Mind Games

If you like a movie with a combination of mystery, suspense, drama, and slight sex scenes, and most important, my favorite actress Soleil Moon Frye (punky brewster) in it, then this movie is for you. I've viewed many Soleil movies, but this one here really sticks out. I own and watch this movie on a regular basis. And if your looking for a "post-punky" movie, then this one is highly recommended by me. I do believe the part where Soleil is caught for a brief 5 seconds, I think they could have done w/ out that, cause thats something I do NOT want to see. I think this movie is something everybody should see at least once.

I was expecting something more formulaic from this low-budget mystery/psychodrama, but the plotmeister has lots of cards up his sleeve and plays them well. In fact, MIND GAME's storyline is more intriguing and less predictable than many mysteries with ten times the budget. The cast, while not Oscar-class, is appealing and believable. The former child star of TV's "Punky Brewster", a now quite voluptuous Soleil Moon Frye, is an especially welcome addition.

This movie was little-noted and won't be long remembered but fans of erotic thrillers or mystery thrillers might find it at least passable. Brian Krause (you may have seen him in 'Naked Souls') stars as a college professor though he barely looks old enough to be a grad student. He's got trouble at his new job since another prof doesn't like the fact that a student girlfriend at his last school committed suicide. Now he has a naive, sexually frustrated student at this college, played by Soleil Moon Frye, hanging around at inappropriate times, causing people to draw the wrong conclusions. To top things off, he starts seeing visions of the dead girl.

Fans of Frye will enjoy her performance, I think; and pale, thin and ethereal-looking Maria Ford makes a convincing ghost. Not the best movie ever but I made it all the way through.

Mystery fans should go for this fairly tame thriller, which tones down the sex for more characterization and plot twists. Brian Krause is good as tortured college psychology professor Matt Jarvis. In an effort to move on after his girlfriend Ivory (B-movie vixen Maria Ford) commits suicide, he takes a new job at a new college and is immediately haunted by ghostly appearances of his lost love. Has Ivory returned from the dead? Is Matt going crazy? Or is it all some kind of conspiracy?

It's a pretty lightweight thriller with ideas stretching as far back to at least DIABOLIQUE (probably much further than that), but writer/director Kevin Alber has a good ear for dialogue and the academic atmosphere, keeps things interesting and gets solid work from Krause, Ford, Raina Paris (as an English professor) and Richard Paul (as the dean). Another selling point here is Soleil Moon "Punky Brewster" Frye in an "adult" role as shy, awkward student Becky Hansen. She develops a crush on Matt, tries to seduce him wearing a short skirt, black stockings and bra and masturbates while listening to her roommate have sex, but sorry fans, she has no nude scenes.

Score: 5 out of 10

A movie mostly for die-hard Punky Brewster fans. Other than that, and some soft-core porn, this tale of a college professor seemingly haunted by his dead girlfriend (she committed suicide, an escape not granted the viewing audience) moves at a snail's pace. He's framed for sexual harassment, he's cleared, he's framed again, etc., etc. Can be seen late night on Showtime, and that's exactly where it belongs.