‘In the future, life will be dream. And reality, a nightmare.’
Mindwarp is a 1991 post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror film in which Judy rebels against the AI-ruled utopia where people live in a happy VR simulation. She’s exiled to a post-nuclear wasteland where she meets drifter Stover. Mutated cannibals capture them for their leader Seer.
The movie was directed by Steve Barnett (Scanner Cop II; Hollywood Boulevard II) from a screenplay by John Brancato and Michael Ferris (Terminator Salvation; Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines; The Game). It should not be confused with Galaxy of Terror, which is also known as Mindwarp.
The film is notable as one of three created by Fangoria‘s short-lived Fangoria Films production company. The others were Children of the Night (1991) and Severed Ties (1992).
Twilight Time released Mindwarp on Blu-ray on October 8, 2013. The extras include an isolated score and TV spot.
Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
The movie stars Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead), Angus Scrimm (Phantasm), Marta Martin [credited as “Marta Alicia”], Elizabeth Kent (Trapped Alive), Mary Becker, Wendy Sandow, Brian Brill, Bekki Vallin, Matt Hensley, Keith Rodenberger.
Plot:
The year 2037: The loss of the ozone layer has left most of the planet a desolate wasteland scattered with highly radioactive “Death Zones”, except for several areas that still flourish.
Much of the human population has been reduced to Crawlers, mutated cannibalistic underground dwellers who have lost their intelligence and speak only in grunts and mine garbage dumps.
Outworlders are un-mutated humans inhabiting the Death Zones. A few humans are Dreamers, who live in Inworld, a sealed biosphere maintained by the central Infinisynth computer. They spend all their time plugged in via implants in their necks, living through virtual reality fantasies.
Judy, a dreamer, lives with her mother. She has gradually becomes less satisfied with the life they have. After an unsuccessful attempt to talk directly to her mother, Judy manages to penetrate her virtual reality to wake herself up. Judy interrupts the dream, but she causes her mother to die in the real world.
For interfering with the dreams of other users, Judy is exiled from Inworld by the mysterious System Operator who controls Infinisynth. She is saved from the Crawlers by Stover (Bruce Campbell), an Outworlder who believes he is the last “normal” human being still living on the surface, protecting himself from the deadly ultraviolet rays, radioactivity, caustic groundwater, and Crawlers while subsisting on a diet of small animals…
“When Campbell and the girl are taken prisoner, this entertaining sci-fier gets good and gory and is a barrel of fun if you’re willing to take it as tongue-in-cheek, especially Scrimm’s madness.” John Stanley, Creature Features book
Filming locations:
Stamp sand and copper mining ruins in Gay, Michigan
Windsor Lake Studios, East River, Wisconsin
Alternate titles:
Brain Slasher
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube [480p]:
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