Mindkiller

I liked the premise, but the movie is really very bad.

The movie starts off with a woman approaching a door with some sort of monster or mutated human being behind it. Who that might be and how this scene relates to what follows doesn't become apparent for some time.

A librarian who has no luck with women is devoted to self-help books and videos, though they do him no good. He discovers a manuscript by a deceased local author that gives him psychic powers after he finishes reading it in one go. He becomes manipulative, and he starts losing his hair.

The movie is pretty uneventful until towards the end when the effects of the manuscript have really taken hold. It's not worth watching.

I was excited when I found a VHS copy of this recently as the cover art is quite cool. But as usual with 80's horror flicks, a cool cover is usually to disguise a crap film. Mind Killer is no exception, but is even more boring than some of the worst 80's horror flicks! The opening looks interesting but after this it all gets dull and tedious. I nearly fell asleep, so I turned it off and watched the ending the next day. There's a little bit of cheesy action at the end, where the brain breaks free from the mans body. However it's far too late to save this mess. It reminded me of the ending to Slime City actually. The acting is bad and the whole film has a cheap feel, but not in a good way.

Avoid this unless you like cool VHS covers.

A creature-feature in which the creature has one minute of screen time out of about ninety. The audio mix is so terrible that what people are saying is often completely unintelligible due to loud music or ambient noise. It's as though the movie is purposely attempting to annoy the viewer with noises. Howling coyotes and TV static conspire to drive the viewer insane along with the film's antagonist. I hope whoever worked the sound on this movie stubs a toe for his terrible work on this project.

The only reason I give Mind Killer two stars instead of one is because I honestly can imagine a worse movie.

If you come across this on Tubi or wherever, SKIP.

Library archivist Warren (Joe McDonald) discovers the notes of a mad scientist and starts putting his mind bending work to use. Naturally, the milquetoast guy is immediately no longer taking smack from his boss and talking up the object of his affection. These mind techniques are great! Too bad about the hair loss and oozing sores that come as a result of using them. Shot in Denver, CO., this might be best know for a few gooey creations by Vincent Guastini and Ted Bohus (masters of that field circa 1987). That is only in the last 15 minutes though and nothing else much is going on here. The most interesting thing is co-star Wade Kelly (as nerd Larry) looking like the spittin' image of Jerry Lewis. The sad news? I've watched this film twice (once in 1990 and again this year). And, yes, I realize I've watched a 90 minute film called MIND KILLER twice and that point has dawned on me.

Nerdy library clerk Warren (Joe McDonald) works in the archive department where he stumbles upon a document that shows him how to develop psychic powers. With his newfound mental abilities, Warren seduces women against their will, including his library colleague Sandy (Shirley Ross). Eventually Warren's brain ups and leaves his body and latches onto Sandy, using her to attack his womanising room-mate Brad, of whom he has long been jealous.

The first half of Mindkiller is kinda dull, with Warren and his equally dorky pal Larry (Wade Kelley doing his best Julius Kelp impression) trawling bars and clubs hoping to find a member of the opposite sex willing to go home with them. I assume that their lame attempts at picking up women are supposed to be funny, but they aren't. Once Warren starts to learn the document's secrets, his batting average improves considerably by using mind control (cheaper than Rohypnol, I guess); this too is fairly forgettable, with only a spot of brief T&A to prevent total boredom: Ross strips to her undies during a dream sequence (nice bod, shame about the face), and a blonde with bad hair flashes her tits.

The second half of the movie sees Warren gradually losing control as his brain causes him to mutate, but it's not until the 20 minutes that the film delivers the goods in terms of gloopiness, Warren's enlarged cranium pulsating before splitting open to ooze blood and mucous over a hysterical Sandy, and, in the film's funniest scene, the brain growing eyes, fangs and legs to attack Larry. Fans of trashy practical effects will appreciate the effort, even if the results aren't that great.