BrainWaves

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BrainWaves
BrainWaves.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ulli Lommel
Written by
Produced byUlli Lommel
Starring
CinematographyJon Kranhouse
Edited byRichard S. Brummer
Music by Robert O. Ragland
Production
company
CinAmerica [1]
Distributed byMotion Picture Marketing
Release date
  • November 19, 1982 (1982-11-19) [2]
Running time
77 minutes [2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.5 million [1]
Box office$3,111 [3]

BrainWaves [lower-roman 1] is a 1982 American science fiction thriller film co-written and directed by Ulli Lommel, and starring Keir Dullea, Suzanna Love, Vera Miles, Paul Willson, Percy Rodriguez, Tony Curtis, Corinne Wahl, and Eve Brent. It follows a woman whose brain function is restored by a computer, with dangerous consequences.

Contents

Cast

Production

Principal photography occurred at the Pettis Memorial Veterans Administration Hospital in Loma Linda, California, with additional shooting taking place in San Francisco. [1] Filming completed in April 1982. [5]

Release

Box office

BrainWaves was given a limited regional theatrical release through Motion Picture Marketing, opening on November 19, 1982, in Austin, Texas [6] and Newport News, Virginia. [7] It earned $3,111 during its theatrical run. [3]

Critical response

Patrick Taggart of the Austin American-Statesman wrote of the film: "It is all absolute twaddle and would have been unbearable had there not been the elements of a murder mystery to keep us interested. Brainwaves is about one pulse away from being braindead." [2] Henry Edgar of the Daily Press gave the film a mixed review, noting that "the idea is intriguing and offer potentional for a true thriller. But the action plods so slowly you might fall asleep before you realize why a more skillful director could keep you awake all night with the same plot." [8]

Time Out published a retrospective review in 2012, describing the film as "a black hole for fading stars in which Dr. Curtis kindly operates on the heroine (Love) who is in a coma after suffering a traumatic blow to the brain. The donor is a murder victim, unexpectedly supplying not only motor reflexes but memories, so that the poor recipient is soon being stalked herself." [9]

Home media

Embassy Home Entertainment released BrainWaves on VHS in 1986. [10] Image Entertainment released a DVD edition of the film in 2002. [11]

Notes

  1. The film was also released in a truncated cut under the alternate title Shadow of Death. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 De Leon, John (March 9, 1982). "VA Hospital stars in sci-fi thriller". The San Bernardino Sun . p. 28 via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 Taggart, Patrick (November 20, 1982). "'Brainwaves' manages only a feeble pause". Austin American-Statesman . p. 22 via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "BrainWaves". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  4. Lentz 2001, p. 925.
  5. "'BrainWaves' filming ends". The Arizona Republic . April 18, 1982. p. 78 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "BrainWaves advertisement". Austin American-Statesman . November 19, 1982. p. E3 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "BrainWaves advertisement". Daily Press . November 19, 1982. p. 42 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "'Brainwaves' Lacks Intensity". Daily Press . November 22, 1982. p. 30 via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Brainwaves (1983)". Time Out . September 10, 2012. ISSN   0049-3910. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023.
  10. BrainWaves (VHS). Embassy Home Entertainment. 1986 [1982]. OCLC   14918549.
  11. BrainWaves (DVD). Image Entertainment. 2002 [1982]. OCLC   52506419.

Sources