There are movies that are released that do little to no
business when they appear in theater but are later discovered by movie fans
around the world. Some achieve cult status and rise above the rest. Others
bring back memories for a select few and garner the attention of die-hard genre
fans. That seems to be the case with this film, a movie that has been hard to
find for some time and now has a second chance thanks to Olive Films.
The movie opens with a young man filling his pockets with
rocks and trying to drown himself in a lake in front of those swimming there.
Taken to a mental hospital for treatment for suicide the patient, now known as
John Doe (Zeljko Ivanek), starts off being looked over by Dr. Gail Farmer (Kathryn
Harrold). It appears that he is suffering from amnesia and she’s trying to help
restore his memory.
Gail’s colleague and supervisor Dr. Denman (Paul Freeman)
wants to perform shock therapy on him to stimulate his brain to cure him of
amnesia. Gail argues telling him that she thinks she’s making progress. As she
begins to gain his trust strange things begin to happen. One night at home Gail
hears someone break into her house and see John standing in her bedroom taking
a necklace while she calls the police. When they arrive, he’s nowhere to be
found, gone from the room without a trace and the necklace still there. Calling
the hospital she’s told he’s there in his bed.
The story begins to turn from here as it moves from treating
a patient with amnesia to discovering that he may possess an extremely high
power of telepathy. When he dreams all around him dream as well, not something
you want happening in a mental ward. The dreams begin to affect Gail as well as
she begins to see various hallucinations including John’s mother telling her
that he needs to be returned to her, that the two of them share a special bond
found only between mother and child.
When things get out of hand Denman moves forward with the
electro-shock therapy only to find himself and those helping him tossed into a
mass hallucination caused by John. Realizing what is going on they change their
form of therapy and attempt to help him unlock what he has hidden in his mind,
why he has brought about this case of amnesia.
The movie plays well here drawing the viewer into the realm
of madness but never quite letting you know at first just who is mad and who is
in control. At times you might think all of this was in John’s head but in the
next few minutes begin wondering, could it be that all of this is in Gail’s
mind? Then out of the blue another possibility rises. Could none of this be
caused by mental issues or telepathy at all? Is it possible that what we have
here is a haunting? All is answered by the end of the film and not until the
very end. Even then it’s left open to interpretation.
The production quality of the film is well made, especially
set design. Rather than the glossy feel of most film hospitals this one has a
sense of actually being a real hospital, off white to yellow wall paint and
all. Nothing feels polished and spit shined. I haven’t seen a hospital set look
this real since the George C. Scott film THE HOSPITAL back in 1971.
The actors all offer a convincing job as well portraying
their characters without a sly grin or nod to the camera, instead making them
real and adding that depth to them. For Ivanek this was his first major role.
He’s since become a familiar face in numerous TV series though the odds are you
won’t recognize him here being this young and with a full head of hair. Harrold
as always does a great job offering a woman who cares about her patients and
yet not playing it as some would with a romantic interest in the midst of it
all. Why her career never rose higher than it did is beyond me.
Fans of this film will be thrilled to see it finally get the
blu-ray release. Even the standard DVDs were hard to find on this title. It was
even written about in HIDDEN HORROR, a collection of articles discussing
forgotten horror films that fans thought deserved mention. My guess is that
those fans along with the many who have read the book will be making it a point
of picking this one up now that it’s received a decent release. They won’t be
disappointed and neither will you if you decide to give this one a try.
Click here to order.
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