La soffiata

Deborah Raffin's lead performance in this tepid TV-made thriller is the only reason to watch. Clearly inspired by the theatrical "Eyes of Laura Mars" from 1978, plot concerns an actress in Los Angeles who begins having premonitions of a menacing bald man and a plane crash; naturally, the two are connected, and soon our heroine finds herself kidnapped by the psychopath (who hangs out in an abandoned building well-equipped with burning light bulbs). Two of the supporting performances--by Bruce Davison as Raffin's whining boyfriend and Andrew Pine as the preening madman in tight jeans--are so ineffective as to be almost embarrassing, which is really the fault of writer Robert Carrington for his atrocious teleplay and director Ivan Nagy for his inept staging. There's a modicum of tension in Carrington's scenario, and Raffin acquits herself well until her character is turned into a punching bag; however, when the drama and the majority of characters are this ridiculously drawn, it's nearly impossible to fall for such juvenile shenanigans.

Ah, the little but pleasant surprises in life! I didn't have any specific expectations whatsoever when I sat down to watch "Mind Over Murder", but it turned out to be a great discovery after all! For a good 30 years already, there's a vague sequence spooking through my head. A sequence of a woman who witness an ordinary egg rolling out of the fridge, in slow-motion, and falling on the floor. While the egg is rolling and falling, the woman has a paranormal experience in which she overhears a panicky conversation between two pilots as their plane is crashing down.

I saw this when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old, but it must have made an everlasting impression. I was never able to find out what movie this footage came from, until now. In "Mind Over Murder", female protagonist Suzy has a couple of supernatural visions like this one, all involving a sinister bald man and the harsh crimes he commits. The airplane of Suzy's vision actually did crash, and an unknown bald man has sabotaged it. Her fiancée doesn't believe her, but the handsome executive of the Airline Company does. And the bald killer doesn't exactly like Suzy's gift, neither.

It's pretty obvious why I never remembered the film's title, though. Apart from the intriguing premise and actress Deborah Raffin's good looks, "Mind Over Murder" is a tame, predictable, and disappointing thriller. Especially the last half hour, when the killer lures Suzy to his hideout and holds her captive, is inexplicably dull. The script never really bothers to clarify Suzy's paranormal abilities, or the reason why Baldie put a bomb on a plane that caused the death of 83 people. There are a few interesting names in the supportive cast, like Andrew Prine as the bald creep and an early role for Robert "Freddy Kruger" Englund.

This TV thriller had the potential to be great, with the premonition of a woman seeing criminal events before they happen an appealing plot line. But, the suspense is lost in the sloppy subplot of the love triangle involving the woman, her boyfriend, and the government agent who is trying to help her in her case.

The plot does move at a steady pace and you do get some thrills here and there, with a very eerie and mind-numbing atmosphere. But, the very subpar acting is quite a turn off, including the very annoying and punk-sounding Bruce Davison's character. There seems to be no communication skills between him and Suzy, the female lead.

The premonition plot device is clever, but the focus on that fades away throughout the second half of the movie, which then turns into any normal damsel-in-distress story. Below average, overall.

Grade D+

Ivan Nagy,s Mind over murder is I think a good.,"made for TV" movie. Why? Hard to express..the overall impression this movie made on me as a little child was enormous. The sickness of a young totally deranged man in a bizarre entanglement with a vision of pure femininity. Lovely photography and some great special effects make this movie fun to watch.,then there is a very eerie side to it when the filmmakers create a very disturbing atmosphere .,wich I liked as a viewer. Seen this movie at an age of 7 an never forgot story line and stylistics.,when 20 years later I saw the movie again I was again an instant fan. I am aware that for an enormous group of people this movie could be waste of time but when you appreciate a little "style over content" and you are in to scary movies than I would say...Go see this forgotten super 70,s style "thriller macabre".

I didn't know what to expect going in to Mind Over Murder, so I was pleasantly surprised when it turned into a psychic driven mystery. The film definitely has that late '70's vibe moving in to the '80's with all the tight, high waisted fashion styles for men and women as well as awful corporate and home decors. I won't go in to too many details (though the star is an actress/dancer working in commercials as a giant, dancing hamburger!) other than Kay, the lead, starts having psychic visions of a deranged, bald murder. Her visions are believed by her jerk of a boyfriend, sexist to the extreme, but she does find a sympathetic listener in an NTSB agent investigating the case. The movie is about 6 stars for about an hour with the psychic element. Then, the ending thirty minutes just goes way off course in a creepy manner that doesn't jive with what just went on. I watched the movie all through, even though it drags in the middle, yet not really worth it.