The Mind Snatchers
The Mind Snatchers
| 28 June 1972 (USA)
The Mind Snatchers Trailers

A German scientist works on a way of quelling overly aggressive soldiers by developing implants that directly stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain.

Reviews
Hellen

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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CommentsXp

Best movie ever!

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Comwayon

A Disappointing Continuation

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SeeQuant

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

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Scott LeBrun

A young Christopher Walken brings his typically dynamic presence to this low key drama with a touch of sci-fi. He plays Private James Reese, an aggressive young soldier stationed in Germany who gets in trouble one too many times to suit his superiors. So they ship him off to a hospital in the country where Dr. Frederick (Joss Ackland), the man in charge, has come up with an experimental way to suppress hostile behaviour. Reese doesn't trust Frederick, and is suspicious of the whole set-up and location. The Army, represented by a Major (Ralph Meeker), is overseeing the whole thing and of course doesn't want anything jeopardizing their efforts.Those new to this film, such as this viewer, may be caught a little off guard with the nature of this film, which the advertising tries to sell as a horror movie. Well, there's some scary stuff in this story (based on the play by Dennis Reardon), but this is definitely not a horror movie in the traditional sense. It's quite deliberate in its pacing, and is very talky, so it may test the patience of some audience members. Still, it's often amusing, and interesting. A lot of the running time is devoted to portraying the evolving relationship between Reese and his live wire fellow patient Boford Miles (an incredible, standout performance by Ronny Cox). Miles is a very troubled individual, as we see from the kinds of things that he gets up to. It's a saddening moment for the character when he finally relents to being subjected to the experimental procedure, and you feel quite bad for him.Ultimately, the plight of these characters makes for fairly compelling material. The actors are all wonderful; Walkens' trademark personality shines through at some points, although he also gets a chance to do some really serious acting, in what was one of his earliest movie roles. Cox (who was also a relative newcomer to film, having made "Deliverance" previously) is excellent and he and Walken work well together. Ackland and Meeker are both solid as the well-meaning and not so well-meaning antagonists, character actor Marco St. John has a lively role as a jovial orderly, and Bette Henritze is touching as kindly nurse Anna Kraus.This may not be anything truly special, necessarily, but it's still potent and involving entertainment and fans of Walken and Cox will almost certainly want to give it a look.Seven out of 10.

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Thorsten_B

At first sight a rather obscure entry in Christopher Walkens filmography, this 1972 picture turns out to be something like a hidden gem. It deals with a topic familiar from many films, but here it is treated with great seriousness. Christopher Walken plays a young American soldier stationed in Germany. He's basically a cynical, non-conformist and, natural combination, intelligent loner, and usually the army doesn't like people like that. So he is brought in a mental hospital disguised under the outer looks of a German castle for "cure" of his "mental problems". Problem is, the treatment of the patients (there are no more than three of them) is very "special"... The low budget forced the film into realism. It looks as it would if real life prevented such a horrific scenery. In the mid of this confrontation between individuality and it's destruction, the actor do their jobs very well (Ronny Cox has his first feature film role here - probably the one that brought him into "Deliverance"). A surprisingly good, yet provocative tale - on the other side about morality, on the other a praise of non-conformism.

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Scott-42

A bit talky, but certainly well acted and thought provoking.Walken, looking all of 19, does his usual standout performance in this ethical drama. While not without it's drawbacks - the pace is a bit slow at times and the score is annoying, the questions raised about the ethics used by both the well-meaning Doctor and the frightening military will certainly cause future reflection.

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Sean84

I saw this movie under the "Demon Within" title. I believe the movie was based on a play and at times, it shows. The movie is slow in some parts, but overall is good. The character of Ronny Cox is often annoying. However, he does a good job in portraying the pity of a man losing his mind. Walken gives an non-typical performance of a comparatively straight-laced man who never really loses his mind but instead has it robbed from him. It is not really worth a long search. But if you do come across it, check it out.

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