MIND TWISTER

(director: Fred Olen Ray; screenwriter: Mark Thomas McGee; cinematographer: Gary Graver; editor: W. Peter Miller; music: Peter Rotter; cast: Telly Savalas (Richard Howland), Richard Roundtree (Frank Webb), Suzanne Slater (Heather Black), Gary Hudson (Daniel Strahten), Erica Nann (Lisa Strahten), Maria Ford (Melanie Duncan), Nels Van Patten (Roy Gerard), Angela Ashley (Hayley Quinn), Paula Raymond (Agnes), John Bythe Barrymore (Pizza Delivery Boy); Runtime: 94; MPAA Rating: R; producer: Luigi Cingolari; VCI Home Video (Smart Egg Pictures); 1993)

“It’s worth seeing only for Telly Savalas fans.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The second-rate erotic thriller is the last film of Telly Savalas. It’s directed by the soft-core porn maven Fred Olen Ray (“Dirty Blondes From Beyond”/”After Midnight”/”Collision Course“). After a brief theater release it was on VHS. The lame screenplay is by Mark Thomas McGee.

Richard Howland (Telly Savalas) is an aging police lieutenant, who investigates the brutal murder of a stripper while teased by his colleagues for being old.

One month after the crime, aspiring actress Heather Black (Suzanne Slater) tells her swinging shrink, Daniel Strahten (Gary Hudson), whose female clients are victims of the maniac killer, she dreamed of the murder. Heather also lets it be known that she is willing to be used as bait to catch the killer, as she is videotaped getting it on with the shrink’s hottie wife Lise (Erica Nann) in an attempt to get the killer to go after her next.

It’s heavy on sex scenes, and manages to keep the murder mystery suspenseful. It’s worth seeing only for Telly Savalas fans, who gives an enjoyable loopy performance.

REVIEWED ON 3/5/2015 GRADE: C