User reviews

Yet another made-for-TV espionage thriller – after the recently-viewed ONCE UPON A SPY, also with Christopher Lee, and S*H*E* (both 1980) – with an even more comical and juvenile bent, considering that the "Brain" of the title is no more than a whizz kid of 10! Lee dispensed with his moustache for this one but not his wicked ways – he plays an ex-Nazi bent on retrieving a sunken fortune in rare coins. The hero, then, is the typical luxury-loving womanizer whose penchant for impromptu karate sessions with his Oriental manservants is also straight out of some Inspector Clouseau vehicle!; his abode, then, is not unlike the Bruce Wayne manor minus the Batcave, faithfully overseen by a long-suffering butler/chef whose recipes continually go unappreciated!

The director had made the impressive horror thriller DARK INTRUDER (1965), a failed TV pilot subsequently released to theaters; this one feels like it had the same intent and, likewise, was not picked up for a series! The film is not terrible per se, but neither is it especially engaging or memorable – though Lee's commitment to his roles in even such substandard fare is indeed admirable (incidentally, as in AN EYE FOR AN EYE {1981}, he gets to express befuddlement at his opponents' sheer resilience but, given that he had previously left them tied up at the mercy of a time-bomb, this reaction is perhaps understandable here!). As expected, the protagonist has any number of females crossing his path, be they colleagues, clients or criminals; also on hand is ill-fated child actress Heather O'Rourke, soon to briefly attain fame in the same year's POLTERGEIST.

"A Christmas Story" is a classic and many people see it each year during the holiday season. However, one of the best things about this movie is one of the worst things in "Massarati and the Brain" (not to be confused with "Pinky and the Brain").... Peter Billingsley. Young Peter is great in the Christmas film and just awful in "Massarati" and I think some of it is age and experience. But the biggest difference is that "Massarati and the Brain" is just very badly written and stupid.

Massarati is a guy who works with his partner, Brain to do private eye stuff. Massarati is the brawn and very young Brain (Billingsley) is sort of like Q...the guy who is a super-genius and builds all sorts of gadgets. Now, considering Brain looks like he's about 8 years old, this plot is pretty much impossible to believe unless you are a very young and impressionable child.

So is there anything I liked about this film? No. Is there any reason for you to watch the film? Well, if you are a masochist, yes...otherwise, no. It's badly written, pretty dumb and a waste of talent (Christopher Lee is in the film). Plus, who wants to see an action/adventure film involving an adult and a little kid?! It's pretty creepy now that I think about it in addition to being dumb.

another spelling film, it's a terrible film. parts of it are good but it's too cheesy and the acting is bad. what was the great christopher Lee thinking on this one? for fans of christmas story it's nice to see Peter billingsly in an early role.

I have seen. And there is this movie. It was on so late at night that I could not stay awake long enough to see it all the way through. I think that happened twice. I feel like the second time I watched this movie, I just changed the channel to watch something else. What is the plot? Who are some of the principal characters? Where does this movie take place? Do YOU know? Could you help me? A Massarati is a type of car, right? Does a car figure into the movie? The Brain, is some creepy kid, is the kid like important to the movie? Markie Post went on to star in TV's Night Court. What does she do in this movie? What do YOU remember, and maybe you could write it down and mail it to me? Use descriptive words.