See Jeffrey Combs Play Herbert West in the Steve Martin Comedy 'The Man With Two Brains'

Fans of the cult '80s horror movie Re-Animator will be a little surprised to hear about Jeffrey Combs role in the Steve Martin comedy Man With Two Brains, where he plays a somewhat more jovial version of his cult alter-ego Herbert West. Even stranger is that Man With Two Brains was released in 1983 and pre-dates Re-animator by 2 years. Now however, thanks to the power of the internet, you won't miss this strange crossover...

Man With Two Brains

Those not familiar with MWTB just need to know its from a time when Steve Martin was comedy king and is a somewhat muddled Mel Brooks-esque adventure. Basically Martin is a neurosurgeon who falls in love with a patient he saves and hilarity ensues when hes embroiled in a murder plot. It is definitely worth a watch but I'm not sure why I was allowed to rent this movie as a kid. Its certainly not PG friendly...

Surgery Scene

So the Jeffrey Combs scene appears around 7 minutes into the movie, Steve Martin's character barges in to find two students prepping his car crash victim for the operating theater. Both are seemingly shaving the victim in her nether regions much to the shock of Martin who tells them he's doing a brain operation! Combs has the best line to explain why they're doing that, no spoilers, see it below...

"I NEVER WANT TO SEE THAT AGAIN!"

A classic screwball comedy moment right there and Combs hams it up nicely in a role that perhaps led him to playing his most infamous character. I wonder if Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon saw this film before casting Combs? Something we'll never know, if I ever meet either one I'll ask them.

I think you'll agree its a nice find for fans of Jeffrey Combs work and a strange little role in regards to what came later. If you need a quick Herbert West moment to balance out this light-hearted scene then check out this clip from Bride of Re-Animator for a dose of insanity! I honestly believe its one of the finest speeches in cinematic history...