Cujo108

An obscure effort from the director of the infamous "Last House on Dead End Street", I expected more from "Shadows of the Mind" than what I wound up getting. As a child, Elise witnessed the drowning deaths of her father and stepmother. Racked with feelings of guilt, she's been institutionalized ever since. That is until Dr. Lang decides she's ready to return to the outside world. Hesitant and alone, Elise heads back to the old family estate. Before long, her estranged stepbrother stops by to visit and various murders begin to occur.

For the first 40 minutes or so, this is a mostly dull and repetitive affair. Elise wanders around the estate as the same lines of dialogue replay over and over and over in her mind. I'm a very patient individual, but this was a bit much. For a film with such a short running time, they sure padded it out. It doesn't help that Marion Joyce (who co-wrote the picture) is pretty annoying in the part of Elise. Fortunately, the proceedings are enlivened considerably by G.E. Barrymore's smarmy portrayal of Leland, the scheming stepbrother. When he arrives on scene, things finally pick up a little. Another plus is the gorgeous Bianca Sloane as Dr. Lang's fiancée, Diana.

The run down estate makes for a moody setting, and there's an effective scene of a body being discovered in an elevator shaft. However, the plot developments are as predictable as they come, including the twist that the film ends on. Combining that with a grating lead performance and the ridiculous amount of padding, "Shadows of the Mind" never comes off as anything above mediocrity. Worth a one time watch for curiosity's sake, but that's about it.

Late 80's anthology that has a woman telling scary bedtime stories to her young daughter. The first story follows a small platoon in the jungles of Vietnam as they encounter a horror other than the war. The second tale involves a group of college friends who decide to play a prank on a prudish girl they know from school. The third has the woman telling her daughter about what happened shortly after she and the girl's father were married.

The Vietnam segment is easily the best. It boasts a thick atmosphere and solid performances from it's four principle cast members (including Glenn Morshower of the cult comedy, "Drive-In"). It ends on an anticlimactic note, but is quite enjoyable otherwise. The second story starts off with a game of strip poker. That's pretty much the highlight, though, go figure, the hottest of the girls isn't the one who gets naked. The séance prank these geniuses come up with is poorly thought out and wouldn't fool even the most naive of idiots. As expected, the gag goes wrong, but in a really lame way. Bad special effects and a ridiculous ghostly voice further help to sink this segment. That said, the third bit is the weakest of the lot, as it tries it's hand at silly comedy. All of the jokes are incredibly obvious, so you'll see them coming a mile away. The finale is laughable, though not in the way intended.

Overall, a lower tier anthology effort. Not horrible, just nothing remotely special. The first story had potential, but the ending hurts it. The film itself starts with a rock band being approached to do the music for a horror movie, and we get various annoying musical interludes throughout, as well as that old cliché, outtakes during the end credits.

Direct-to-video sequel is actually more of a re-adaptation of Stephen King's original story. Michael Gross plays a psychiatrist who goes back to his hometown following his mother's death. Accompanying him is his teenage daughter, Michelle (a young Hilary Swank). Gross soon realizes that they're being targeted by the men who sacrificed his sister in a satanic ritual 27 years earlier, only they're no longer human.

In some ways, this is better than the first film. For one, it features an overall darker tone. It doesn't get all sappy either, and the idea to have the gang return as demons instead of ghosts works well, also tying into a ritual from the original story that the first adaptation omitted. I preferred the father/daughter dynamic over the family one, and the addition of side characters, Maria and Jules, was certainly welcome.

On the other hand, even as demons, Alexis Arquette and company didn't come off quite as menacing as the gang from the previous flick. I think that had to do with some lame one-liners. There's also the fact that I recognized one of the gang, Glen Beaudin, from the silly 90's TV series, "Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad", so it's hard to take him too seriously as a threat. The priest character is way over the top as well, and the annoying lawnmower idiot couldn't get off my screen fast enough.

Still, this is a fun take on the King tale, and we get some interesting imagery such as death by flying tarot cards and Swank getting it on with a demonized Arquette. It's far from great, but it makes a nice companion to the first, as both have their qualities and misfires.