Brain Damage: Addiction as a Talking Parasite

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:00:00 +0000

The villain of Brain Damage has the warmest voice in 1980s horror. It belongs to Aylmer, a wrinkled phallic parasite roughly the length of a forearm, and it purrs its way through Frank Henenlotter’s 1988 film with the smooth, avuncular patter of a late-night radio host. That voice was supplied by John Zacherle, the Philadelphia and New York television horror host known to a generation of kids as Zacherley, and casting him is the single sharpest decision in the picture. Aylmer does not threaten. Aylmer offers. He is the nicest monster you will ever meet, and that is precisely why he is the most frightening.

Frank Henenlotter - vo.rs

Brain Damage: Addiction as a Talking Parasite