MIND'S EYE! What could this be, you wonder.

                                     Click here to watch MIND'S EYE


Who doesn't want to see a movie for free?  Just click the link above to watch the psychological thriller MIND'S EYE.  Writer/Director Mark Atkins was kind enough to contact me to review his film and let others know about it.  The fact that I am posting about it should let you know it is a good film and worth a watch.

The story is about a young man named David who has been recently released from prison and is trying to get his life back on track.  His father shows up and tells David he is dying of cancer.  David almost beats his father up right then and there.  We learn that David's father left his mother and him when he was only twelve.  Full of hatred and conflicting emotions David lets his father speak giving him no words of sympathy.  Soon after David receives word that his father has died and he wants his ashes spread in his home town.  David reluctantly obliges and soon after driving to his father's hometown meets a mysterious woman at a bar whom he has a one night stand with.  After waking the next day David discovers that the woman is gone along with his father's ashes.  So now he has to go and investigate who the woman was and why she took the ashes.

MIND'S EYE is a strange film indeed.  It mixes elements of a crime noir film with strong visuals of a psychological horror movie.  As David dives deeper into his investigation these men in black appear and chase him around a bit.  You kind of get the idea that maybe David isn't as mentally stable as he thinks he is.  After all the movie does open with our hero standing over some poor bastard that David just beat the crapola out of with this 'I'm a freakin psycho' look on his face accompanied by heavy breathing.  This is one of those 'is it happening or is it happening in his head' kind of movies. 

When watching low budget films it can be hard to get emotionally invested into the story and characters especially when they look like something that some friends got together to shoot in their backyard after stealing their dad's VHS camcorder.  MIND'S EYE is not one of those movies.  You would think just by the visuals that this was a medium budget film done by professional movie makers in a big studio.  There is a terrific shot of David standing on the shore pouring the ashes of his dead mother.  It was an incredible shot with tons of detail and movement with the waves of the water rising and disappearing on the shore.  I can't really describe it right.  As a director Mark Atkins knows where to put the camera and captures some really beautiful visuals throughout MIND"S EYE as well as some more bloody and unpleasant moments as well.  It is a nice mix.

What I liked most about MIND'S EYE was that I never knew in what direction the story was going or what kind of movie I was actually watching.  It was very unpredictable which is a hard thing to do to nowadays.  At one point I thought maybe aliens were involved since there were the guys running around in black suits.  The ending was also a nice change of pace from what I am accustomed to in movies like these.  Great job.

Another highlight to the film is Alastair Gamble as David.  What a great performance portraying a man who can be wildly intense and violent to highly sympathetic and even a tough guy badass.  Alastair Gamble has a strong look to him that could be hero or villain that plays well into a story like this.  At one point he beats down two guys and you think that this guy could be an action star.  I am being serious.  Acting from the supporting cast is strong throughout which is extremely important.  It only takes one bad performance to take an audience out a movie especially with lower budgeted films that struggle to maintain their interest.

Obviously MIND'S EYE is a labor of love.  It is a creative film that doesn't let the lack of money impede on the visual quality of the film.  My only complaint is that I feel that there should have been more music in some of the more intense moments of the film.  Other than that MIND'S EYE is a real treat for those who are into movies or looking to get into film making and seeing what can be done with very little money.  Writer/Director Mark Atkins shows us that it's not money that makes a movie great but the talent behind and in front of the cameras.  I wonder what Mark Atkins will do next.


Jason