Bookworm's Book Club!
Brain Damage: A Trip Through Hell (Broslin Press/Amazon Kindle, 1990/2011)
by Robert Martin
from the screenplay by Frank Henenlotter
This is one of the reasons to own a Kindle! Here's a book written in the 80's
with a limited print run, something that would normally be impossible to find
almost a quarter century later. But now you can own this excellent novelization
by "Uncle" Bob Martin of the excellent horror film by Frank Henenlotter. The
story is the same as the movie - a young man named Brian finds himself in
possession of a strange wormlike creature called The Aylmer (or Elmer to his
friends). Wait, did I say in possession? I meant in the possession of - because
Elmer is really an ancient creature who gives his host the most amazing drug - a
blue liquid the Aylmer injects directly into the base of the host's brain,
causing intense hyper senses and psychedelic tripping - but as with all such
things - there is a cost. Elmer has a taste for brains. And oh sure, at first
he'll accept cow brains or pig brains or whatever you can get from the local
butcher's. But later, when your need for his juice grows, he'll decide he wants
those brains more in the way of still living...and human. Hold out on him, and
he'll hold out on you. Who will break first? I know where I'd put my money...
 |
| Author Robert "Uncle Bob" Martin |
Author Bob Martin, the greatest editor during the classic early run of
Fangoria magazine is
the perfect person to translate the movie's screenplay into prose form. It's a
terrific companion piece to the movie - with all of the movie's energy and plot
on display, but carefully woven together with the kind of interior monologues,
and descriptions of Brian's juice trips that the written word excels at. If
you've enjoyed any of Henenlotter's movies, including Basket Case and its
sequels; Frankenhooker; or Bad Biology; or if you ever used to scamper down to
your local store's magazine rack to pick up the latest issue of Fangoria - then
you need to read this book. You owe it to Frank Henenlotter. You owe it to your
Uncle Bob. You owe it to yourself. Get it.
Here is a link to the Amazon Kindle edition! Go get it!
Exclusive Author Interview with Uncle Bob Martin!
I was a reader and subscriber throughout Uncle Bob's tenure with
Fangoria - I actually started picking up the magazine at about the time he took over editing it - and after he left I only stayed around long enough to let that current subscription lapse as it just wasn't the same without the Unk.
We've since become online acquaintances in the last couple of years - a huge thrill for this fanboy - and he graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions about the writing of this very cool novel:
Craig Edwards: How did you and Frank Henenlotter meet?
Uncle Bob Martin: I first heard of the film "Basket Case" from Rex Reed on a local Manhattan cable
TV show. Reed's newspaper review, appearing much later, ripped the movie apart,
but on this cable show he appeared to be drunk, and was telling the hostess that
she MUST see it. The title told me that it was a film that might help me to
distinguish
Fangoria from other film zines, so I decided to learn more about
it...
There is a detailed account of my first contact with Frank right
here:
(Part
Two has yet to be written)
Meanwhile, Frank saw the little blurb I had
written about
Basket Case in our "Monster Invasion" news section -- on first
seeing the title in print, he panicked, thinking that some other movie had
stolen his title! He was relieved to find that it was about his own movie.
I finally acquired Frank's phone number. At that point in my career, I still was not accustomed to cold-calling filmmakers and asking them for their time. But once I finally made the call, dealing with Henenlotter was a dream. He knew and enjoyed
Fangoria magazine, and welcomed me into his home.
Every visit to Frank's, and they were frequent, resulted in another lesson in exploitation's extremities. I was not always the best of students -- I never really understood what Frank wanted me to apprehend regarding Jesse Franco's films, though many years later I would find
Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, and finally be convinced of Franco's genius.
My interest in seeing
Fangoria succeed was too strong for me to ever fully adopt Frank's exploitation esthetic; I wasn't about to bump
Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3D in order to make room for a detailed Ray Dennis Steckler retrospective. But Frank's influence in the pages of
Fangoria was an essential component. Soon it became my habit to refer to
Fangoria as "
the magazine of horror and exploitation film," as a statement of identity (a Google search indicates that I am the only person to refer to
Fangoria as such). Without Frank, I'd never have embraced the word "
exploitation," a word the majority of mainstream filmmakers still shun. One reason that
Fangoria, in those days, was not generally perceived as a complete tool of Hollywood was our obvious regard for outsider/exploitation filmmakers.
 |
| Writer/director Frank Henenlotter |
CE: Was the book Brain Damage written before or after the movie was shot?
UBM: I began writing before a single frame was shot.
 |
| One of my favorite images from the film. |
CE: Do you remember Mr. Henenlotter's reaction after he'd read it?
UBM: Frank was so pleased with
what I'd written that he had at least one actor start reading it, to illuminate
the character. The actor, however, became upset because he perceived it as
interference with his own process of developing the character, so that stopped
-- but I appreciated that Frank liked it that much.
 |
| A poster from the movie. |
CE: How many drafts did you go through?
UBM: How do you distinguish drafts when you use a word processor? It's all the
original draft, with constant revision.
But the screenplay provided such a
solid path to follow, there was generally little revision. Frank's dialog was
perfect, of course, and the dialog in the book follows the screenplay to the
letter - and there was very little change to the dialog on the screen, either.
The hardest part of the job was writing the narrative portions that sewed
together the dialog scenes. But, again, I was strictly following the screenplay
- except for the one chapter set in Berlin - so once I completed a page, re-read
it and was satisfied, I seldom went back and changed it.
CE: Did this collaboration lead directly to you co-writing the Basket Case
sequels with Mr. Henenlotter?
UBM: Frank wrote
Basket Case 2 on his own, but the reason he called on me to help
with
Frankenhooker was because the 2 films were to be shot back-to-back, and he
just couldn't type two screenplays at once. Frank narrated each and every scene
in
Frankenhooker to me as I took notes, then I went off and wrote the scenes he
had described, usually in complete detail. I contributed dumb gags - like Jeffrey
shouting "bunions!" then grabbing a file - and wrote Jeffrey's bad poetry, but
even if I had only been a typist,
Frankenhooker would have been a wonder.
Another instance, I suggested that Jeffrey's magic serum should be purple -- but
I was consciously referring to the Aylmer's purple juice from
Brain Damage, so I
stole an idea from Frank to use in Frank's movie. Fun!
 |
| The book's wonderful cover art. |
CE: Which kind of writing did you enjoy more - the prose of Brain Damage, or the
screenplays for Frankenhooker and Basket Case 3?
UBM: Working directly
with Frank is a lot more fun than copying Frank's screenplay, so working on the
films had a lot more laughter to it...also, the real themes of
Brain Damage are
pretty grim, and drawn from certain aspects of life in New York that were
directly affecting just about everybody in NYC in the early 80s.
Brain Damage is
an absurd drama told by a man with a sharp, irrepressible sense of humor.
Frankenhooker and
Basket Case 3 were out-and-out comedies...not a shred of
seriousness in either.
And
Basket Case 3 was more fun to write than
Frankenhooker was, probably because Frank had no reason to care what kind of
movie it would turn out to be. All the barriers were down, and he just wanted
the thing to be full of dumb bizarre jokey stuff. If production hadn't become a
nightmare - the budget was decimated while he was shooting - I think Frank would
speak of it more kindly today.
 |
| The Aylmer in all its glory. |
CE: Do you think you'll write any other novels? Or an autobiography?
UBM: Writing one good original novel is a goal of mine, and while I don't doubt that I
have the ability, I am not sure I have sufficient will...I don't find the process
of writing enjoyable enough to leap into a big project. But I think that, if I
develop the right strategy, I may be able to trick myself into doing it.
 |
| Another wild image from the film version. |
CE: Anything else you'd like to tell us about your friendship and collaboration with Frank Henenlotter?
UBM: I just want to add one thing … let whoever is interested know that Frank
possibly saved my life...the rock magazine I edited was a fiasco for a bunch of
reasons, and a very frustrating experience, most of all when it was shut down
through a Jimmy Swaggart-led boycott of rock magazines in the South -- before he
got caught with a hooker.
After that, I was pretty much through with the
magazine business and way too young to retire -- and flat broke to boot.
I
had absolutely nothing on my plate until Frank brought up the
Brain Damage
novelization.
When I was at
Fangoria, I thought now and then about
working in film, and there were just two guys that I knew I'd jump at the chance
if I could work with them; they were David Cronenberg and Frank. I really doubt
that Cronenberg would have been as much fun, and I know he would never have
given me first credit on the screenplay...I don't think anyone in movies would
be as generous.
CE: What a terrific interview! Thank you for your time and insight into the background of this terrific book!
UBM: Thanks again for the review. I was trying to think of a way to properly thank
you...this evening, I was watching the 1931 version of
The Maltese Falcon, and
it came across my mind that you might enjoy this small insight into the film and
book. Shortly after I read the screenplay, Frank said to me: "You know what
the Aylmer is, right? It's just the Maltese Falcon." This turned on some
lights, and that's why the scene in Germany features characters based on Sidney
Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
The Aylmer is indeed the stuff dreams are made of...or nightmares...get this book - you'll love it!
Amazon Kindle edition link
Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
.jpg)
