Ein Draht im Kopf

soldiers with facial hair? With a name like "The Mind Snatchers", I naturally assumed this was a film about space aliens abducting and scrambling the brains of folks. However, the film has absolutely nothing to do with this but is instead a slightly paranoid but thought-provoking film about psychiatric ethics.

The film begins with a VERY obnoxious and angry soldier, Pvt. Reese (Christopher Walken) bullying and mistreating everyone. He's soon arrested by the military police and incarcerated for psychiatric tests to determine what his issues are. They diagnose him with a personality disorder (no duh!) and schizophrenia--and, without his permission, they ship him off to a very strange hospital where there appear to be only three patients. One is SERIOUSLY disturbed and a total mess. Another (Ronny Cox) is a sex offender. And, the third is Reese. What is this all about? No one tells Reese and he's left to wonder. And, through the course of the film, it becomes more and more apparent that the military is planning on doing some sort of insidious mind-control experiment on them!

Despite a low budget and that the film is inexplicably set in Germany (I think this was due to funding), the movie has a very compelling script and has a lot of interesting things to say about abuses within psychiatry where, it seems, the end does justify the means. A very good and unusual film to say the least--and an interesting early Walken role. Well worth seeing, though I doubt if the average person would enjoy this. Me, with my background in psychology, I loved it and thought it brought up some very interesting concerns.

I saw this movie under the "Demon Within" title. I believe the movie was based on a play and at times, it shows. The movie is slow in some parts, but overall is good. The character of Ronny Cox is often annoying. However, he does a good job in portraying the pity of a man losing his mind. Walken gives an non-typical performance of a comparatively straight-laced man who never really loses his mind but instead has it robbed from him. It is not really worth a long search. But if you do come across it, check it out.

This low key drama is about medical experiments in the American military where a form of mind control is being developed which involves brain washing of violent individuals to make them 'good'. An unruly young soldier is sent to the facility where these techniques are being developed for conditioning.

The most significant thing about The Mind Snatchers is that it features a young Christopher Walken in an early starring role. He is certainly the best thing about the film. His intensity is evident at this early stage and he carries the movie really. While the plot-line has some definite similarities to A Clockwork Orange, whose success I am sure led to this stage play being filmed, it is much less cinematic and pretty under-stated. It's a little too stage-bound for its own good to be honest and a little bit bland overall. It's a shame because there is certainly the basis of something quite good here but the uninspired direction means that it is not entirely successful. Its low budget probably restricts it in some ways but I have seen other similarly cheap sci-fi films from the 70's that engage the viewer more. Still, it's interesting enough for a watch and Walken is very good. It also features Ronny Cox from Deliverance as a sex offending inmate in line for corrective surgery.

A bit talky, but certainly well acted and thought provoking.

Walken, looking all of 19, does his usual standout performance in this ethical drama. While not without it's drawbacks - the pace is a bit slow at times and the score is annoying, the questions raised about the ethics used by both the well-meaning Doctor and the frightening military will certainly cause future reflection.

THE MIND SNATCHERS is about mind control, a government conspiracy, and an experiment gone wrong. In spite of these intriguing elements, this movie is painfully slow. This makes it feel days long instead of its actual 90 minute running time.

Watching it, it's clear that this would have made an excellent short film or anthology film segment. As it stands, it has a brain-scorching-ly padded midsection sandwiched between a decent beginning and a perfectly downbeat finale.

On the upside, Christopher Walken plays his character, Reese, with his soon-to-be signature, unforced quirkiness. In retrospect, it seems obvious that his future would include roles in THE DEER HUNTER and THE DEAD ZONE.

Unfortunately, he's the only bright spot in this movie. That is, unless you count a young Ronny Cox as Reese's unhinged hillbilly roommate...