Dream System

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I believe that director Steve Barnett's low budget B-movie Mindwarp was an influence on Cronenberg's excellent eXistenZ AND the groundbreaking sci-fi action classic The Matrix. Of course, it's nowhere near as good as those films, but the similarities are hard to ignore.

Like eXistenZ and The Matrix, the main character, 'dreamer' Judy (Marta Martin), plugs into a virtual world which is impossible to distinguish from real life. Like eXistenZ and The Matrix, the body requires a 'port'-an interface with which to connect the human mind to the digital realm. And like The Matrix, the real world seems a lot less appealing than the computerised alternative, where you can live out your fantasies.

Unfortunately, Judy's electronic existence comes to an end when she is granted her wish to experience reality and is exiled to a post-apocalyptic world where cannibals roam the wastelands. It's not long before flesh-eating mutants have Judy trussed up ready for slaughter, but help comes in the form of passing good samaritan Stover (Bruce Campbell), who saves her from a grisly fate and takes her to his home. From this point the film becomes rather repetitive as Judy and Stover are captured by the cannibals and taken underground, where they escape, get captured, escape again, and get captured again.

There's a fair bit of gore to liven up proceedings, and horror icon Angus Scrimm turns up as the leader of the cannibals, who has created a form of religion to keep the mutants in hand, but it does get pretty tedious. The film rounds things off with a not-totally-unexpected twist ending.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for iMDb. Better than Alien Apocalypse, but not by much.

The story in Mindwarp is interesting but the budget for this movie was just too low. It's a pity because it had potential to be a good sci-fi post apocalyptic horror movie but now it's just a bit cringing to watch. Maybe one day they will remake this one with a decent budget and then we could have something. The costumes, masks and other attributes looked like they've been purchased in the cheapest costume shop, the acting is mediocre and that despise I like Bruce Campbell normally. It looks like he always plays in stuff where at one point somebody gets his hand chopped off. I wished I liked this movie more, but even for a distant 1992 movie it still looks too amateuristic.

I normally hate post-apocalyptic science fiction, but I'll make an exception for Mindwarp. Despite gratuitous gore and a cast with some weak members, the film manages to be entertaining. Good use is made of a low budget, and an intriguing (if ugly) world is created. If you're a science fiction fan, this movie should be at least a little more satisfying than most genre entries.

I never heard of that movie before. The fact that Bruce Campbell starred in it was also pretty shocking. And yes in fact it was a B-Movie. But I have to admit they used this low budget pretty well. The story is quite nice although the ending will probably confuse you. The main feeling is some kind of mixture between despair and being afraid, it's pretty brutal and heartless. The acting was good although the dialogs were a little too cheesy. Whoever made this flick had some nice ideas. And if you like post apocalyptic movies - this is one you shouldn't miss because it's really one of them better ones. Yeah just give it a try if you like cheesy B-Movie stuff like that.

Although not really having "enjoyed" Mindwarp, I must admit it's a fairly competent movie with a handful of disturbing images and a whole lot of blood-spurting gore. The popular genre magazine Fangoria raised the necessary funds for this film and they pretty much know what their target audiences adore as well as whom they like to see in horror films. So we've got a story with some really dark topics and two respectable icons starring in important supportive roles. I'm sure many horror fans would blindly pick up a copy of "Mindwarp" only because the names of Bruce Campbell ("the Evil Dead") and Angus Scrimm ("Phantasm") are displayed on the cover. Unfortunately, however, the script is weak and very incoherent and it too often feels like the outrageously nasty gore was only put in to compensate for the lack of content. Somewhere deep into the 21st century, our planet has become a completely uninhabitable wasteland and the remaining humans live in underground rooms where their days are filled with mind-controlling computer games that induce personal fantasies. Judy rebels against this dull way of life and she's promptly exiled to the dangerous upland, where she teams up with solo-warrior Strover (Bruce Campbell) and battles a community of mutated cannibalistic creatures. The opening sequences involving hi-tech computer mumbo-jumbo are boring, confusing and pretentious and the film only becomes somewhat interesting as soon as we're in the uncanny post-apocalyptic surface settings. The Crawler's liar is creepy and sinister, and their leader (Angus Scrimm) has some gruesome hobbies like gouging people's eyes out and throwing the rest of their bodies into propellers. Nice. One-time-actress Marta Alicia doesn't bring her lines very convincing, but she sure has an athletic body and at least she had some quality time with the almighty Bruce Campbell. Good for her! "Mindwarp" is okay entertainment, but if you're looking for really good post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi movies, check out the "Mad Max" trilogy, "Damnation Alley" or "Hardware".