Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Peter Grunbaum I thought this was a fairly interesting movie about mesmerism and the so-called fourth dimension. It is also about a lot of other things but it does deliver if you want to experience something about the wonders of the mind and the nature of mesmerism. In 1880 mesmerism would have been a new science and I do not know if much has happened since in this area. The story moves very slowly but it all becomes clear in the end. Therefore I think this is a good movie with a very nice plot. Jodie Foster is very pretty as the lead character and it is interesting to see the countryside in New Zealand. I can understand if some people might find this movie boring but I did not since it all becomes clear in the end why the story was told in the way it is in the movie.
two_funnie The movie focuses on the story, not special effects or violence. The reason nothing about the actual murder case is found on the internet is that no one has done the research in Australia and posted it anywhere. Just because there are no aliens biting people's heads off or people being gutted or shot every 3 seconds doesn't make a boring or bad movie.John Lithgow does a splendid job of being a pervert and a mental and emotional abuser, as does the actor playing his heartless father. A letter would have been sent to the orphanage asking for a girl of marrying age, the orphanage would have chosen and supplied her. The result of this marriage was a young bride totally alone, unloved by her husband, treated like dirt by his father, the servants treat her like an intruder, where else was she supposed to turn to? When she makes a friend in the reverend, the husband seems to care little. When she falls in love with her brother in law who DOES have a heart, the husband loses his mind. All he wants is his property, which is what she was considered at the time.As for other comments on "why didn't the autopsy pick up the poison," the medical facilities of the 1880's weren't the same as today. The doctor didn't lie- he just couldn't testify to something he didn't see.Jodie Foster did a splendid job of portraying an abused, lonely, unloved wife in an impossible situation.Foreign films about real stories aren't for everyone. Concentrate on the story, the film is fine.
elevator_opratr Odd-ball movie. What could have been a decent story, instead fell victim to some very bad acting ... acting that was almost painful to watch ... it felt like the actors/actresses were totally uninterested in recording this.Based on a supposedly true story based in 1800's New Zealand with an almost unbelievable plot, the unbelievability of the plot is made even more inevitable by poor acting. Instead of driving home the point of the real-ness of the movie, the acting made it look like a joke.Watch it and be prepared to scratch your head at the end. You'll say to yourself: "either this was total baloney, or it was true, but the story very poorly told."
FloatingOpera7 While some find this film dull, slow-paced and even pretentious, I think it's well-written and very haunting. Dating from 1986, Mesmerized stars Jodie Foster prior to her success in such films as Accused and Silence Of The Lambs or even Contact, and by then experienced actor John Lithgow. The premise- an orphaned New Zealand girl is sold into a loveless marriage with wealthy businessman who is cruel and abusive. Michael Murphy plays the role of Wilson, her distant lover. The dark character of Oliver Thomson is played terrifically by John Lithgow. The greatest scenes are those with Lithgow and Foster as Victoria. Jodie Foster, in British accent, plays a very authentic Victorian tragic heroine. The dominant, cruel and sexually bizarre Oliver further breaks the poor Victoria's spirit. Some of the film drags on to a kind of boredom, and lacks the necessary drive for a powerful horror (or psychological horror) as some other films, but it's very Gothic and haunting if you look closely. The dialog is stilted (John Lithgow is even using a Scottish accent) but it works mainly because it's a period piece. Shadows, Victorian homes, barnyards, eerie silences, all effectively work in this movie. The only parts I disliked were the scenes in which Oliver gets sick. He is a bit melodramatic in his sickness. Plus, its incongruous to his domineering persona once so healthy and virile. But the film is good to watch late night. It's almost a 19th century attempt at Silence Of the Lambs which would not come till about 5 years later for Foster, which would make her a star, opposite the equally famous Anthony Hopkins. This film is really quite good and among the better psychological horror pieces. The title refers to the fact Oliver uses hypnosis to control his feisty wife. Very chilling. Makes you think what would happen if someone in our own time would do that to control his or her own spouse. The cinematography is quite good, the costumes, the horse-drawn carriages, all add up to a sustained Gothic melodrama about a dominant man and his mousy wife, who is also not a force to be reckoned with.
