Watch The Mind Benders For Free

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

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.

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.

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.

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.