Out of Sight, Out of Mind (1990) User Reviews

"It was yours but now it's mine"

[Vomitron_G · 4/10 · 22 May 2009]

I saw this movie under the title SIGHT UNSEEN. When looking it up on here, I read its initial title and now I have this Anthrax song stuck in my head (hence my summary line above). Okay, whatever.

Wings Hauser is the man in yet another stupid film. A psycho-thriller/mystery-slasher too derivative for words but yet uniquely amusing due to a close-to-stupendous "tripping climax" featuring a drugged-out Susan Blakely (who?).

These two previous lines should basically be enough for you to decide and watch this movie or take a pass on it. I really have nothing else substantially to say about it. If this does not suffice, then go read Paul Andrews' review for it. It's very accurate. I just gave it an extra point because, well, it's more stupid fun than it should be and, ehrr,... Wings Hauser is the man!

Woohoo! I just wrote my shortest user-comment ever! Now go ahead and vote for it as "not useful".

"Normal people don't see ghosts." Dull as dishwater.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 22 March 2006]

Out of Sight, Out of Mind, or Sight Unseen as I saw it under, starts as Alice Lundgren (Susan Blakely), the wife of billionaire businessman Victor Lundgren (Wings Hauser), her boyfriend (?) & her daughter Tracy (Jessica Player) in an elevator heading for the 13th floor, 13 which is unlucky for some & definitely unlucky for Alice & her daughter as a serial killer known as both the 'Kabuki Killer' (because of the Japanese style mask he wears) & the elevator killer (because all of his victims are killed inside elevators) strikes again, this time killing the bloke & strangling Alice to the point of unconsciousness, but not death. When Alice comes round she realises Tracy is missing only to discover that she has been burned alive. Since that awful day 4 months previous Alice has been under the supervision & care of psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Meltzner (Richard Masur) in a mental institution. Alice keeps on having visions of her daughter Tracy, but she's dead right? As the visions continue Alice isn't so sure & homicide detective Kurt Williams (Edward Albert) shares her suspicions as this particular attack didn't fit the rest, the 'Kabuki Killer' left someone alive, but why & why Alice? Is Alice crazy? Or is there more to the case than it first appears...

Directed by Greydon Clark I thought Out of Sight, Out of Mind was a one time watch thriller/mystery that is average at best & mind numbingly dull at worst. The script by Roy Langsdon & John Platt has an OK story at it's center but it takes itself far too seriously while the whole film comes across as slow & dull, I personally would think that Out of Sight, Out of Mind was far more suited as an hour long TV mystery rather than stretched out as an hour & a half feature film. I found myself constantly checking the time to see how long was left which lets face it, is a bad thing. Then there's the climax which is supposed to surprise everyone with a huge twist, right? Well I can tell you now that I pretty much figured out where the film was going & it's predictable twists, the whole thing is just too obvious to be effective or surprising. Plus there's the huge plot hole that destroys any credibility Out of Sight, Out of Mind might have had, I'm sorry but the police would be able to identify someones body even if it is burnt & you would not be able to steal a burnt body from a morgue & pass it off as someone else, I mean the police would actually check to see who the body belonged to rather than just assume, right? I also felt really sorry for the guy who was murdered in the elevator with Alice & Tracy at the start as no-one seems to give a toss about him & he never gets a mention from the police or Alice!

Director Clark films with all the style & flair of a cheap soap opera & as a result Out of Sight, Out of Mind is a bit of an eyesore. Forget about any ghosts, gore, violence or anything even remotely horror related as this is a murder mystery all the way & not the horror that the IMDb would have you believe. There are a couple of tame stabbings throughout the film otherwise it's PG stuff all the way.

Technically the film is alright, it's bland, dull & flat but it's competent if nothing else. The acting is OK but no-ones going to win any awards. Thinking about it I only watched it mere hours ago & I can't really remember what any of them even looked like.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind is watchable if your desperate & if your really dumb the twist ending might come as a surprise but generally speaking I personally think there are much better murder mystery films out there.

Solid psychological low-budget thriller with a strong cast.

[tonypuma · 7/10 · 10 April 2020]

Greydon Clark's own book "On The Cheap" details the making of each of his films, including this one which was backed by an English producer. Susan Blakely's lead character is institutionalized after a violent murder of her daughter in an elevator has left her seriously traumatized. It's believed that a known serial killer who attacks in elevators is the culprit. Wings Hauser plays her estranged husband who still wants Blakely back despite her asking for a divorce prior to the incident. Richard Masur plays her therapist, and Edward Albert appears as a cop who takes particular interest in the murders-- why was Blakely's character unharmed and only the child killed, against the pattern of the murderer? Blakely is shown as unhinged and convinced that her child is still alive, clearly struggling with what seems like actual appearances and phone calls from her dead child. Is she delusional or is there a more complicated plot afoot?

Clark's work has a certain charm even if it doesn't always work, and he often managed some good performances out of the many stars who ended up in his 20+ features. OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND was shot over fifteen days for $400,000. As a b-movie made in the late 1980s, this one holds up pretty well. The primary cast were all established capable actors and are working above the limited budget of this production, particularly Blakely and Albert who manage some good interplay. Wings Hauser supplies his usual electric, potentially unhinged character performance, and as usual is highly entertaining (he only worked one week on this picture). Masur is reliable as ever and Clark manages a few good twists and solid misdirection as to who is involved and what their motivation is. This is a character-driven story more than a sleazy genre film and it ought to be judged as thus. It does at times feel like a TV movie but for the thriller/neo-noir genre which popular at that time there are far weaker examples.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND appears hard to access. It had a very limited release in the US and appears to have been more widely available internationally. I watched it on a Prism/Paramount videotape (the pairing of both companies is unusual) and overall it's was a nice surprise for a efficient low-budget psychological thriller.

Minor crime thriller

[lor_ · 11 May 2023]

My review was written in April 1990 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.

Susan Blakely gives an earnest performance in this thriller that turns out to be more like an elongated tv episode than a feature film. It's a direct-to-video release from Greydon Clark, more recently helmer of "The Forbidden Dance".

Blakely plays a mom whose daughter has been killed by the Kabuki Killer. Plagued by nightmares and blackouts, role gives Blakely a field day at portraying a high-strung, paranoid personality.

Chief suspects here in a "Gaslight" format are Blakely's husband, Wings Hauser, and a scruffy undercover cop, Edward Albert. Pic hammers away at her fear of elevators, caused by the trauma of seeing her child kidnapped in a lift prior to her murder.

Director Clark develops some good red herrings, though the major twist is telegraphed and unconvincing. Best sustained sequence limns Blakely's understandable paranoia the first day in a new job following therapy.

Supporting cast is okay except for young Jessica Player's stiff performance as the daughter.