What happens when cult actor Bruce Campbell heads to Bulgaria to make his directorial debut and it turns out to be a ridiculous sci-fi/comedy flick that's cheap as Hell and intentionally cheesy? Man With The Screaming Brain, that's what!

I'm not going to right out tell you that it was worth the wait and that this is the greatest B-movie ever made, because then I'd be lying. I'm not going to try and convince you it sports high production values and it doesn't look cheap, because again I would be lying. But I will tell you that if you're a big fan of trash cinema, then you'll find more than enough within Man With The Screaming Brain to please - others with a low tolerance for movies that look like they were filmed in 16mm for the remaining balance of Campbell's credit card might just want to stay away.

Aside from directing and co-writing, Campbell also takes the lead role as obnoxious pharmaceutical tycoon William Cole who's headed to Bulgaria with wife Jackie (Antoinette Byron) in tow for a business deal. On the way to their hotel a hijacking attempt is thwarted by their cabbie, Yegor (Vladimir Kolev), who is soon having a fling with Jackie behind Cole's back.

In between scenes of Campbell's character being approached by wannabe rapper Pavel (Ted Raimi) in order to try and convince him to come see his boss Dr. Ivanov (Stacey Keach), who's perfected a way to transplant organs with ease, Yegor and Jackie get caught in a love triangle with Yegor's former flame Tatoya (Tamara Gorski), a gypsy woman with a bad attitude. This can only lead to no good and it does, as Yegor and Cole are both killed by Tatoya.

What better way to convince Cole the transplant procedure work than to make him a test subject? That's exactly what Dr. Ivanov does when he transplants a section of Yegor's brain into Cole's and from there it's all sorts of chintzy mayhem (leading up to a finale that's a whole lot of stupid) as the two-brained Cole proceeds to battle himself (giving us chance to see Campbell beating himself up in slapstick fashion), Jackie's brain is transplanted into a goofy looking robot (that actually in one scene does "The Robot"), and the good doctor tries to figure it all out.

Man With The Screaming Brain takes a bit to get rolling, it's not a good looking movie, and it's as dumb as they tend to come, but it does manage to offer some "boy, is this bad!" entertainment and at least everyone involved in it doesn't seem to be taking it at all seriously. There's enough goofy insanity to please, it's always good to see Campbell piling abuse on himself (even if there's not enough of it), and Raimi does manage to amuse as B-boy Pavel - just come into it with low expectations or you'll no doubt be disappointed.

This originally aired on Sci-Fi channel and was also spun-off into a comic book - it was recently released to DVD courtesy of our pals at Anchor Bay. If you can find it for cheap, and you love crappy B-flicks, then pick this one up. (Chris Hartley, 4/5/06)

Directed By: Bruce Campbell.
Written By: Bruce Campbell, David M. Goodman.

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Antoinette Byron, Tamara Gorski.