The Sender (1982) User Reviews

An excellent "lost" horror film

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 24 May 2000]

This film was released with a glut of really bad horror films in the early '80s and got lost in the shuffle. That's a shame--it's one of the best of its type. There's no masked killer chasing down brain dead teens. It's about a young man (Zeljko Ivanek) committed to an institution because he tried to commit suicide. He believes his dreams can kill. A kind psychiatrist (Kathryn Harrold) tries to help him. Then his creepy mother (Shirley Knight) shows up insisting he be put in her care--but she keeps disappearing.

There's very little violence or blood and guts but it's very scary and suspenseful. The ending is (now) old hat but was pretty original when this film was released. Any movie that can scare you silly with a shot of a middle-aged mother walking to her son (see the movie to find out why it's scary) is one hell of a horror movie in my book! Add to that a beautiful music score and excellent performances by Knight and Ivanek (who has gone on to be a top character actor). The only debit is Harrold who's pretty terrible. Still it's well worth seeing.

two George Lucas franchises meet MSNBC

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 8 May 2015]

The 1980s are known as the golden age of slasher movies. It's worth noting that not all horror flicks from the era of the Rubik's Cube were slashers. A really good non-slasher is Roger Christian's psychological thriller "The Sender", about a man whose dreams manifest themselves. There are some VERY intense scenes. I liked the whole sequence in the operating room.

As is often the case with horror flicks, "The Sender" features an eye-opening cast and crew. Roger Christian won an Oscar for Art Direction for "Star Wars" and received a second nod for "Alien", but later directed the infamous "Battlefield Earth". Kathryn Harrold used to be married to MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell. Željko Ivanek was born in Ljubljana but raised in the United States and has appeared in a number of movies and TV shows. Shirley Knight has been in movies for over fifty years. Paul Freeman played the villain in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". And then there's writer Tom Baum: he also wrote wrote the 1975 animated feature "Hugo the Hippo", one of the most WTF movies ever.

Anyway, it's a neat movie. I recommend it.

PS: "The Sender" opened the 1982 Avoriaz Film Festival.

Hysteria and smashed mirrors...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 25 January 2008]

Fitfully effective creep-out, one that sneaked in and out of theaters but managed to find a small audience once it premiered on cable in the mid-1980s. Lovely Kathryn Harrold is very good as a dedicated doctor attempting to understand a handsome young mental patient (Zeljko Ivanek) who is both telepathic and wildly unbalanced. An odd, off-putting piece, though certainly a curious one filmed quite well on a low-budget; its predilection for smashed glass and marauding insects and rodents may turn many viewers off however, and Shirley Knight's performance as the sender's mother nearly lapses into camp (though I actually welcomed this!). ** from ****

* * *1/2 out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 14 September 2002]

A doctor (Kathryn Harroler) tries to find out why a telepathic young man (Zelijko Ivank) is unleashing his nightmares and visions into the minds of the staff and patients and causing them injury. She thinks his weird mother (Shirley Knight) my be part of the cause. Crisp, suspenseful thriller with a solid premise and good production values & performances. One of the best horror films from the 1980's.

Rated R; Violence.

Interesting concepts of the supernatural

[jmbovan-47-160173 · 6/10 · 19 April 2020]

The Sender has some interesting concepts of the supernatural being housed in science and psychology. The picture unfortunately suffers from the rigors of making monsters out of science and doctors as they ignore and disbelieve the supernatural. The depiction of mental illness is poorly conveyed, but for a film made in 1982, this could have been progressive at the time. The film lacks the larger structure and bite that the Dead Zone was able to capture but a year later. (And no doubt due largely to Stephen King's superb story and Cronenberg's talent to maintain the story but transform it into film.) Acting is generally decent and rises to the occasion. This, and the unsuspected reveal at the start of the 3rd act brings this film to a 6 given the "movie of the week" nature of the story and plotting, as well as the lackluster ongoing tension that wasbnot sustained in this film. Tired of watching the Dead Zone? This one is worth a watch, but don't expect too much from it.

Sending out a Nightmare-SOS to the world

[Coventry · 6/10 · 23 November 2009]

Apparently "The Sender" is quite popular and highly acclaimed among the rest of my fellow reviewers here, but I can't say it made the same powerful impression on me. Undeniably this film plays in a much more sophisticated league than the majority of early 80's horror efforts, but in my humble opinion it's still a little too flawed to label it as an undiscovered gem. "The Sender" is actually more of a psychological thriller instead of a horror flick, in spite of some genuinely repulsive special effects, with the emphasis primarily lying on suspense and an extremely convoluted screenplay. I'll be the first to admit that it's a pleasant surprise to encounter a story-driven thriller amidst all the brainless slasher efforts of the early 80's, but the plot can't hold your attention long enough and there isn't enough empathy with the main characters. "The Sender" opens wondrously atmospheric and mysterious, with the attempted suicide of a drifting and clearly disorientated young man who simply walks into a recreational lake with stones in his pockets. The man is taken to the state mental hospital, where he's baptized with the name John Doe 83 and gets put under the custody of the caring female psychiatrist Dr. Gail Farmer. In her attempts to safeguard John Doe 83 from undergoing electroshock-therapy, Dr. Farmer builds up a liaison with him and involuntarily gets drawn into his world of nightmares. As some sort of telepathy, John Doe is able to "broadcast" his dreams to certain receivers. Dr. Farmer has all sorts of visions and she even receives visits from a creepy woman who claims to be the boy's mothers, but she can't be sure what's real and what's not.

"The Sender" contains a highly satisfying amount of grisly images and truly nightmarish scenery, like for example mirrors that break and start bleeding, rats crawling out of people's mouth and mentally unbalanced patients strangling themselves. The absolute highlight of macabre is undoubtedly the sequences in which an entire operating room shatters as soon as the ETC machine is connected to John Doe's persona. My personal main issue with the film, however, is that these sequences are merely just isolated highlights in an overall confusing and not-compelling-enough thriller. The interactions between Dr. Farmer and her patient are overlong and sometimes redundant, while there are so many other potentially fascinating elements to elaborate on, like for example a more detailed background of John Doe's fellow mental patients. Also, a story like this also needs an evil and greedy doctor who wants to exploit John Doe's extraordinary psychic powers. Some kind of anti pole to Dr. Farmer's character. But enough with the complaints because, let there be no mistake, "The Sender" is definitely worth a peek if you're looking for an unconventional and stylishly put together 80's shocker. Director Roger Christian, almost 20 years before making the abysmal "Battlefield Earth", does a professional job maintaining a slow and unsettling pace and the acting performances are far above average. Particularly Shirley Knight is creepy as hell as John Doe's mysterious mother in black.

A film featuring deadly dreams...before Elm Street!

[Aaron1375 · 6/10 · 11 December 2012]

I got this film because I read about it from others and it sounded interesting. A horror film that I thought I had never seen! Well, I did indeed see this film as a kid. As soon as it opened I recognized it as the opening scene of the dude putting rocks in his jacket and walking into a lake sparked the memory rather quickly. Well, I kept watching as it has been forever since I had seen this film and it had some good moments, but it could of been a lot better too.

The film does start with a young man trying to commit suicide. He is promptly taken to one of the worst mental health facilities I have ever seen. This is mainly due to what they do throughout the film, I mean all it is missing is that nurse from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to make it the the absolute number one worst facility. Well a female doctor wants to assist this man who is suffering from amnesia while another doctor wants to use every extreme method of treating patients hoping to zap the young man out of being suicidal. Well, this young man has certain powers...it seems when he dreams or has nightmares he has very powerful telepathic abilities. These abilities make the doctor trying to help him and others in the facility see horrific things. Add the man's mother who appears from time to time seeming to want to help, but her motives are not clear.

The film has its moments, it really is not a hardcore horror film though. In fact, if one were to rate it now it would probably get a PG-13 rating except for one scene near the end involving the young man and another patient after the young man tries to beat up a television. Still, it keeps you wondering where it is going...I am just not entirely satisfied where it ended up. I just find it hard to believe they would have done what they did at the end to the young man as it seems pretty obvious he still needs some guidance. The gore is minimal, and you get scenes with rats and insects as well. The most disturbing scene was one involving a procedure being done on him as the cut look really good.

So this film had its moments, but it was just an okay film to me. Nothing super great or anything. It just seems like it needed more of a point or something. The thing with the mother that was revealed at the end was a bit too obvious as well. Still, it is a lot better than a lot of horror films and it does feature deadly dreams before the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise launched.

Better Than Other Films From The Time

[Space_Mafune · 6/10 · 29 September 2002]

A young amnesic man is admitted to a mental ward following a suicide attempt. Dr. Gail Farmer is called upon to help him try and regain his memory. She soon discovers the young man possesses frightening telepathic abilities.

This film starts off extremely well and builds up a strong tale full of mystery, suspense and horror. A number of overdone shocks and the final ending however hurts the film. Kathyrn Harrold does provide a tremendous performance as Dr. Gail Farmer.

sure it's better than Battlefield Earth, but...

[Quinoa1984 · 5/10 · 3 March 2018]

From the future director of Battlefield Earth, and actually only half as memorable while objectively better made. There are a few set pieces in this kind of dreams-cum-telekinetic psycho plot (with some Psycho flourishes to boot) that do impress - it has a must-see scene if you are into electro-shock in cinema - in what is like discount Stephen King's Shock Corridor, and it's interesting to see where Ivanek got his start before he became one of those "Oh THAT guy!" actors in the industry.

But I never really cared about Ivanek's character, even minimally, or about the kind doctor Kathryn Harold who gets fucked with for the first half hour/40 minutes (it feels like it's going somewhere else too, like maybe she could be turning crazy by this John Doe fella... Until that proves to not really be the case) until it takes some... Yawn turns. The Sender is slickly made, with a stock secondary cast of crazies who may or may not be actual patients(?) and at times Trevor Jones (who also scored The Dark Crystal the same year) has to do some heavy lifting.

Oh and of course it has a damn freeze frame at the end. Bottom line, it just reminds you of better movies, though Harrold is nice to look at.

A Telekinetic Treat Of Mysterious Horror.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 7/10 · 9 July 2022]

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Sender; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.50 Direction: 1.50 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.50 Enjoyment: 1.50

TOTAL: 7.25 out of 10.00

I fell in love with The Sender right from its understated opening sequence. It possesses a bewitching element, both in its story and cinematography. Chiefly it's based around the mysterious Sender of the title. Who is he? Why did he try to kill himself? Does he possess the supernatural powers the other mental patients believe he does? Albeit other mystifying events occur and enigmatic individuals apparently appear from thin air.

The writer, Thomas Baum, opens with The Sender waking up by the side of a road in the middle of nowhere. We follow him as he walks down the long roadway to wherever. We see him turn into a lakeside beauty spot. He stops by a family, and they eye him warily as he picks up some large rocks, stuffs them into his jacket, and then walks calmly out into the lake. It's an eerie and perfect beginning to a mystery story. So what is this teen's deal? Baum then begins unfolding the puzzle of the sender. However, many of the answers offer up extra conundrums. Will the good doctor, Gail Farmer, solve them before anybody gets injured or worse? What made this story for me was the characters. Setting the narrative in a mental institution gives scope for a plethora of individual persona types. You have the soldier who believes the Vietnam war is still ongoing and suffers from PTSD. The Messiah considers himself the second coming and instantly fears The Sender when he arrives - he sees him as an imposter to the throne of God. Then there's my favourite, Jerolyn, who claims to be The Sender's mother. She's quiet, calm, enigmatic, and subtly dominant. These individuals and the plot provide enough interest to engage anyone's attention.

But, should that not be enough to hold your concentration, you're lucky because the director, Roger Christian, is good at his job. The picture is a slow burn of a Horror-come-Dark Thriller, and Christian utilises the slow tempo of the movie to capture the story's eerieness flawlessly. There's nothing too elaborate in the filming. Christian principally stays with the point and shoot style. However, his use of composition and soundtrack is all he requires to make The Sender memorable. For example, the mesmeric opening sequence. We start the movie down on the ground with the sleeping Sender. A passing truck wakes him. Christian pans slowly up the boy's slumbering body to show us he's asleep under a tree. As we reach the tree trunk, the truck enters from the right, behind the tree, with its horn blaring. Simple but effective, as is the rest of the opening sequence. When he stands by the side of the family, he's on the right of the screen, the family are left to centre, and you can see the questioning annoyance on their faces because this stranger has entered their personal space. Then when he strolls to his suicide in the lake, Christian gives us a downward shot as he walks into the water and past the bathers, who halt their enjoyment to watch the strange stranger. Next, we're in front of him as his head begins to submerge. The camera is half in and out of the water then we're fully immersed with him in a tight close-up. The Sender's opening is one of my favourites in my movie viewing history. Fortunately, for us, Christian keeps up the virtuous direction until the finale.

The cast is superb. Shirley Knight, as the enigmatic Jerolyn, is outstanding in her portrayal. She adds the ideal amount of quiet calmness while emitting a sense of preeminence. She was the perfect choice for this role. That isn't saying that everyone else is below-par. Knight just lucked out acquiring Jerolyn. There are no small parts in the picture, and nobody outshines the rest of the performers. Even Tracy Harper portraying the mute young girl is magnificent. She instils in her the correct measure of shyness and bashfulness. Everybody should be proud of their work in this film.

I wouldn't say The Sender is a must-watch film, but it is worthy of at least one watch. I enjoyed it the first time I caught it on Telly, back in the late 80s, and I still delight in it today, some thirty-odd years later.

Now wake up, stop your foolish dreaming and check out my Absolute Horror and Guilty Pleasures lists to see where I ranked The Sender.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Sending, but I'm not Receiving

[view_and_review · 5/10 · 23 December 2019]

If you see a movie titled The Sender with no synopsis what would you think it was about?

A.) Someone who is the designated e-mailer for his/her company

B.) Someone who sends soldiers off to certain death

C.) Someone who sends death threats to various politicians

D.) Someone who telepathically sends his/her dreams to others

If you answered D then you answered correctly. It is kind of odd calling such a person a "sender." John Doe (Zeljko Ivanek) was an exceptionally pale young man that had the uncontrollable ability to project his dream so that others experienced them. Naturally, these weren't good dreams.

The premise is interesting but the direction wasn't. It seems the goal of the movie was to get him to remember. He was a suicidal amnesiac and the hospital he was confined too was trying to get him to stop being suicidal and remember. Eventually their goal was to stop him from sending much to the objections of his primary psychiatrist, Dr. Gail Farmer (Kathryn Harrold).

The movie was very anticlimactic. Does he regain his memory, does he not? Does he stop sending gruesome thoughts, does he not? Does he stop being suicidal, does he not? You'd have to have an emotional investment in the Sender himself for these questions to matter. The Sender and his plight was so unintriguing that the resolution was likewise unintriguing. This movie initially drew me then sorta dumped me on the side of the road leaving me uninterested and indifferent.

Truly underrated horror film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 10 September 2004]

A suicidal mental patient(Zelijko Ivanek)turns his horrific nightmares into reality by choosing receivers for his demented thoughts from the local hospital.Psychiatrist(Kathryn Harrold)realizes the young man's power and tries to save him."The Sender" is a very creepy horror film that has slick production values.The acting is surprisingly good and the film perfectly mixes reality with unsettling hallucinations.There is only a little bit of blood,but the atmosphere of dread and fear is easy to feel.There are some wonderful moments of pure horror like the scene where an Etc machine is switched on and an entire operating room erupts in a slow-motion explosion.The film is relatively obscure,but if you get the chance watch it.8 out of 10.Highly recommended.

The Sender

[d_m_s · 7/10 · 23 February 2014]

Never heard of this film before but it came up as a recommendation on netflix and sounded good so I checked it out.

Quite surprised, given the time it was made, that this was a sophisticated film which was well acted, had storyline with depth and was shot quite nicely. It's surprising because of the plethora of slasher films around at the time that are by far inferior but more well known.

This was a decent horror flick that deserves a re-watch. It reminded me at points of Dario Argento films but without the stylistic lighting effects and also of the Australian horror Next of Kin.

The film is set in a mental hospital and focuses on a new patient who has been brought there and the doctor who is trying to figure out his story, since he is suffering from amnesia. As the film goes on it is revealed he has some kind of telepathic powers, which result in some very cool sequences in the film. For this reason it also reminded me of Scanners and The Fury. It may remind people of Carrie also, but it is very different to that film and a lot better too.

While there was the odd moment of gore, this isn't an 'in your face' horror with lots of fake scares and there is no real bad guy. It's more of a mystery film with great atmosphere, some creepy moments and cool effects.

Very overrated

[TeenVamp · 4/10 · 28 April 2020]

An interesting story done in a very slow uninteresting way. It has moments that are good but you'll never really give a crap about any character. I'm guessing this movie is overrated thanks to old Tarantino mentioning it.....yawn. Who cares. Do yourself a favor and skip it.

Well-crafted paranormal horror film

[lor_ · 20 January 2023]

My review was written in October 1982 after a Columbus Circle screening in NY.

"The Sender" is a superbly-crafted modern horror picture, credibly using telepathic communication as its premise, for creating nightmarish situations. Boasting spectacular, realistic special physical effects by Nick Allder, the Edward S. Feldman production is certain to engross and frighten terror-film fans and stands a chance to break out into general audience acceptance, along the lines of "The Omen".

Thomas Baum's screenplay, unfolding with almost no subplots or distractions, concerns a suicidal young amnesiac (Zeljko Ivanek) picked up by the police after attempting to drown himself in a lake near the fictional town of Corinth, Georgia. Taken to a psychiatrist clinic, he establishes a telepathic link with the [psychiatrist Gail Farmer (Kathryn Harrold), causing her to experience involuntarily his violent nightmares.

The "sender" cannot control his telepathic powers, and when Dr. Denham (Paul Freeman), Farmer's superior, subjects him to shock treatment and surgical experiments, he sends telepathic images of horror which disrupt the entire hospital. Farmer, who is visited by the sender's mysterious mother Jerolyn (Shirley Knight), tries to cure him by tracing back to what caused his nightmares and telepathic outbursts, with Jerolyn the link to a solution.

Roger Christian in his debut as a feature director marshals the material into a very serious, portentous film, punctuated at irregular intervals by shocking and graphic special effects set-pieces. The basic gimmick of telepathy plays well, since on-screen it amounts to hallucinations. By stressing low-key, underplayed performances by his lead actors. Christian scrupulously avoids the potentially risible moments which have caused many major horror films to lose the audience's involvement.

One problem with "The Sender" is that its trim, no-nonsense approach is a limitation as well as an asset. Various religious angles ad =vanced in the opening are downplayed, as well as the "Shock Corridor" group of fellow patients. Even lead doctors Farmer and Fenman have no relationships or characteristics apart from their contact with the sender. This streamlined, basically "safe" approach denies the film the mythic or romantic potential present in its supernatural predecessors.

Cast is good within script limitations, as Harrold represents an attractive, sympathetic heroine and Ivanek is a mesmerizing, troubled youngster in contrast to his overt loonie debut as the hitchhiker in "Tex". Acting honors go to Knight as the mother who is not what she appears to be, creating a chilling, spooky presence with a minimum of fuss. Technical credits all support the realism established by Nick Allder's effects outbursts, which were executed on the set rather than via post-production opticals or animation. Dynamic use of sound, plus Trevor Jones's ethereal score, drives home the scares.

Not bad at all, but it won't necessarily send shivers down your spine.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 26 May 2014]

A suicidal young man suffering from amnesia (Zeljko Ivanek) is admitted to a state mental hospital where his psychiatrist, Dr. Gail Farmer (Kathryn Harrold) discovers that her new patient has remarkable telepathic powers, being able to subconsciously transmit his thoughts, dreams and fears.

The Sender is a well directed, low-key chiller that features strong performances and some brilliantly executed scenes (the electro shock therapy sequence alone is worth the price of admission), but it is a film that I struggle to recognise as horror, since once it has been established that the disturbing occurrences are actually visions sent by John Doe (as the patient is known), any genuine sense of threat is eradicated: after the vision has ended, everything returns to normal, which doesn't make for a very scary viewing experience.

If anything, The Sender is a psychological mystery that leads the viewer on a merry dance wondering precisely how matters will be resolved; unfortunately, when all is said and done, the story doesn't really amount to much, with John Doe being released back into the community, supposedly cured, but in actuality, right back where he started (and free to try and kill himself once more).

Bizarre 80's Flick

[gwnightscream · 6/10 · 11 September 2020]

This 1982 horror film stars Kathryn Harrold, Zeljko Ivanek, Paul Freeman and Shirley Knight. Ivanek (Hannibal) plays a mysterious, young man, John Doe # 83 with telepathic abilities of sending his dreams/visions to others around him. He's sent to a mental hospital where a therapist, Gail (Harrold) tries to find the answers behind his identity and life. Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark) plays Dr. Denman, Gail's colleague and Knight (As Good as It Gets) plays John Doe # 83's mother, Jerolyn. This is a bizarre flick featuring a decent cast, good score, some suspenseful and creepy moments. If you like supernatural horror or thrillers, give this one a view.

Interesting premise well executed.

[paulclaassen · 6/10 · 27 January 2022]

The titular character is a man able to send his thoughts and dreams to people. This is an interesting concept and very well illustrated throughout the film.

Zeljko Ivanek stars as The Sender, a young man who tried to commit suicide by attempting to drown himself. (Throughout the film he is known only as The Sender). He is taken to a State Mental Hospital where Dr Farmer (Kathryn Harrold) takes care of him. As she becomes more interested in him (on a professional and sympathetic level), she feels compelled to finding out the truth about him and his past, and go beyond the call of duty to help him. At first, he has Amnesia and his life is a mystery. I really enjoyed Kathryn Harrold in the role of Dr Farmer, and made the film all the more believable. The mystery deepens when The Sender's Mother shows up.

The performances in general are very good and 'The Sender' certainly is one of the more stylish horror films of the 80's. The film hits the viewer with surprise upon surprise and builds to a good climax, and a rather chilling ending.

So what if it came out before Elm Street.

[Otkon · 5/10 · 3 July 2019]

It is somewhat bland. Other than the emotive Harrold and a very young Ivanek, there is really nothing of interest here. Dreams are had. With special effects abound. But the sense of it all is wanting. Shirley Knight is wasted.

Most of the "professional" mental health team in the film are very slow on the uptake regarding the weirdness. The ending contradicts the majority of what the film establishes - which is already quite vague.

Watch it to see Harrold, Zeljko (with hair), oh and that one bad guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark. But he doesn't do much either.

Overrated, just not good at all.

[deloudelouvain · 3/10 · 13 March 2023]

"An underrated shocker", "One of the more overlooked horror movies of its time", those were the lines I read from another review that caught my attention. It made me curious about the movie, plus the fairly high ratings it gets for a horror movie from 1982. I should have known better but whatever, I got fooled again I would say. The Sender is just a mess, it's just not good at all, sorry to say that, even for a 1982 horror movie. I really tried to like it more but there was just not much good about it, not even the acting that I found forced, mediocre at best. If only the story would have been interesting but that wasn't the case either.

This is an excellent sleeper hit!

[afnaste · 9/10 · 17 March 2003]

I think this movie got such a low overall rating because most people didn't understand it or appreciate it, perhaps it didn't strike so close to home as it did for me. The telepathic man who is either channeling his evil, crazy dead mother or creating her ghost through his own powers was the most haunting and chilling since Norman Bates in Psycho. The scenes in the mental hospital were incredibly accurate, having worked in one myself. The female doctor trying to help the telepath was very touching, and although I thought that the other doctors and cops would turn out to be two-dimensional villains I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be normal human beings with faults and compassion in the end. The times that the telepath projected his horrors onto others in self-defense was difficult viewing, disturbing yet necessary and very important. The scenes with lobotomy and ECT should remind all of us of the very real non-fiction horrors buried in American medical history, experts so sure of themselves that they self-justify doing terrible things to peoples' brains. I won't give away the ending but it was very ambigious and shocking.

What? What?

[jaybsigel · 2/10 · 12 November 2021]

This is a pseudo-science fiction/horror/mystery/thriller that makes no sense from beginning to end. There's overacting, a script that one could expect from someone on LSD, a plot that goes beyond the suspension of disbelief and even poor editing. Even back in 1982, I had better computers than used in this movie. The small matter of informed consent for treatment existed even back then. I watched it to the end hoping that it would get better, but at the end of this piece of garbage, I knew that I had just wasted an hour and a half of my life. If you feel foolish after watching this, don't say you weren't warned.

Why isn't this film more famous?

[Vomitron_G · 9/10 · 12 August 2009]

More people should really seek out and watch THE SENDER. And the less you know about this film before going into it, the better. All you need to know about the plot, is the set-up. The film begins with a skillfully crafted, ominous scene in which a man (John Doe #83/The Sender) tries to commit suicide (how, you just have to see!). He doesn't succeed, and gets submitted to a mental hospital. From there on, the doctors have to find out who he is, and what his problems are. And rest assured, the more they discover, the creepier things get. This is a rather unique film, worthy of a bit more recognition. A bit slow in pace to some, perhaps, but for me the pace and rising tension were perfect. If any of you enjoyed films like Richard Franklin's PATRICK (1978) or Douglas Trumbull's BRAINSTORM (1983) - this one's maybe a bit of a stretch, as it's more sci-fi/thriller/drama orientated - then THE SENDER comes highly recommended.

Aside from the steady pace of lingering creepiness & mystery, I found that there were at least two real "WTF?" moments in this film. Two scenes that took me by surprise in a way I didn't know whether to cheer or be terrified. A very good (psychologically tinted) horror film, indeed! Yes, I'm rating it highly, but compared to some of the trash I watch on a regular basis, this film deserves some extra praises. And Paramount should really make an effort to release a worthy DVD edition of this film, adding a commentary track by director Roger Christian and maybe some other fine special features. Their 2008 release features only the film and nothing more.

A film with many facets--all turned on

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 6 August 2011]

Whether you want to categorize THE SENDER as a thriller, horror or sci-fi film, it makes for a rather strong movie in any genre. The plot centers on a doctor/patient relationship between amnesiac John Doe (Zeljko Ivanek) and Dr. Gail (Kathryn Harrold). Kathryn Harrold, as the good doctor, goes to bat for the young amnesiac when her colleague, Paul Freeman, wants to administer electro-shock therapy. But Harrold feels she can reach him without the questionable treatment. Little does she know that everyone, not just herself, can reach him for he is a gifted, yet troubled young man, who has the ability of telepathy.

Images are sent to Harrold via Ivanek which allows her to piece together his past. When John Doe's mother (Knight) meets with Kathryn Harrold, more pieces fall into place, but mother might have ulterior motives. Mother, also, might be a figment of her imagination or another of Ivanek's projected false images. The film focuses on Kathryn Harrold trying to set things in order and thus place the troubled mind of Ivanek at ease.

STORY: $$$ (The story has its strengths and weaknesses. I was quite shocked at how readily Paul Freeman's character accepts Harrold's theory of telepathy before proof is given. If he had any reservations, he became a full believer after the great electro-shock scene. There are numerous biblical references which some viewers will find off-putting, but there isn't any open bashing of Christianity, just the typical subtle Hollywood questioning of faith. Shirley Knight is a religious freak who viewed her gifted child as a reincarnation of Christ and there is a mental patient at Harrold's hospital that calls himself The Messiah).

ACTING: $$$$ (The acting is quite strong. Zeljko Ivanek was cast because he has a natural woebegone appearance with his droopy-dog facial features and Edgar Allen Poe eyes. Appearances aside, the young man gives a very good performance. Kathryn Harrold is very strong in the female lead, giving us a convincing performance as a shrink dedicated to human understanding and not radical treatments. She excels with a rather demanding role that forces her to play a strong-minded woman who must question the integrity of her thoughts when Ivanek begins to bombard her with mental images. Shirley Knight does a fine job in her subdued role while Paul Freeman has little to do but assist Kathryn).

SEXUALITY: $$ (There is no nudity in this film--it has a strong story and doesn't need flesh to gather viewers. Be that as it may, Kathryn Harrold gives a quality come-hither performance, never once shedding her clothes though, proving that an actress can be sexy without going nude. The first images she receives are at night, at her home, as she believes a burglar has intruded into her house. Kathryn wears a thin v-neck shirt in bed with, quite obviously, nothing on underneath. Those with a caboose fetish will like the scene when she reaches to secure a window and her backside is fully exposed.

The Sender

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 15 August 2009]

An suicidal amnesiac(Zeljko Ivanek), with enormous telepathic power, is brought into a psychiatric hospital to determine what his identity is. The doctor over his care, Dr Gail Farmer(Kathryn Harrold) begins seeing her patient's own nightmares, seeking to understand why he's plagued by such horrific images that keep him from sleeping normally. Meanwhile, once an attempt at electroshock therapy yields a devastating link to the other patients in the hospital(..not to mention, the staff and security, often experience his nightmares as well), the efforts to heal "John Doe #83" are of a major concern of all involved. It's determined that he is a "sender", his abilities to transfer what he thinks and dreams to others heightened thanks in part to his perhaps deliberate amnesia due to a past traumatic event(s)which is better to forget than re-live. Farmer often receives communication from her patient's mother, Jerolyn(Shirley Knight), by telephone and startling appearances..what makes these visits so strange is the fact that no one else sees her come or go through the hospital into her office. Soon Farmer is led to believe that Jerolyn may be the root cause of what is tormenting "John Doe #83" and she will have to fight for him for his very life might be at stake.

One thing I stand amazed about in regards to the horror genre is the constant discovery of gems that you have never heard of until word of mouth leads you to them. THE SENDER is such an example. Through a few people on this site, I found out about the movie and I was pleasantly surprised to find it available on DVD. Everything about the movie is top-notch. The acting from a superb cast(..especially Harrold, a wonderful, underrated actress and the sterling Shirley Knight with the kind of character who's really spooky), the ever-developing plot always unleashing startling scenes of shock and unpredictable images(..rats, roaches, blood dribbling from shattered mirrors, not to mention the show-stopping electro-shock sequence where the staff are "affected" by their attempt to "help" their patient, sent hurling through the air, crashing into equipment and through windows), really creepy score which hits all the appropriately effective notes, and the stunning cinematography from Roger Pratt(..who's one of the best working today, notable for such films as TROY and a few of the HARRY POTTER movies).

I think THE SENDER is such a success because it handles such a subject as dream transference and telepathy in a matter-of-fact, clinical way, trouble and care provided in developing the characters. In other hands, this could've been incredibly hokey and an object of ridicule. The professional look and feel of the film really sets this apart from other films of it's type. Highly recommended to science fiction / horror fans, also of definite interest to the "asylum" genre crowd, I think. I'm a big fan of "telepath" horror themes, so THE SENDER did the trick nicely. One of character actor Zeljko Ivanek's first big roles and he's very effective in a haunting performance.