A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

A suicidal young man suffering from amnesia (Zeljko Ivanek) is admitted to a state mental hospital where his psychiatrist, Dr. Gail Farmer (Kathryn Harrold) discovers that her new patient has remarkable telepathic powers, being able to subconsciously transmit his thoughts, dreams and fears.The Sender is a well directed, low-key chiller that features strong performances and some brilliantly executed scenes (the electro shock therapy sequence alone is worth the price of admission), but it is a film that I struggle to recognise as horror, since once it has been established that the disturbing occurrences are actually visions sent by John Doe (as the patient is known), any genuine sense of threat is eradicated: after the vision has ended, everything returns to normal, which doesn't make for a very scary viewing experience.If anything, The Sender is a psychological mystery that leads the viewer on a merry dance wondering precisely how matters will be resolved; unfortunately, when all is said and done, the story doesn't really amount to much, with John Doe being released back into the community, supposedly cured, but in actuality, right back where he started (and free to try and kill himself once more).

I got this film because I read about it from others and it sounded interesting. A horror film that I thought I had never seen! Well, I did indeed see this film as a kid. As soon as it opened I recognized it as the opening scene of the dude putting rocks in his jacket and walking into a lake sparked the memory rather quickly. Well, I kept watching as it has been forever since I had seen this film and it had some good moments, but it could of been a lot better too.The film does start with a young man trying to commit suicide. He is promptly taken to one of the worst mental health facilities I have ever seen. This is mainly due to what they do throughout the film, I mean all it is missing is that nurse from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to make it the the absolute number one worst facility. Well a female doctor wants to assist this man who is suffering from amnesia while another doctor wants to use every extreme method of treating patients hoping to zap the young man out of being suicidal. Well, this young man has certain powers...it seems when he dreams or has nightmares he has very powerful telepathic abilities. These abilities make the doctor trying to help him and others in the facility see horrific things. Add the man's mother who appears from time to time seeming to want to help, but her motives are not clear.The film has its moments, it really is not a hardcore horror film though. In fact, if one were to rate it now it would probably get a PG-13 rating except for one scene near the end involving the young man and another patient after the young man tries to beat up a television. Still, it keeps you wondering where it is going...I am just not entirely satisfied where it ended up. I just find it hard to believe they would have done what they did at the end to the young man as it seems pretty obvious he still needs some guidance. The gore is minimal, and you get scenes with rats and insects as well. The most disturbing scene was one involving a procedure being done on him as the cut look really good.So this film had its moments, but it was just an okay film to me. Nothing super great or anything. It just seems like it needed more of a point or something. The thing with the mother that was revealed at the end was a bit too obvious as well. Still, it is a lot better than a lot of horror films and it does feature deadly dreams before the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise launched.

I think this movie got such a low overall rating because most people didn't understand it or appreciate it, perhaps it didn't strike so close to home as it did for me. The telepathic man who is either channeling his evil, crazy dead mother or creating her ghost through his own powers was the most haunting and chilling since Norman Bates in Psycho. The scenes in the mental hospital were incredibly accurate, having worked in one myself. The female doctor trying to help the telepath was very touching, and although I thought that the other doctors and cops would turn out to be two-dimensional villains I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be normal human beings with faults and compassion in the end. The times that the telepath projected his horrors onto others in self-defense was difficult viewing, disturbing yet necessary and very important. The scenes with lobotomy and ECT should remind all of us of the very real non-fiction horrors buried in American medical history, experts so sure of themselves that they self-justify doing terrible things to peoples' brains. I won't give away the ending but it was very ambigious and shocking.

A young amnesic man is admitted to a mental ward following a suicide attempt. Dr. Gail Farmer is called upon to help him try and regain his memory. She soon discovers the young man possesses frightening telepathic abilities.This film starts off extremely well and builds up a strong tale full of mystery, suspense and horror. A number of overdone shocks and the final ending however hurts the film. Kathyrn Harrold does provide a tremendous performance as Dr. Gail Farmer.