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The Sender

Play trailer Poster for The Sender R 1982 1h 31m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 34% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A suicidal amnesiac (Zeljko Ivanek) sends rats, flames and other nightmares by telepathy to his psychiatrist (Kathryn Harrold).
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The Sender

Critics Reviews

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Anton Bitel Little White Lies 06/17/2019
left to the viewer to determine whether what is unfolding is more like Psycho or Carrie, given how much of what we see in the film proves to be an unreliable merger of a concealed reality, the protagonist's psychic interference & fugue-like denials Go to Full Review
David Elliott Copley News Service Dec 13
The Sender can be subtle. Images are woven in soft webs of light, the music doesn't mug the moods, and the actors seldom become gargoyles. Go to Full Review
Alan Jones Starburst 08/01/2022
See The Sender if you want evident intelligence behind such facets as scripting, directing and acting. Go to Full Review
Jason Shawhan Nashville Scene 09/10/2021
This is a weird and beautiful film with one of the greatest slow-motion effects shots in the history of cinema - you can see the Chris Cunnigham/Aphex Twin visual aesthetic being born here. Go to Full Review
Rob Aldam Backseat Mafia 06/14/2019
A strange and intriguing psychological thriller. Go to Full Review
James Sanford Kalamazoo Gazette 12/30/2003
2/5
Clever idea, not-so-great execution Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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10/30/2023 The mind can be very fragile but also dangerous We wonder how much of it can be trusted A very young Zeljko Ivanek plays John Doe #83, an amnesiac that attempts suicide Once he's brought in for treatment though at a mental hospital he has no recollection of it The more the doctors try to repair his memory the more he starts unlocking what's inside him John turns out has telepathic powers making others see the stuff of nightmares These powers could be potentially dangerous to him and everyone else including the other patients Transmitting his dreams and visions to others may be out of his control His main doctor Gail wants to understand what happened to him but is she in danger too? It's hard to tell what's real or not given the trauma John has been through This plays like 'Carrie' or 'Shining' messing with our perception of reality but also dealing with repressed memories and scars There's some interesting imagery and impressive slo-mo shots Not very scary but unsettling in a psychological sense See more Alan M 01/22/2023 Found this on one of the BFI lists (overlooked British horror from the 80s) so gave it a shot. Worth a watch - good storyline and performances decent overall. Not ‘scary' as such. See more jon c 10/29/2022 The mind can be very fragile but also dangerous We wonder how much of it can be trusted A very young Zeljko Ivanek plays John Doe #83, an amnesiac that attempts suicide Once he's brought in for treatment though at a mental hospital he has no recollection of it The more the doctors try to repair his memory the more he starts unlocking what's inside him John turns out has telepathic powers making others see the stuff of nightmares These powers could be potentially dangerous to him and everyone else including the other patients Transmitting his dreams and visions to others may be out of his control His main doctor Gail wants to understand what happened to him but is she in danger too? It's hard to tell what's real or not given the trauma John has been through This plays like 'Carrie' or 'Shining' messing with our perception of reality but also dealing with repressed memories and scars There's some interesting imagery and impressive slo-mo shots Not very scary but unsettling in a psychological sense See more 10/01/2020 It was great until the ending. The suspense and mystery were built up well, but the explanation to the mystery was incoherent as an understatement. It wasn't just ambiguous. The combination of events are contradictory and do not make any sense. I had to rewind it and watch the "mystery explanation" again. While that helped me understand the literal words I missed the first time(because they were said quickly and you couldn't hear them well), the explanation was too ambiguous and, more importantly, all of the possible interpretations were not believable. What did the mother want? If it was just to "have her son back," then why does she want him back home in a specific place *if she's already dead / a ghost*? Why would the location matter to her? Was she the cause of the hallucinations? And if she was and if she just wanted him back, then why did she try to kill him in the previous scene? If she wasn't the cause of the hallucinations / torment, then why did he leave the hospital by lying about being "cured" while as soon as he gets in his truck (her truck? he never drove this truck to the hospital; who drove it there?) he sees his dead mother. See more 01/19/2017 There's a decent story at its core, but it's not really executed all that interestingly. See more 10/24/2016 Very well done horror/thriller of a suicidal amnesiac in a mental hospital under observation. It turns out he is telepathic and can force his delusions on others. Lots of suspense, and very well acted. The ending was predictable but satisfying. See more Read all reviews
The Sender

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Movie Info

Synopsis A suicidal amnesiac (Zeljko Ivanek) sends rats, flames and other nightmares by telepathy to his psychiatrist (Kathryn Harrold).
Director
Roger Christian
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 22, 1982, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 13, 2017
Runtime
1h 31m
Sound Mix
Surround
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