Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

One of my all time favorites.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is not among Dirk Bogarde's more famous films. Still, it's very enjoyable and worth a look...and would make a great double-feature with "The Manchurian Candidate".The film begins with a seemingly loyal British professor killing himself...and he was suspected of being an enemy spy. However, Professor Longman (Bogarde) cannot believe that his dear friend would be a spy and suspects that their sensory deprivation research COULD have warped the poor man's mind. A subsequent experiment proves, the hard way, that this could indeed be the case.Unless you are watching the pilot episode of the original "Hawaii Five-O", you won't get a better look at sensory deprivation tanks and their ability to warp a person's mind. A fascinating, cerebral sort of film that is well worth seeing and Bogarde, as usual, is excellent!

The implications are the scary thoughts. In the introduction we learn that the film is based on real events at some US universities. Maybe some real experiments did occur? Just as space exploration was starting, it occurred to some people to ask... what would happen when the person is weightless - they would feel nothing, (on earth we at least feel the ground beneath us, and maybe the air moving) and then... what would happen if there was complete darkness and silence. What would happen to their mind? Only one way to find out, put a volunteer into that situation.To replicate the weightlessness they use a water tank with the subject in a wet-suit and with breathing gear. They make it silent and dark... and then listen, and wait. What happens next is so scary.There are added complications when the secret people get involved, a previous volunteer has been given a large sum of money by 'foreign' agents? Why? Maybe the Russians carried out similar experiments, or at least are thinking of it.Dirk Bogarde is outstanding as Longman, (much much better than in African Queen), and the tragic Mary Ure as Mrs Longman is too. She gets to act the birth of a child and is so convincing. The "baby" she produces is either a real very very young actor (uncredited), or a very good prop, all wrinkles. John Clements is also outstanding at the Major.

Intelligent - and, at the time, X-Rated - sci-fi (written by James Kennaway) which I had always been interested in watching, given its theme and credentials.Featuring excellent performances by all the main actors (Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant and Wendy Craig), fine black-and-white cinematography by Denys Coop and a good score by Georges Auric, the film deals with sensory-deprivation experiments which if over-exposed can render the subject susceptible to brainwashing. The idea is persuasively handled by the script and director Dearden, and actually predates Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES (1980) by almost 20 years! Still, after an intriguing first hour - with its introduction of suspense elements (where a scientist who has committed suicide is thought to have betrayed secrets to the enemy whilst 'under the influence') and the realistic depiction of the harrowing experiments (hinting at the supernatural), the plot is side-tracked into dealing with the domestic problems of Bogarde and Ure (which are mostly talked about rather than seen!) brought on by his change in personality during his stint in the water-tank - conditioned by Clements' Secret Service man and Bryant's fellow colleague, secretly enamored of his wife.As such, the treatment is somewhat too highbrow (for the most part, it's made by people not usually associated with this type of film) but it's fascinating - and generally satisfying - all the same.

THE MIND BENDERS is a very interesting film about sensory deprivation experiments that result in unexpected, tragic results. The story is told in a serious and somber manner. Dirk Bogarde is especially good as the reluctant researcher who volunteers to take a second dip in "the tank" to prove that sensory deprivation can be used to brainwash a person. The film seems to come to a climax when it is revealed to Bogarde that he was brainwashed while in "the tank", but then goes on for another 15 mins. in order to give the film a happy ending. This some what drags the film down, but does not detract from the overall impact of this film.A FEW NOTES: This film somewhat resembles THE ELECTRONIC MONSTER (aka.ESCAPEMENT) in many ways, although THE MIND BENDERS is superior in every way. The plot of using sensory deprivation to brainwash people (complete with subject submerged in a tank) was used in "The Cocoon" episode of HAWAII FIVE-O.