The Mind Benders (1963) User Reviews

THE MIND BENDERS (Basil Dearden, 1963) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 24 August 2006]

Intelligent - and, at the time, X-Rated - sci-fi (written by James Kennaway) which I had always been interested in watching, given its theme and credentials.

Featuring excellent performances by all the main actors (Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant and Wendy Craig), fine black-and-white cinematography by Denys Coop and a good score by Georges Auric, the film deals with sensory-deprivation experiments which if over-exposed can render the subject susceptible to brainwashing. The idea is persuasively handled by the script and director Dearden, and actually predates Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES (1980) by almost 20 years!

Still, after an intriguing first hour - with its introduction of suspense elements (where a scientist who has committed suicide is thought to have betrayed secrets to the enemy whilst 'under the influence') and the realistic depiction of the harrowing experiments (hinting at the supernatural), the plot is side-tracked into dealing with the domestic problems of Bogarde and Ure (which are mostly talked about rather than seen!) brought on by his change in personality during his stint in the water-tank - conditioned by Clements' Secret Service man and Bryant's fellow colleague, secretly enamored of his wife.

As such, the treatment is somewhat too highbrow (for the most part, it's made by people not usually associated with this type of film) but it's fascinating - and generally satisfying - all the same.

another strange Bogarde film

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 27 July 2010]

Dirk Bogarde can be described as a great actor who was never in a classic film. Popular films, like the Doctor series, certainly; good films like The Tale of Two Cities; excellent films like The Servant; fascinating, discussed films like Death in Venice and The Night Porter. But classic films like Casablanca - maybe Darling comes closest, and that's not even his movie.

"The Mind Benders" is another Bogarde film on the bizarre side. When an elderly scientist is suspected of treason, an investigator endeavors to find out whether his experiments in isolation made him do something - betray his government - that he ordinarily wouldn't have done. One of his coworkers (Bogarde) agrees to go into the isolation tank; when he emerges, he is told things about his wife that, if he believes them, will threaten his seemingly happy marriage.

The film holds one's interest; with his science fiction bent, it has the distinctive '60s stamp on it.

Mary Ure plays Bogarde's wife. The acting is good, with the usual fine performance from Bogarde, a man who, once he got away from Rank, was attracted to unusual roles and unusual films. This isn't as wild as it gets for Bogarde. It's not great, but it's not bad either.

A very odd but thought-provoking film

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 10 April 2017]

This is not among Dirk Bogarde's more famous films. Still, it's very enjoyable and worth a look...and would make a great double-feature with "The Manchurian Candidate".

The film begins with a seemingly loyal British professor killing himself...and he was suspected of being an enemy spy. However, Professor Longman (Bogarde) cannot believe that his dear friend would be a spy and suspects that their sensory deprivation research COULD have warped the poor man's mind. A subsequent experiment proves, the hard way, that this could indeed be the case.

Unless you are watching the pilot episode of the original "Hawaii Five-O", you won't get a better look at sensory deprivation tanks and their ability to warp a person's mind. A fascinating, cerebral sort of film that is well worth seeing and Bogarde, as usual, is excellent!

Beginning brilliantly with London streets and brilliant shots of Paddington station and of trains

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 4 June 2020]

I enjoyed this but it could have been much better and I wouldn't rush to see it again. Beginning brilliantly with London streets and brilliant shots of Paddington station and of trains this commences with real drama, moves to rather drawn out theoretical discussions surrounding sensual deprivation experimentation and possible abuse. There is then some more talking and domestic goings on before more talking, far fetched theorising, some decent Oxford river and streets scenes before a not so climatic ending. Mary Are is fine, Dirk Bogarde gives his usual solid performance but neither are good enough to make up for the script's considerable shortcomings.

Up Around The Bends

[Lejink · 7/10 · 16 April 2021]

An unusual combination of Cold War thriller, sci-fi and even kitchen-sink realism in this mixed-up but entertaining early 60's British film directed by Basil Dearden.

It starts off with a respectable-seeming, middle-aged scientist being arrested at a university campus. When he's on his way by train to face interrogation for betraying scientific secrets for cash, accompanied by a couple of police minders (no pun intended), he promptly commits suicide. The authorities' attention then turns to his fellow-scientist and in particular an almost literally brain-washing experiment they've concocted to reduce an individual's mental capacity so much that they can then be made to say or do anything on command, obviously something that could be more than useful in warfare.

This fellow-professor is Dirk Bogarde, handsome, admired and living a seemingly contented family life with his wife and four children, but this will all change, when to prove one way or another whether their immersive "Isolation" project was successful or not, he undertakes to go through the same guinea-pig experiment as his deceased colleague to hopefully learn conclusively whether or not the dead professor was a traitor.

When he exits his prolonged subjection to the experimental procedure, which to be fair just looks like indoor scuba-diving, he is tested by the U. K. secret service man John Clements to see if he is now open to the power of suggestion. With the assistance of an initially unwilling cohort, in the shape of Bogarde's friend and fellow scientist, Michael Bryant, incidentally a long-term admirer of Dirk's now pregnant wife, Mary Ure, Clements plants a thought in Bogarde's head that his marriage is a loveless sham.

How Bogarde eventually reacts to this precipitates a crisis in the heretofore happy union, all leading up to a dramatic conclusion where Ure's pregnancy will rather oddly play a major part in the final resolution of the piece.

Brainwashing was very much in the news at the time as Cold War spies, double agents and defections proliferated plus of course, Hollywood had already got in on the act with the classic "The Manchurian Candidate" with more to follow later in the decade on both sides of the Atlantic.

Bogarde is very good in the lead part and gets good support throughout from the rest of the cast, especially Ure as the confused but still loving wife. I'd have liked to have seen the women's parts a bit more written-up as well as a less skittish plot and anti-climactic finish, but in the end, this was another solid, low-budget feature from a British studio, well worth looking up.

It isn't pleasant in the tank I suppose...

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 13 April 2022]

It's more than just paranoia of being enclosed in a limited space underwater covered in all sorts of diving equipment, but the increasing insanity and symptoms of the experiment that causes the victim. To literally have their mind bended. Dirk Bogarde is certain that a colleague of his accused of espionage committed suicide because he was under some sort of mind control and decides to go into the tank to test what happens himself, much to his regret. He seems to be fine when he is released, but slowly, his personality begins to change starting with him passing out in the middle of the street and waking up hours later nearly with no clothes on. He begins to treat his wife, Mary Ure, with contempt, and it is insinuated that he has never loved her or even liked her, something that is very hard for the pregnant Ure to deal with.

This is a very troubling movie, brilliantly done and extremely well-acted, but very depressing for the long-term ramifications of the story and insinuations about the future, just like Orwell's "1984". I certainly couldn't sit through any of the film or TV versions of that classic novel more than once, and the same goes for this even though Bogarde and Ure are excellent, and supporting players John Clements, Michael Bryant and Wendy Craig equally great. This is definitely a film that could be classified as science fiction without being about aliens or mad doctors or other fantastic elements, but one about the possibility of a future where the mind is not under one's own control. Bogarde's soothing voice really is relaxing to listen to, but his tape-recorded screams from the tank are horrifying. While the film is slow in spots, there are a lot of rewards to be found for the viewer who can stick with it through the end.

Like an early version of Altered States

[d_m_s · 7/10 · 31 July 2021]

The first three quarters of this film were very enjoyable and quite intriguing. Dealing with the idea of sensory deprivation and the effects it can have on the brain it clearly must have had a big influence on the 80's film Altered States.

It was a bit melodramatic at points - especially Bogarde's acting. And the last quarter where his brainwashing is reversed by having to deliver his wife's baby was a bit dull.

A sorely underrated film

[silentsandtalkies103 · 10/10 · 22 October 2009]

From the reviews I've read online (both current & from the time of the original release) I think that The Mind Benders is sorely underrated. Here is my attempt to convince you that the film is really one of the best! -- I think that generally there are two kinds of films -- films that you watch and films that you experience. The Mind Benders is definitely the latter. And though "scary" is usually defined as monsters and ghouls, this movie scared me out of my wits without one hint of the supernatural.

Conventional monster movies always give me the spooks, but I'm only really petrified when the terror in a film seems like it could actually happen - or when the main character is so dreadfully afraid in the film that you become just as afraid yourself. The Mind Benders deals with one of the most frightening experiences that man could suffer through- complete isolation. Isolation from sight, sound, touch, taste, smell and human contact. The experience is made so real, so absolutely horrifying that I actually felt sick to my stomach at one point. Now this might not seem like a selling point, but it is. I was so engulfed in this film that I want to pop the disc in my DVD player again tonight. I want to be with it again, to see it again. I'm not a sadist or anything- the film isn't torture. While it has it's unsettling moments, it is actually incredibly moving and really makes you think.

The film opens with an elderly scientist committing suicide by jumping off of a moving train. Next to his body they find a suitcase filled with cash, apparently the money he was given for leaking top-secret scientific information to the Communists. What seems like a simple open-and-shut case of treason is actually much, much more complicated. The scientist, Dr. Sharpey, was working on a disturbing project called Isolation in which he was attempting to find out what happens to the human brain when all of the senses are taken away. The guinea pigs in the study were Dr. Sharpey himself, and his colleague, Dr. Longman-- played by Dirk Bogarde.

Longman realizes that the only way to prove that Sharpey wasn't the kind of man who would commit treason is to show that once you go through "Isolation" you don't come out the same man. The only way to prove this is to go through Isolation himself. While the plot seems to be about espionage and proving someone's innocence, it really isn't. It's about what makes us human, and how fragile that something is.

I can't tell you how much I want to go into more detail about the plot and the twists, and how Dirk Bogarde's character progresses throughout the film but I think that if I had known any of that before I watched it, the intensity of the movie would have definitely been blunted. You need to see this film fresh for the first time, with no preconceptions in order to full appreciate it. One thing to look out for, though-- Dirk Bogarde's eyes before and after Isolation. They seem to get darker in color, but they don't. It's not a special effect; it's a cold, icy look -- and it is remarkable.

This was by far, hands down the best Dirk Bogarde performance I've seen so far. I don't know how he didn't have a nervous breakdown while acting this part. He is so emotional and intense it is almost incomprehensible. When I first discovered Dirk Bogarde, I had no idea how much talent he had-- I thought he was a handsome, skilled actor and that I'd like to see more of his films. I am so glad that I followed through, because I think his might be the single best performance I've seen by an actor in my entire life. It was absolutely brilliant, and I think that it actually enriches my life to have seen him in this movie.

I loved this film so much (can you tell?) that I really wanted to write the most brilliant post ever about it, but I'm so tongue tied (or keyboard tied, as it were) that I can't express myself. Good films do this to me, they knock all of the wordiness out and just leave me gaping and staring at the screen. Since I watched it last night, I've gone to sleep, woken up, eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner, worked and had fun. But inside I am still gaping and staring at the screen. It has a hold on me and I think I need to watch it again tonight. I'm sorry, I mean I need to experience it.

Hard hitting domestic drama with science fiction framework

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 24 December 2020]

1962's "The Mind Benders" emerged as quite the prestige picture starring one of Britain's top performers, Dirk Bogarde, in a title that delves into brainwashing only months after the release of "The Manchurian Candidate," AIP doing the honors theatrically after trimming off 10 minutes. Producer Michael Relph and director Basil Dearden ("Dead of Night") fashion a strong beginning with a professor jumping to a mysterious death from a train, believed to be suicide for the act of treason (he was carrying a hefty down payment in his briefcase). Noting that he was heavily involved in experiments on isolation at Oxford, investigator Major Hall (John Clements) demands answers from the dead man's closest colleague, Bogarde's Dr. Henry Longman, who concedes that he himself had not been so far along since taking leave several weeks earlier to spend time with his beautiful wife Oonagh (Mary Ure) and their children. The intent of their collaboration was to learn about the effects of sensory deprivation on the human mind, immersed in a huge tank of water in diving outfit and oxygen tank, suspended by ropes that keep the person adrift without access to sight, sound, scent, or touch, all sensations and spoken thoughts recorded for posterity (the original purpose was for outer space exploration). Convinced that any man could emerge from such harsh conditions a completely changed personality open to brainwashing, Longman determines to prove his theory by undergoing the same treatment (underwater at the midway mark), to the chagrin of the wife who loves him and fears he may never return to her now that she is pregnant. The doctor proves to be correct in the end, but had not reckoned that his most trusted assistant would reveal ulterior motives of his own, being in love with Oonagh himself. Comparisons to the later "Altered States" are certainly warranted, but the purpose of this hard hitting drama with its science fiction framework is the blissful domestic situation threatened by outside forces, inspired by real life current events. Mary Ure, with so few movie credits on her resume, was the actual beloved spouse of actor Robert Shaw ("From Russia with Love," "Jaws"), each dying young within a three year span from 1975 to 1978.

Dull beyond belief

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 14 July 2020]

THE MIND BENDERS sounds like a great title for a science fiction flick but this turns out to be a dull and plodding intellectual exercise in scientific experimentation, and we know how those always work out. Some steam is worked up in the early sequences, with a youthful Michael Bryant contributing some good character work as a boffin and a fun crazy cameo from Roger Delgado, but once Dirk Bogarde shows up the plot slows down to a snail's pace. It's all about sensory deprivation and the effect it can have on a man's mind, but very little happens throughout and the ending is a non-starter. This is the sort of thing you might enjoy reading about in a newspaper article, but not watching in a near two-hour film.

An underrated film that I am glad I saw.

[gilbertayres · 9/10 · 3 February 2018]

I do not usually say this, even of films with actors that I love, but I am very happy that I saw this film. I also do not usually review films on IMDb, this may be either my first or second review in well over a decade, but I feel that it is deserved. Although the first twenty minutes of this film are very, very slow, as soon as you see Dirk Bogarde, in person, the whole screen lights up. He probably looks better in this film than in any post-Victim performance. The cinematography for this film is amazing and dark and although not exactly a scary film, (there is no "monster" in the "Creature of the Black Lagoon" sense) it is nevertheless both terrifying and soul purging. The very best work is to be found in the film's final quarter hour or so with a remarkably realistic (for the 1960s) birthing scene in which you sort of get why Dirk's siblings claim he felt cheated in life for not being a heterosexual, you can see the paternal desire in his eyes in the way he handles the children and the birthing. The scenario is very intriguing, the idea that sensory isolation could cause the mind to be broken down and subjected to any indoctrination is fascinating. Although what the scientists and the Major do is utterly unethical, (Dirk's distant husband of the second half is heartbreaking), Oonagh knows she will eventually get her man back. After all, the brainwashing programmed him to be even more protective of his children, and she is like eight and a half months pregnant....

The tank candidate

[ulicknormanowen · 7/10 · 6 July 2021]

A smart blend of spy thriller and sci-fi ,involving possible traitor, cold war and brainwashing , with echoes of John Frankenheimer's "the Manchurian candidate" (1962).

The experiment ,even today ,is more impressive than a lot of movies dealing with a similar subject ,with much more means and special effects galore ; the most remarkable part of the experiment is the last one,purely psychological,which predates "the parallax view " by a decade ; it takes all the talent of brilliant actor Bogarde to make it credible ; a real tour de force which continues afterward in the first scene in his car with his wife ;one feels something has changed ,without being able to pinpoint it; the "guineapig " seems still healthy,happy whereas his wife ,although pregnant, looks worried and fears that her marriage is on the rocks.

The final scenes may seem too melodramatic and too contrived , the metaphor too obvious (I'm born again through my baby)but the guineapig devoid of sensation did need a shock .

To be recommended ,though ,weren't it for Mister Bogarde's stunning performance ,with good support from Mary Ure.

The Think Tank

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 8 April 2017]

***SPOILERS*** After being put through by the British I5 a number of mind altering as well as brain washing experiments Prof. John Sharpey, Harold Goldblatt, starts to believe that he's betrayed his country to the Soviet Union by unconsciously giving it top secret information on it's nuclear and, in compliance with the USA, space programs. Guilt ridden and suicidal Sharpey on a train ride to London jumps out of the moving train thus killing himself. With Major Hall,John Clements, feeling that the late Professor Sharpley was a Soviet Spy and depriving his next of kin or family of a government pension it's Sharpley's good friend Dr. Henry Laidlaw Longman's, Dirk Bogarde, job to go out and prove Sharpley innocence. That's by him going through the very same mind altering experiments that Sharply went through that eventually drove him to kill himself.

Put in a water filled tank for hours at at time Longman's mind starts to slip into never-never land losing all his feeling not only toward his country, the UK, but his soon to give birth pregnant wife Oonagh, Mary Ure, as well. The experiments left Longman like it did Prof. Sharpley into becoming a mind numb and unfeeling zombie who had no loyalty towards anyone not even himself. It's only when his terribly and mentally abused wife Oonagh after slipping and falling while running from him went into labor that Longman snapped back to his old self and became a normal and feeling human being again. Something he forgot to be after his brain was experimented on and picked apart while suspended for hours in the warm water tank.

Brain washing at its best film that shows how a person's brain can be completely washed and dried and left hanging-on a clothe line-for those working on it to pick it clean of everything it had in it. In the case of Longman as well as professor Sharpley it didn't cause them to betray their country but through the power of suggestion as and loss of memory as well as human emotions make them feel that they did. And in the case of poor and guilt ridden professor Sharpley drive him to suicide.

Astonishing and gripping early story about sensory deprivation phenomena

[robert-temple-1 · 3 January 2011]

This is an extremely important and early film about the effects of sensory deprivation upon the human mind and personality. The term 'sensory deprivation' is not used, and instead the phenomenon is called both 'isolation' and 'sensation reduction'. I think perhaps the reason why this excellent film, one of the best ever made by director Basil Dearden, is not better known is that this subject became so sensitive that information about it became subjected to security restrictions, and pressure may have been applied to prevent the subsequent showings of this film after 1963. The film contains one of the finest and widest-ranging of all the performances in his career by Dirk Bogarde, who plays the lead. Mary Ure plays his wife. She comes in for a lot of abuse and bad treatment from her husband, which reminded me of her role as Alison in LOOK BACK IN ANGER (1959), where she was similarly abused and humiliated by her husband. Ure had been married in real life to John Osborne, and had originated the role of Alison in his play on stage at the Royal Court Theatre before later recreating it on screen, with Richard Burton playing her husband. Her amazingly quiet, superior, and serene beauty seemed to provoke and invite hysterical males to wish to torment her, and she submitted with such meekness to their abuse that the tormenting and the submission in both films set off virtual firestorms of sado-masochistic display. Poor Mary Ure died at the age of only 42, and after that perhaps she finally escaped her tormentors who had all been 'driven crazy by her'. Her submissiveness was really like the silent eye of a hurricane, with all the sadistic alpha males raging round her like violent storm winds gone mad. Some women just seem to do that to men, though fortunately not very often. This film is a riveting story, very dramatically and excellently presented, of the hazards of total sensory deprivation, and of how it can within a matter of hours break down a man's personality and reduce him to a screaming loony or a helpless quivering jelly of a person. In this same year, Jack Vernon's classic book 'Inside the Black Room: Studies of Sensory Deprivation' was published, describing experiments carried out at Princeton University. It was only two years earlier, in 1961, that Harvard University Press had brought out a scholarly book edited by Philip Solomon called 'Sensory Deprivation: A Symposium Held at Harvard Medical School'. So for a few brief years, this subject was allowed to go public, before the lids of the security services clamped down tightly, and information ceased getting out. We now all know that sensory deprivation is a fundamental and systematic tool of torture and interrogation, and useful for brain-washing. Subsequent technical studies in the field of hypnosis have emphasized the connection with hypnotic techniques of suggestion. See the book 'Open to Suggestion: the Uses and Abuses of Hypnosis' (1989). The standard narrowing of attention in hypnotic induction techniques is itself a minor form of sensory deprivation, since it reduces the stimuli and above all must focus the attention on a single thing (a point of the wall opposite, a swinging watch, or whatever). All leaders of sinister cults and sects know that to capture converts they have to whisk them off to some remote spot and keep them isolated for a minimum of three days. Their contacts with family and friends must be cut off. They must become captives of the new cult, and as captives they will then accept conversion and even become fanatical. This is similar to the 'Patty Hearst Syndrome' where you become so attached to your captors that you cannot and will not leave them, but end up identifying with them. The human mind and personality are malleable and susceptible to pressure and suggestion. When any form of sensory deprivation is used, however restricted, susceptibility and suggestibility are increased. If advertisers could trap us all in private rooms while being forced to look at their ads, they would! The battle of life is largely a battle of competing illusions. There is the illusion of normality, and the illusion of the everyday. And then there are the propagated illusions which try to capture us, swallow us, and use us. The more enfeebled our own abilities to think are, the more isolated we are, the less support we have, the easier we are to manipulate. In today's world, we are all being manipulated every day. Ads are manipulation, peer pressure is manipulation, commercial imperatives are manipulation, traffic wardens are manipulators, unreasonable government restrictions and red tape are manipulation: we are all victims, and it gets worse every week. Now we are bombarded 24 hours a day with information and communications, most of which we cannot absorb properly, and we are becoming beings who are pounded to pulp and who merely exist in order to pay taxes and shut up. This film was an early warning more than half a century ago, which was largely ignored. Everyone should watch it, wonder how much worse things have become since 1963, and think the unthinkable: what will it be like by 2063? Or will we all by then have become robotised so that we will not even be aware anymore of anything but the orders we are given and the imperative need to obey, obey, obey? Anyone who thinks that hypnotic and other forms of suggestion cannot coerce individuals to go against their moral principles is utterly wrong.

Some barriers from wich men must never overcome!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 31 October 2022]

A spin off of science fiction focusing the human mind in a control environment and their side-effects that would take an irretrievable self-destruction of the human being for good, it's the point which the picture dared touch during the cold war ongoing at its time when both sides were poring on those odd studies of mind under pression and their damages.

When a well-regarded Professor commits a suicide in a train without any fair reason, aftermaths come up a M16's Major Hall (John Clements) to investigate why with the body was found a large amount of money suggesting a bribery with the Soviets, then they call back the whole crew members of the trails to re-start the surveys where they left off, one of them is the Dr. Henry (Dirk Bogarde) that refused go back due the high terror acquainted in that tank of water.

Under point of view of the science, it's a great subject to take to screen, however to fulfill the full length movie they introduce in the plot the Dr. Henry's wife the gorgeous Oonagh (Mary Ure) bringing up the marriage clash after a suggestive mind on the lab where Dr. Henry had brainwashed which let him on reschedule at first moment without damage, nonetheless later it will slowing changing making many aftereffects that improves through the time.

A little slow down speed, sometimes boring, although somehow bring us a daunting experience with the precious mind which is ours own safeguard for the health mental life, fine scientific approaching!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2022 / Source: DVD / How many: 1 / Rating: 7.25.

Engrossing film, but...

[g-hbe · 7/10 · 27 November 2022]

We watched this film last night after not seeing it for about 30 years. It starts off well with a clearly disturbed scientist who kills himself by jumping from a moving train and who is discovered to be carrying one thousand pounds (a lot of money in 1963) in cash. It is suspected he was brainwashed into selling secrets to 'the enemy' while under the influence of a sensory deprivation experiment. Sadly, this plot seems to be swept under the carpet fairly early on and the film becomes a study of human nature and desires as another scientist (Dirk Bogarde in one of his better parts) undergoes a similar process to prove the point. IMO it would have been better to pursue the original story and find out who was behind it, although this may have caused the film to be just another 'spy movie' which were much in vogue at the time. Worth watching though, and there's some fine acting on show especially John Clements as Major Hall. The photography is crisp and good looking throughout.

Underrated, underappreciated...?

[Brucey_D · 9/10 · 9 December 2020]

As I write this in 2020, this film has only 17 user reviews and a rating of 6.4 on IMDB. This is usually symptomatic of a film that has been overlooked for some reason, often because it isn't very good, or has no big names attached to it, or thematically doesn't speak to a modern audience. None of the above apply to this film as far as I can see; it's worst fault seems to be that it gets a bit draggy in places. The film is otherwise well made in nearly all respects.

The premise of the film is a fascinating not to mention disturbing subject in its own right, a point which is explored more fully in a couple of the other reviews here. I must say I felt genuinely disturbed at several points in this film, which I wasn't expecting.

I didn't have great expectations of this film before I watched it, but ones I did have were comfortably exceeded. Not just for fans of period films or Bogarde, this film is well worth watching.

And I don't think I have been brainwashed into saying that....

The Mind Benders - A Mind-Numbing (Not Mind-Blowing) Movie-Experience

[strong-122-478885 · 4/10 · 7 November 2014]

Have you ever actually stopped and seriously tried to imagine what it would be like to experience complete sensory deprivation?

Would you think that being in such a state as this you would make a perfect candidate for some major brainwashing?

Well, (keeping this in mind) - Unfortunately, this 1963, British, Sci-Fi/Thriller certainly missed its golden opportunity to deliver a real humdinger of a story where sensory deprivation and brainwashing were, indeed, the very name of the game.

Considering that "The Mind Benders" story held so much promise & potential, I found myself totally disappointed that, not only was this picture a very dry & bland bit of storytelling, but it actually took an unfortunate nosedive, deteriorating into nothing but a sappy, second-rate, soap opera in the end.

Ho-hum!

*Note* - A more up-dated, over-the-top, psychedelic version of The Mind Benders was made in 1980 called Altered States, directed by Ken Russell.

Brilliant and underrated - this should be up there with Manchurian Candidate

[rabbitmoon · 8/10 · 1 April 2018]

It struck me how few films there are on the subject of brainwashing, which seems strange considering films themselves can be very influential on one's imagination and emotions.

I managed to find this little gem and found it far more fascinating and intelligent than I was expecting for a film of its era. I actually prefer it to Frankenheimer's Manchurian Candidate. At its core, is a very simple but very powerful and disturbing idea - how much of our personalities and lives are vulnerable to certain suggestions? Once your deeper imagination (where core beliefs are held) wraps itself around an idea, then your whole mind distorts to fulfill it. Its like an early version of 'Inception' without the need for dream-machines.

It all pans out in a way that feels unnervingly credible, far from the hokey silliness I was expecting. There are some subtle themes woven in about conditioning generally (a dog symbolising Pavlovs famous experiments) and some justifiable feminism.

But... with just a few changes, it could have been an absolute classic. The acting of the Major is atrociously and laughably wooden throughout. Some subtle conflict, shame and emoting would have gone a LONG way to make the most of his character. Also, while the idea of the film is brilliant, I feel more could have been done with it. A brilliant twist ending would be to discover that the Major himself had undergone the sensory deprivation elsewhere, and had been subject to suggestion himself... explaining his cold callousness when seeking the truth of Sharpey.

Really? Isolation causes mental instability?

[Coventry · 4/10 · 25 March 2008]

It took me no less than five attempts in order to watch this film straight from start to finish. This primarily has to do with my personal bad habit of always wanting to watch movies when I should be doing something else (like…sleeping!), but it also has to do with the subject matter, which inarguably isn't the most exciting stuff ever told on film. "The Mind Benders" is a mature, sophisticated and fascinatingly intellectual thriller - but let's remain honest - it's also a tiny bit boring and too often just stating the obvious. Even in 1962, scientists must have been aware that phenomena like isolation and brainwashing are likely to negatively affect the test subjects' mental condition and social skills? The supposedly prominent doctors appear genuinely astonished when Dirk Bogarde's character emerges from a water tank and behaves disorientated and unearthly. Well, what do you expect he acts like? Do a little dance? Make a little love?? Get down tonight, perhaps? The script is coherent, albeit very slow-paced, and the character drawings are likable as well as realistic, but the obviousness of the depicted events inevitably causes your attention to wander off. The opening five minutes are absolutely magnificent (and, personally, my sole motivation to not give up on it) and sets the exact right tone for a thoroughly sober film. Whilst on a moving train and amidst a carriage full of passengers, a clearly confused Professor stands up and… jumps off the train! The investigating Major is convinced Professor Sharpe acted like a Communist spy with remorse, but his young acolyte Dr. Tate refuses to accept this verdict and seeks the help of Sharpe's former colleague and friend, Dr. Longman. The latter volunteers to undergo a devastating experiment and the scientists quickly learn that eight hours of isolation in a water tank has the same nightmarish effect on people as eight months of intense brainwashing methods. They decide to take the test up to an even more dangerous level and make Dr. Longman believe he doesn't love the wife he's been married to since 12 years and has 4 children with. With a slightly more progressive and perhaps more venturous screenplay, "The Mind Benders" could have been listed alongside the most disturbing thrillers of the 1960's (like "Carnival of Souls", "Seconds or "Blow Up") but now it sadly falls a little short. It's certainly a stylish effort, with wondrous cinematography by Denys Coop and a staggering by George Auric, but unfortunately director Basil Dearden can't materialize the story's immense potential. Heck, even the fantastic opening sequence are nearly ruined by the compulsory happy-ending. "The Mind Benders" isn't fundamental viewing in my humble opinion, but definitely interesting. If you do decide to see the film, make sure you're wide awake and/or high on caffeine.

This film is definitely worth a look.

[youroldpaljim · 17 November 2001]

THE MIND BENDERS is a very interesting film about sensory deprivation experiments that result in unexpected, tragic results. The story is told in a serious and somber manner. Dirk Bogarde is especially good as the reluctant researcher who volunteers to take a second dip in "the tank" to prove that sensory deprivation can be used to brainwash a person. The film seems to come to a climax when it is revealed to Bogarde that he was brainwashed while in "the tank", but then goes on for another 15 mins. in order to give the film a happy ending. This some what drags the film down, but does not detract from the overall impact of this film.

A FEW NOTES: This film somewhat resembles THE ELECTRONIC MONSTER (aka.ESCAPEMENT) in many ways, although THE MIND BENDERS is superior in every way. The plot of using sensory deprivation to brainwash people (complete with subject submerged in a tank) was used in "The Cocoon" episode of HAWAII FIVE-O.

Scary, scary if this really happened.

[nzpedals · 10/10 · 6 May 2015]

The implications are the scary thoughts. In the introduction we learn that the film is based on real events at some US universities. Maybe some real experiments did occur? Just as space exploration was starting, it occurred to some people to ask... what would happen when the person is weightless - they would feel nothing, (on earth we at least feel the ground beneath us, and maybe the air moving) and then... what would happen if there was complete darkness and silence. What would happen to their mind? Only one way to find out, put a volunteer into that situation.

To replicate the weightlessness they use a water tank with the subject in a wet-suit and with breathing gear. They make it silent and dark... and then listen, and wait. What happens next is so scary.

There are added complications when the secret people get involved, a previous volunteer has been given a large sum of money by 'foreign' agents? Why? Maybe the Russians carried out similar experiments, or at least are thinking of it.

Dirk Bogarde is outstanding as Longman, (much much better than in African Queen), and the tragic Mary Ure as Mrs Longman is too. She gets to act the birth of a child and is so convincing. The "baby" she produces is either a real very very young actor (uncredited), or a very good prop, all wrinkles. John Clements is also outstanding at the Major.

Bland Bender

[nzbdad · 4/10 · 1 January 2007]

Good acting, photography, and ideas are not used to their full advantage by the script, particularly when it fell apart in the last few minutes. The opening of the film was quite intriguing. This film may have introduced the idea (familiar today) of an isolation tank. The hero spends some time in the tank and the experience changes him. The basic story line is the same as Altered States, but without the fantasy dimension. The supporting characters in Mind Benders are generally quite bland too. The transfer of the B&W source is quite good. The photography is technically quite good, but flat. Much more could have been done with the photography to enhance the drama. If you are thinking of renting this movie, you would probably find Altered States a better choice.

I preferred him as Dr Sparrow

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 8 April 2020]

I know that this sounds facetious but in these grim times I want to watch a film that will make me laugh.This is rather depressing and hard to get through to the end.You feel that Bogarde is trying to show what a serious actor he is.