By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Once in a while when surfing the web, I will come across an old horror movie I haven’t heard of before. As I’ve seen the majority of them, finding an obscure one I haven’t seen is always fun. Even when they’re less than stellar, the excitement of going into it makes the experience worth it. In rare occasions, the film ends up being leaps and bounds better than expected.
Recently, my brother had found a few old movies on youtube. One was entitled Shadows of the Mind. It was filmed in 1980 and the description mentioned it was a slasher. Whodunits are among my favorite of the subgenre so I was instantly intrigued. Neither Geno nor my husband had heard of it either. Even though we were all blind going in, since it was made in the heyday of horror we all had high hopes.
The film opens as Elise (Marion Joyce) is getting released from a mental institution after 12 years of being locked up. She witnessed her mother drown and afterwards was never the same.
Her psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Lang (Erik Rolfe) believes she is well enough to leave the hospital. He along with his girlfriend Diana (Bianca Sloane) escort Elise back to her childhood home. Soon, Elise’s stepbrother Leland (G.E. Barrymore) shows up. It’s clear that his intentions are not good as he taunts her about her mother’s death. Later, it becomes clear that he wants the entire estate for himself and wants Elise locked back up forever.
Elise begins hearing voices and having flashbacks of the night her mother died. Soon, people around Elise get murdered. The killer is a bit of a surprise and the conclusion is awesome. The atmosphere created is fantastic and sits somewhere in-between Don’t Look in the Basement (1973) and Funeral Home (1980).
The acting is above par and the characters are intriguing.
Though the first half of the movie is rather slow, the second half more than makes up for it. The pace of the last forty minutes is great. The deaths are fascinating and unique. Though there is virtually no gore, the film doesn’t require it. The last scenes are extremely well done and even enter the realm of disturbing.
I found out that the star, Marion Joyce also wrote the screenplay. Sadly, it doesn’t appear she did anything else. This was such a great production, I would have loved to see more of her work.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10
