Brainscan

What if video games did more than simply cause you to be inert while frying your brain? What if they could actually be used as a vehicle for murder?

That's the "what if?" premise behind "Brainscan," which seems to aspire to be a cautionary tale but settles for being a half-baked "Nightmare on Elm Street" ripoff — complete with Freddy Krueger clone.

"Brainscan" is yet another in what is fast becoming a sub-horror genre, the video game murder movie, most prominently exemplified by "The Lawnmower Man" and "Ghost in the Machine." But if they weren't much, "Brainscan" is even less.

Edward Furlong, the kid in "Terminator 2" and the oldest of Kathy Bates' children in "A Home of Our Own," stars here as a latchkey teen who has mastered every video game there is. (His other hobbies are gory horror films and watching the teenage girl next door undress at her open window.)

So, when he hears about "Brainscan," he is naturally skeptical. But, of course, he gives it a try and discovers a hypnotic CD-ROM that creeps into his subconscious as he witnesses a brutal murder through the eyes of the killer. The object is to complete the dastardly deed and return home within the allotted time frame. (Serial killer training, the next big leap in interactive technology; a lovely idea.)

At first, Furlong is wildly enthusiastic about the game, but then he sees the 6 o'clock news and realizes it wasn't just a fantasy — it really happened, and right in his neighborhood. Further proof is provided by grisly evidence in his freezer.

Soon, Furlong is pushed to take the game to new levels by that Freddy Krueger clone, The Trickster (T. Ryder Smith), who initially appears as a hologram, and then proves to be a demon of some sort, if not the devil himself.

The Trickster is also not above planting clues for the local police (headed by detective Frank Langella), as Furlong continues to play the game and his victims become close friends instead of strangers.

And as with Freddy Krueger, toward the end of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, The Trickster becomes less well defined as "Brainscan" moves along. Is he merely mischievous or truly evil? It's hard to laugh at the sick one-liners if the latter is true, as seems to be the case most of the way.

And Furlong's brooding style is not particularly appealing. You may feel somewhat sorry for his character's dilemma, but you will probably never identify with him.

That leaves only the special effects, and nothing here is as impressive as "Ghost in the Machine" or "The Lawnmower Man." This is pretty routine stuff.

"Brainscan" is rated R for violence, gore, profanity, vulgarity, nudity and sex.