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| MINDHUNTERS (2004) | |
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Serial killers have a dark mysterious charisma that originates in their motivation to commit grotesque acts of bizarre violence.
The fascination often traces back to a serial killer’s past, as the impulse that compels a person to harm another rests within their experiences.
On occasions, unexplainable circumstances bring about the murderous monsters such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and David Berkowitz.
The one thing that brings these deviants together is the urge to commit vile deeds.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has an assigned task force that deals with deviant murderers that cannot stop this urge.
Some of these individuals are highly trained in psychological pathology, as they seek a pattern in the killer’s prowling for victims to satisfy their repulsive desires.
They go under the name – profilers. Mindhunters focuses its attention on small group of soon-to-be graduated profilers who are preparing for their final.
A woman’s frantic scream fades away by the surrounding water, as she struggles to stay above the surface. However, something seems to keep her below, as the opening title of Mindhunters emerges on the screen. This ominous opening helps augment the tense atmosphere of the beginning, as two FBI agents reconnaissance the location of a possible serial killer. Slowly fluttering snow drifts across the front window of the Volvo station wagon, as they discover a remote house. Special Agents Reston (Christian Slater) and Sara Moore (Kathryn Morris) begin to investigate the house, as they soon discover that the possible suspect is still within the premises when a shrieking scream echoes through the night. This is a clever build up by director Renny Harlin, which feeds to the suspenseful anticipation of the audience. Unfortunately, Harlin pulls the rug away underneath the audience when the following scene illustrates something completely different, which induces a sense of serious cinematic swindling. Mindhunters tells the story of a group of promising profilers who are about to embark on their final test on the remote island of Oneiga. The special department of the FBI that educates the profilers is overseen by Jake Harris (Val Kilmer) who cleverly designs grotesque exercises in which the student can experience life-like experiences. The island of Oneiga is owned by the United States Navy and is used for urban warfare practice by the Navy Seals. In solitude, the FBI aspiring profilers begin to anticipate the first staged case that requires their attention. When the first clue materializes in the shape of a broken watch that shows the time ten o’clock they all begin to ponder its significance. What they do not know is that one of them is the target for the first murder that will take place at 10:00AM. The question is who is going to be the next when the second watch emerges. Renny Harlin captures an intriguing atmosphere in Mindhunters through the gruesome murders, the isolated location, the mystery and clues left behind. The camera work helps in developing the tense mood in the film, which at times feels a little overwhelming in a good suspenseful way. Yet, there are cinematic moments in the film where some awkwardness emerges in the form of visual trickery played on the audience. It would have been more appropriate to develop a sense of straightforwardness with the audience, as some of the story would have felt more credible. When the director tarnishes some of the credible aspects of the film it leaves the viewer with a sticky impression of some situations. This harms the overall value of the cinematic experience, even though Mindhunters has some good moments and leaves the viewers with a decent visual feast in the sign of callous killers. |
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| Renny Harlin | |
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USA / Netherlands / UK / Finland |
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| REVIEWED | |
| BY KIM ANEHALL – 9/6/2005 | |
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The Internet Movie Database. |
