There’s something about watching bad horror flicks from the 1990s that I always find amusing. This week’s film, Brainscan (1994), really hits that amusement in that it features a teen protagonist living in an attic bedroom full of crazy audio-visual gadgetry that would have been wildly impractical at the time. The film gives that 1990s vision of what the near-near-future would look like, with high-tech communications technology based on Windows 3.1.
The lead character, horror-obsessed teen Michael Brower, spends his time in relative isolation in his gadget-filled attic, but also leads a horror movie club at his school. His best friend Kyle is a lovable doofus, and Michael creepily scopes out his neighbor, Kimberly, who is pretty obviously aware what Michael is doing.
Kyle tells Michael of a cutting edge new interactive experience, the titular Brainscan. The game promises the ultimate experience in terror. Michael, jaded by the death of his mother, an absentee father, and lackluster scares, calls the number (1-800-555-FEAR) and sets off down a path of cyber murder.
