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.
As I write this in 2020, this film has only 17 user reviews and a rating of 6.4 on IMDB.
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.
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).
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 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.
The implications are the scary thoughts. In the introduction we learn that the film is based on real events at some US universities.
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.
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!
