spends most of his spare time in his spacious attic quarters, which are equipped with an array of electronic goodies--and also a telescope with which to peep at the pretty girl (Amy Hargeaves) who lives nearby.

Furlong’s Michael is already an ardent horror picture fan when he’s introduced to a new CD-ROM interactive virtual reality game called “Brainscan.” He slips in a disc one evening and swiftly finds himself entering the back yard of a house in his neighborhood, breaking in and brutally killing a man asleep in his bed. It’s as if Michael has been asleep himself, awakening with a jolt, elated at having experienced an ultimate trip.

There’s a hitch, however, for the cops, led by a tough-talking Frank Langella, are soon swarming the area, searching for the killer of that sleeping man.

Director John Flynn and writer Andrew Kevin Walker set up “Brainscan” expertly, and their film certainly does supply its own jolt. Although it’s more ambitious and intelligent than most teen horror flicks, it doesn’t live up to its potential and could use a lighter, more humorous touch.

Kids will probably go for the Trickster (T. Ryder Smith), whom Smith aptly describes as a “psychic Frankenstein, a kind of child of Iggy Pop and Keith Richards.” However, as the game’s mastermind and physical embodiment, the Trickster is too literal, a highly theatrical cadaverous guy with a Mohawk haircut who materializes and disintegrates at will to tempt and taunt poor Michael. The filmmakers might better have left the Trickster as a hologram, as he was originally conceived.

As the picture progresses, you suspect there’s going to be trouble in coming up with a satisfactory ending, yet with its razzle-dazzle special effects, hard-driving score, and sufficient quantity of blood and guts it will probably score with teen audiences. It’s been often said that horror pictures that have been specifically made for teens provide a catharsis for their anxieties over sex and romance, and that seems especially true of “Brainscan.” For those any younger, however, “Brainscan” will only give them nightmares.

* MPAA rating: R, for strong violence, and for language and some sexuality. Times guidelines: Its graphic serial killings and overall nightmarish aura of terror make the film unsuitable for preteens. ‘Brainscan’

Edward Furlong: Michael Brower

Frank Langella: Detective Hayden

T. Ryder Smith: The Trickster

Amy Hargreaves: Kimberly

A Triumph release. Director John Flynn. Producer Michel Roy. Executive producers Esther Freifeld, Earl Berman. Screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker; from a story by Brian Owens. Cinematographer Francois Protat. Editor Jay Cassidy. Costumes Gaudeline Sauriol. Music George S. Clinton. Production designer Paola Ridolfi. Video effects by Telecine Multimedia, Montreal. Makeup effects Steve Johnson. Game entrance effects by the Post Group. Domino digital effects by Cinema Research/Digital. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.