Mind’s Eye, The (2015)
Starring Graham Skipper, John Speredakos, Lauren Ashley Carter
Directed by Joe Begos
A slew of particularly heavy films that screened at this year’s Fantastic Fest are experimentally shot, drenched in metaphor and filled with underlying themes left to ponder for hours after the credits roll. And then there’s a little film like Joe Begos’ The Mind’s Eye, the Rhode Island director’s sophomore effort. Dressed with subtlety or layers, it isn’t. In fact, The Mind’s Eye asks nothing of its audience except to sit back, drink a ton of beer, and watch some things (and mostly people) explode. To say that an experience like this is welcomely refreshing in the festival circuit may be a curious statement given the context, but that is exactly what it was.
Inspired by many a sci-fi/action romp of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Begos’ follow-up to his spirited, low-budget 2013 debut Almost Human proves that the director is growing by leaps and bounds. Like its predecessor, The Mind’s Eye is a retro-fueled throwback, notably one that takes a few pages from Cronenberg’s notebook with some nutty action sequences thrown in for good measure. It clings to the kind of explosive sci-fi tropes that dazzled teenage boys three decades ago, featuring a lot of scenery chewing, explosive sequences, and gore galore. A midnight movie to a “T” if there ever was one, The Mind’s Eye wouldn’t be out of place following recent genre favorite The Guest in a “Dudes Destroying Things” themed marathon.
Long story short, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.
The story follows Zack Connors (Almost Human leading man Graham Skipper), a drifter with telekinetic powers who is apprehended by a private organization seeking to conduct research on people like him. At first resistant, Zack is coerced when he is informed that Rachel Meadows (Carter), a former love he has not seen in years, is also participating at the facility. Run by megalomaniac Dr. Michael Slovak (a perfectly cast Speredakos), it is soon revealed that the facility has no intention in letting Zack see Rachel; instead, the doctor is attempting to siphon the powers of these individuals for self-serving purposes, and, once reunited, Zack and Rachel ultimately vow to bring down the corrupt team.
While the frame of the film very obviously echoes Scanners (and other VHS-era sci-fi/action staples for that matter), Cronenberg’s influence in The Mind’s Eye is only really felt in its visual effects and some notably similar plot points. Elsewhere, the film is decidedly light on substance in exchange for a focus on in-your-face action and heavily expository dialogue, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I would describe it as what would happen if an early ‘90s Nintendo created a fast-paced Scanners video game adaptation, and then that game was subsequently adapted to film. Sound ridiculous enough? Well, it kind of is – but damn it if it doesn’t work.
Begos sets out early on to establish our characters’ back-stories more so than we might expect from a film like this. We spend some time learning about Rachel and Zack’s romantic connection and Slovak’s research, which is all good and well, but it’s easy to get restless when you know what’s coming — and many of us did, thanks to Begos’ enthusiastic intro to the film beforehand. I found myself perking up every time Steve Moore’s masterful synth-heavy score filled the theater, readying myself for the crazy I knew was about to go down. Luckily, it doesn’t take too long for the mayhem to really start flooding in, and, boy, is it a blast when it does.
In one particularly joyous sequence following our protagonists’ escape from Slovak’s facility, we are treated to an amusingly heavy-handed sex scene between Zack and Rachel while Zack’s father (Larry Fessenden, in his third Fantastic Fest appearance) channels his inner telekinetic wildman downstairs in a showdown with Slovak’s henchmen. The pairing of these moments makes for a strange, if not comical tonal juxtaposition that evoked many chuckles of admittedly juvenile enjoyment, and the scene works to encompass the film’s tone quite perfectly. We are faced with one event we are surely supposed to take quite seriously and another that we’re convinced must be meant for laughs – although we’re not exactly sure which is which. It really doesn’t matter, though, because at this point we were all having a blast.
The Mind’s Eye does not stop exploding with joyful rage from this point on, channeling some of the most over-the-top moments that perhaps harken back to less-remembered sci-fi/action fare like Demolition Man or Universal Soldier than, say, The Terminator. As special effects and makeup work truly make or break such genre efforts, it’s a pleasure to see that the splatterfest here is actually very impressive. Heads roll, limbs are hacked, and innards fly to the delight of the audience thanks to the majorly gifted practical effects and makeup team of Pete Gerner, Brian Spears, Ashley K. Thomas, and Natalie Violette. Any genre hound fed up with the overt use of CGI in our modern age of horror will find the effects in The Mind’s Eye to be wholly refreshing.
Also in line with the film’s retro-lovefest vision are its oft-caricatural performances – and we mean that in the best way possible. Graham Skipper plays the average Joe turned convulsing badass to delightful effect, turning the physicality up so hard mid-telekinetic fit that you’ve just got to cheer the guy on every time he enacts his head-shaking, spit-dripping revenge in the film’s final act. Not to be shown up, Speredakos hilariously encompasses the telekinetically “infected” Dr. Slovak with the electrical growl and gait of a very pissed off cyborg in the finale, a classic B-movie villain in the making judging by the number of hollers and guffaws his one-liners evoked from the crowd. Elsewhere, Carter, Fessenden, and fellow genre staple Noah Segan (Follow, Starry Eyes, Deadgirl) also deliver heightened performances that are great fun. (Side note, but I would strongly support a spin-off featuring Carter’s Rachel… hint hint!) Anyone not enjoying themselves by the time we made it to the final vein-popping staredown of a telekinetic battle was surely without a pulse.
While always gratuitous and often kooky, what makes the insanity in Begos’ film work well is that is also never feels pointless. The Mind’s Eye may not carry the metaphorical weight of Scanners, but the story is engaging enough and Begos channels his influences from the most genuine place of admiration. He is clearly a director who adores the subgenres to which he is paying homage and his approach is gleeful, but reverent, as if he has been waiting decades to have his own shot at creating something like this, but was also careful not to waste it through senseless execution. That’s not to say that The Mind’s Eye doesn’t work best when you set your brain to autopilot; it absolutely does. But while it’s by and large a simple, silly film, it’s a very endearing one, never a stupid one.
The Mind’s Eye was not the best film I saw at Fantastic Fest, nor the most original or technically stunning, but it was exactly the type of enjoyable viewing experience it set out to be. It does sometimes feel like a larger vision encased by some limitations, which is to be expected as Begos is still finding his groove, but it bodes extremely well as a whole for the energetic director who feels like someone many of us would love to kick back with and watch a movie — preferably one like this. I have the utmost in respect for a film that can so unapologetically dismember and explode so many people on-screen and still make me feel like a kid inside. Hats off, Mr. Begos.
-
Film
Categorized:Reviews
