Experiment 14

In an attempt to correct her (Costas Mandylor) hearing after she became deaf from the sound of gunshots, the experiment went too well. Now she is of value to some people and a threat to others. How is she going to get out of this pickle?

A well-executed formula movie. At one time we were innovated by movies where a secret formula, or radiation, or LSD experiments create a superset of senses. And of course, the experiment has to be covered up. The main experimentee is usually more moral than the experimenter. Others, usually the government, want to use the abilities for their own nefarious purposes.

So the story is not unique however the acting and details are exceptionally good. You can tell that this is a pilot and it makes you wonder who will survive to make the program.

For sci-fi lovers, you may recognize George Takei (Sulu on Star Trek), and John de Lancie (Q on Star Trek: Voyager), together again.

The only thing missing would be the mystique of a missing filmmaker. Shads of Aimee Semple McPherson.

The secretary Liza Raines (Lucy Jenner) becomes deaf after a shooting in a robbery, is evicted and later she is found by the social assistant Grant Kane (John J. York) living in her car. Grant brings Liza to a Transition Shelter to be rehabilitated, and she accepts to be submitted to an experimental treatment never tested in humans in the Center for Hearing Research. The leader of the research Dr. Gene Kramer (John de Lancie) is pressed by the CIA agent Aiden Porter (Costas Mandylor) that is funding his experiment to test his vaccine of restoration of cells in fifteen patients, and he advises that the rats subjected to the experiment became psychotic. The patients also become psychotic and suicidal, with the exception of Liza, the patient 14. She achieves the ability of hearing frequencies emitted by the brain and read minds as a side effect. Porter recruits Liza to work in CIA disclosing the innermost thoughts of the suspects, but later Liza finds his real hidden intentions.

"The Eavesdropper" is a reasonable movie with an original story that has a great beginning and becomes too much complicated in the end with the betrayals and conspiracies. I thought this movie was a pilot of a show because of the open end. The unknown Lucy Jenner has a great performance, but her character deserved to be better developed in the beginning, showing her past life to the viewers. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Paciente 14" ("Patient 14")

I absolutely LOVED this movie. I just finished watching it on TV and it was great. The storyline was excellent. The ending left me wanting to watch more and see what happens though. Another movie should be made to let me (and others) know what happens to these people. To the makers of this movie - GREAT JOB!!! Keep making movies like this. The idea of people being out there that can actually do this is a little scary. It will make me wonder if anything I THINK is private. It would be very interesting to be able to do this - not necessarily on a regular basis, but on an as needed basis.It would help to know who is lying and who isn't. It could be a potential dangerous thing as well as a beneficial thing.

Contrary to the previous reviewer, it is precisely the fact that you have to constantly hear multiple streams of thought of a few people at the same time, and decide what is "noise" and what is "important" what made this movie most interesting and enjoyable for me.

It is a psychological experience that is exactly the opposite of what you normally do all day long... paying attention to the one stimulus that you already know is important in the given situation while what is not important automagically gets filtered out by your senses.

For a layperson (regarding the complex machinery of your senses) this movie gives you a "hands on" way of appreciating the valuable work your senses do for you all the time, filtering out irrelevant information for you. Even if you are acquainted with the science behind the senses, this movie shows you how you probably would go insane if this filtering were not part of our makeup.

The premise that a person could hear other peoples thoughts all the time would of course be distressing to the person involved, however, the way that it's implemented into this film is that you, the viewer, have to listen to the same constant babble of peoples thoughts while trying to work out what is being discussed in the current conversation.

Trying to listen to several different voices at once and trying to understand what they are all saying makes this film a very stressful one to watch. Ideally you'd just pay attention to the main conversation but they're at a volume that makes this just not possible.

To be honest, I didn't watch this film all the way through, I can't recommend it.