This question only applies to so many films, but none have asked it more directly - or answered it with more force - than Bong Joon Ho’s “ Memories of Murder.” A loose but historically redolent evocation of the serial killings that plagued the rural South Korean city of Hwaseong between 19, Bong’s 2003 masterpiece defrosted his country’s most notorious cold case by looking back at it as a damning microcosm of life during autocracy, and as a symptom of the powerlessness that can seep into the general population of any country whose government only cares about preserving its own tenuous control of them. Would an uncannily effective studio thriller like “The Mothman Prophecies” still be eerie enough to punch above its weight class if the Mothman turned out to be a bored accountant named Gary whose prank calls got a little out of hand? Probably not.
So all in all its a pretty good tale.Every film inspired by a real unsolved crime leaves behind the same lingering question: Would any of then retain their full power if their respective real-world crimes were eventually solved? Would “Zodiac” still be such a haunting police sketch of pathological obsession in a world where viewers could Google the killer’s identity in less time than it takes Robert Graysmith to crack even the easiest cypher? Probably.
Still, it's not supposed to be a comedy, so I guess things need to stay quite tense, and the climax of the film, does do this pretty well. it might have been OK if the action was in keeping with the earlier part of the film, but it hit me that the whole "visions" skill of the heroine is completely dropped from the plot in the last part, which was a shame as it could have been used to set the scene for some clever cat and mouse games with the bad guy, but it isn't.the film ends with just your common or garden damsel in distress sequence, and as mentioned some of the scenes are quite unpleasant. What doesn't gel so well is the last 30 minutes of the film (spoiler alert here): From showing a plot developing from the point of view of woman having a lot of freaky visions, the film suddenly changes gear and becomes a kidnap and hostage situation that is actually quite violent and nasty (helped a lot by the portrayal of the bald man by Andrew Prine). She has realistic dialogue and acts accordingly, giving the impression of someone who is neither hysterical or goofy, and she really carries the story. This original touch does give the film a certain amount of originality, but then it seems like having a "gimmick" was a requirement to meet the standard of "Laura Mars", in which the visions are also somewhat gimmicky In the movie's favour, Deborah Raffin makes for a very appealing heroine. The visions are shown in quite an entertaining way.unexpectedly, Suzy will suddenly feel as though time is slowing to a standstill around here and then the bizarre visions are played out in front of her in shop windows, billboards or in mirrors. Potentially a copy of "Eyes of Laura Mars" (which was only a year earlier) in it's plot device, "Mind Over Murder" sees Deborah Raffin as Suzy, a model, who is suddenly afflicted by confusing visions concerning a nasty bald man, a plane crash and other distressing scenes. There's a modicum of tension in Carrington's scenario, and Raffin acquits herself well until her character is turned into a punching bag however, when the drama and the majority of characters are this ridiculously drawn, it's nearly impossible to fall for such juvenile shenanigans. Two of the supporting performances-by Bruce Davison as Raffin's whining boyfriend and Andrew Pine as the preening madman in tight jeans-are so ineffective as to be almost embarrassing, which is really the fault of writer Robert Carrington for his atrocious teleplay and director Ivan Nagy for his inept staging.
Clearly inspired by the theatrical "Eyes of Laura Mars" from 1978, plot concerns an actress in Los Angeles who begins having premonitions of a menacing bald man and a plane crash naturally, the two are connected, and soon our heroine finds herself kidnapped by the psychopath (who hangs out in an abandoned building well-equipped with burning light bulbs). Deborah Raffin's lead performance in this tepid TV-made thriller is the only reason to watch.