MIND CONTROL MELTDOWN & THE BRAIN POLICE: Split Image (1982)

Tonight's film is a superb, taut psychological thriller - this is one of the finest exploitations on the brainwash tactics of cults- how they lure kids with the promise of a better family than the one they are born into. This movie is an explosion of shouting, crying, and desperation. Michael O' Keefe plays an aspiring Olympic gymnast  who is lure into "Homeland"- a working commune- by a hot chick (played by Karen Allen), where he is then brainwashed into believing his previous existence was nothing more than "death in life," and is forced to burn his clothes and forget his past and feed the needs of the commune, which is run by a Jim Jones type psycho- dressed in all white, played with brilliant, subtle aggression by Peter Fonda. James Woods shows up as a bounty hunter who is hired to kidnap the kid and deprogram him. Woods sort of steals the show- his character is so unlikeable and nasty and foul mouthed. Brian Dennehy and Elizabeth Ashley play the parents in their best over the top, worrisome tone. This is one of those great little human dramas that is high strung, action packed, and hard boiled in it's effort to grab some truth through entertainment.