Mind Flesh is a very odd film.  It’s a slow burn art house and cerebral body horror blend.  I’m not a big fan of artsy, symbolic films that somehow show us our inner being; however the shots in Mind Flesh serve to further boggle the mind during this head trip of a film.  I want to say first off, despite it being shot on HD and looks low budget, don’t let it keep you from checking this movie out, it’s at least worth one watching.  It’s a somewhat difficult film to review as its one that has to be experienced more than read about. 

Also, if you’re a fan of more traditional horror, Mind Flesh is probably not for you.  It’s not going to make you jump from your seat, but instead make you feel very uncomfortable and uneasy, toying with your brain and leaving you with the feeling of “what the hell did I just see?”

The story is of a taxi driver named Chris, sadly for him he is having constant visions of a beautiful woman that has become his obsession.  However, his visions are slowly materializing themselves and there is another, far more potent evil awaiting him.  The film is based off the novel “White Light” by William Scheinman, I have not read it nor have I found anything online about it, but if it is anything like the screenplay written by director Robert Pratten, it is certainly a complete mind-f*ck. 

And that’s what Mind Flesh is, a complete, utter mind-f*ck that leaves your brain numb from sensory overload.  The movie is a slow pace; however it’s not a “bored to death” pace and at only 75 minutes, the film moves by fairly nicely.  Director Pratten understands the slow burn idea, constantly teasing the viewer with a few well thought out scenes, instead of an attempt at a jump scare every five minutes, that builds up to the really far out climax. 

I do like slow burn films when they are done well.  Flesh is an example of a well done slow burn; it creeps up on the viewer and gracefully brings them into the fold of the story and strangeness going on.  Director Pratten keeps the tension rolling and keeps the film from getting dull and entices the viewer to stay until the film has run its course. 

The scenes of Chris meeting the flesh and blood of his obsessions (called The Goddess) are hypnotic while being equally strange and uneasy.  At first they are quiet and it’s the same old “he turns away and turns back to find her gone” setups and after the first few of those, things start getting violent and stranger.  Chris finds himself visited by strange creatures that hit him with fleshy tubes of some sort and are messing around with him on the inside. 

Spare for the creature scenes, the cinematography is very simple and the camera only moves a few times during a certain scene.  Mostly the actors just walk into frame, and then walk out and instead of having the camera follow; there is a cut to a different shot.  However during the more mind-bending scenes the cinematography becomes more frantic and stylized, at times it is borderline incomprehensible, other times you can still see what is going on.  Though my complaint comes not from cinematography, but that the editing between scenes seems a bit too rough in areas and could be smoothed out.  It is a bit jarring and pulled me from the movie a few times. 

The weakest point I found with the film are the actors themselves.  They do a decent job, but that’s about it.  It’s not overly great or overly bad, its just average.  There really isn’t another way to put it.  However, the acting really isn’t that much of a determent to the film as Pratten is able to keep tension high and so your focus is more on the action going on. 

The makeup effects are done very well and the creatures, what little we see of them, seem also to be done quite well.  CGI is limited, though it is obvious when it is being used, but it is limited to only a few seconds at a time and the film doesn’t rely on it completely.  

All in all, Mind Flesh is a film difficult to describe in words.  It needs to be watched to actually be understood.  It’s a good film that should be viewed at least once and fans of cerebral horror or people looking to dabble in a different sub-genre of horror might find something of interest here.  There are some minor issues with the film, but it is held together by capable hands that still make it a solid piece.  Well, I think that is about it for me, catch y’all on the boards, tgs out.