Brainscan

Brainscan follows Edward Furlong’s Michael Brower as he signs up for an interactive video-game experience, with problems ensuing as Michael begins to suspect that the virtual murders he’s been committing might not be so virtual. It’s a decent premise that’s employed to persistently (and aggressively) underwhelming effect by John Flynn, as the director delivers a sluggish narrative that’s been peppered with a whole host of uninteresting and flat-out tedious elements – including an ongoing emphasis on Michael’s encounters with a bored detective (Frank Langella’s Hayden) and a fetching next-door neighbor (Amy Hargreaves, trying in vain to establish an actual character). Furlong’s passable yet far-from-sympathetic performance certainly goes a long way towards perpetuating the less-than-engrossing atmosphere, and it’s clear, too, that Brainscan‘s proliferation of misguided horror attributes contributes heavily to the picture’s ultimate failure. (Central villain Trickster predominantly comes off as a goofy, eye-rollingly lame riff on Freddy Krueger.) The tiresome third act cements Brainscan‘s place as a dated and utterly forgettable bit of trashy filmmaking, which is too bad, really, given the semi-promising nature of the movie’s setup.

* out of ****

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