Mindhunters

Mindhunters (for violence/strong graphic images, language and sexual content)

Cast   Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, Jonny Miller, Kathryn Morris, Patricia Velasquez, Will Kemp, Clifton Collins, Eion Bailey

Director   Renny Harlin

Producer   Nigel Sinclair, Guy East, Moritz Borman, Renny Harlin, Bob Weinstein

Writer   Wayne Kramer, Kevin Brodbin, Cary Bickley, Yuri Zeltser, Kario Salem

Duration   01:46:00

Official Site   http://www.mindhunters-thefilm.com/

Genres   Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller

Distributor   Miramax

"MINDHUNTERS" SYNOPSIS

Hiding inside of a group of eight young FBI profilers--who are learning to hunt serial killers--is a killer attempting to hunt them. As one by one the agents begin to disappear, none of them can be trusted. Each one is under suspicion. And they are all in mortal danger until, in the ultimate test of their crime-solving skills, they uncover the mysterious predator lurking in their midst.

'Mindhunters' is one of those movies that introduces us to a bunch of people, puts them all together in a location they can't get out of, and gradually starts killing them off one-by-one. We've seen it all before, right? Wrong, actually - because it might be an old formula, but here writer Wayne Kramer and director Renny Harlin have come up with an inventive new spin which is virtually guaranteed to grab you by the danglies and hold you right there until the credits roll at the end of the 100-or-so minutes.

What's so different about it? Well, top of the list is the way it pisses straight into the eyes of all sneering cinema-going second-guessers. Given the scenario - eight FBI criminal profilers are placed on a remote island for a training exercise which turns out to be all too real - you'd expect the grisly procession of deaths to fall predictably in order of cast importance. Refreshingly though, 'Mindhunters' is a flick with no interest in following such rules. Sure, it has its flaws - but predictability isn't one of them.

Among the characters led into this team building trip from Hell are cock-sure leader-type J.D. (Christian Slater), nice-but-dim Sara (Kathryn Morris), wheelchair-bound Vince (Clifton Collins Jr.) and potty-mouthed outsider Gabe (LL Cool J). They've all been instructed by supervisor Harris (a rarely-seen Val Kilmer) to keep their wits about them but, as a series of gruesome traps laid by an unknown foe begin to take their toll, paranoia sinks in fast and everyone becomes a suspect. Who can the baddie be? It's fun trying to work it out, but if you're anything like me (which admittedly means you're probably a little bit slow when it comes to working out this sort of stuff) then you probably won't manage it.

Twists are two-a-penny in Hollywood nowadays, but this is one of those rare and enjoyable occasions where the deliberate surprises actually work. It sets its stall out right from the word go with a nice little plot-turn, and around about the half-hour mark there's a major shock which I can guarantee you won't see coming. It's like that right up until the end and, though it has to lose marks for some lousy dialogue and less-than-brilliant acting, I can't help but recommend it.