1982@40: THE SENDER

A young man walks through the country to a lake. It's a sunny afternoon and lots of families are out enjoying it. The man starts loading his pockets with rocks and keeps walking to the water. He gets head high before he's dragged out and placed in psychiatric care. They can't get his name out of him because he can't recall it. When someone jokes that he could be anyone, even the messiah a doctor jokes back that they already have one of those and you can't have two in one place. And then the patient that does think he's Jesus begins to get very protective of his neck with the sudden conviction that he's about to have his head chopped off. 

After her shift Gail, the doctor in on the joke goes home to hear sounds of an intruder. It's the John Doe whom she glimpses in one of the rooms. When the police arrive there's no sign of an intruder nor even of a broken window. She calls the hospital. John D's in his bed, sedated and snoring. A few more incidents and Gail is convinced she has come across someone with the power to project hallucinations on to anyone he wants. That's the super power I want! Someone bothers you and suddenly they think they're dying in an industrial accident. Anyway, while this and control of it might be enough for a decent sci-horror plot there is an extra dimension brought in that really deepens it.

There are some great set-piece scenes like when they try to administer electro shock therapy to John Doe and he gives everyone in the room their own hellish scenario. The theme of self-control and questioning the methods and limits of psychiatry are clear and persisted with through characters like Gail and Zeljko Ivanek is impressive as the tortured central figure. But The Sender stays where it starts as a decent stab rather than a breakthrough. If you have any interest in science horror, especially of the fruitful early '80s and some very impressive effects like bodies flying around rooms, then this is essential viewing and not just for completion's sake. It seems flawless on paper and the performances are well above adequate.

Perhaps it's just too long. That's strange to say when it behaves itself with a 91 minute running time but the thing it reminded me most of was something that came a lot later, The X-Files. This same story, with its later plot developments would fit very snugly into a 44 minute episode. I can't think of anything from the time that would have accomodated it, though. Perhaps it's just surrounded by tighter fare like Videodrome or Brainstorm and can't compete with the refulgent first rush of some of fantastical cinema's finest. Then again, this is Quentin Tarantino's favourite of its genre and year. Then again, having seen this at least three times now I struggle to remember it.