Mindhunters (2004)

Director: Renny Harlin

Writer: Wayne Kramer

Tagline: For seven elite profilers, finding a serial killer is a process of elimination. Their own.

Actors: Eion Bailey, Clifton Collins Jr., Will Kemp, Val Kilmer, Jonny Lee Miller, Kathryn Morris, Christian Slater, LL Cool J, Patricia Velasquez, Cassandra Bell

Runtime: 1h 46m

Category: Killer, Psychological

Synopsis: Seven FBI students go to a training island for their “final exam”. They are met by their teacher, Harris, who gives them the “low-down” on their assignment. Each of these seven students is an elite FBI profiler, taught to capture the essence of a serial killer. The entire island is outfitted as if actually in the city: there are roads, shops, mannequins as people in an everyday situation, and a murderer. Harris explains that the killer, The Puppeteer, is on the loose and he wants them to figure out what the killer’s next move will be and how to stop him. Unfortunate circumstances arise as one of their party ends up dead; but it doesn’t look like and accident. Being the only people on the island, they realize that one of them is a killer. Paranoia sets in as new members turn up dead in a shocking twist that will leave you speechless!

Review: As an avid fan of the psychological branch of science, I was eager to see this movie from day one. I wasn’t really sure what to expect so I was able to go into it with an open mind. The story was simply wonderful; a person who is trained to catch killers becomes one…how ironic. At the risk of being hoaky, I was weary of this concept at first. But as the movie went on and the “who done it” mindset started rolling in, I was pleasantly surprised. The story alone was very well thought out and did not give anything away; meaning it wasn’t predictable. I was very pleased to see a psychological killer movie that did not have some kind of monster attached to the plot. Who would have thought a simple backwards profiler concept would be such a bank?

As the movie went on I was really impressed with the way in which each of the seven was dying. I know it sounds kinda sick but cinematically the killings were very well done. Just like in the Saw movies, how the killings got more and more complex and disturbing, this movie was, although not as gruesome, the same way. Each killing had more and more thought behind it designed towards a specific member of the team. Not only was the killer profiling the profilers, he was also keeping them paranoid by timing all of his killings by the clock in the mess hall, whereby keeping them on their toes. Absolutely ingenious.

Rating: 21. The only thing about this movie that I didn’t like was that, in between each killing (which was down time…and you know how I hate down time), during the times where they were trying to figure out who the killer was, the story got slow. Not enough to make the movie boring but just enough for you to say to yourself, “Ok…come on...get to the next killing.” Other than that it was a good movie with a great story and some really cool killing scenes. Pick this one up! (21of25).