Mind Leech, an indie horror film directed by Chris Cheeseman, showcases Cheeseman's background in horror special effects. The story revolves around a pair of reckless individuals who dispose of a canister of toxic gas in a lake, only to face unforeseen consequences when two friends go ice fishing at what appears to be the same lake months later, and those consequences come back around.
Despite its intentionally cheesy nature, Mind Leech holds a lot of quality beneath the surface. The production value is impressive, with some excellent cinematography with standout shots from underwater sequences. These were captured by a dedicated underwater photographer, which added an awesome dimension to the film. One particular kill scene even brings to mind a scene from Jason X. The score also complements the visuals really well with some nice ambient and background music which set up a good atmosphere.
The special effects were good, too. The leech itself was cleverly used. It didn't really shine as much as we would have liked, but they were probably restricted in what could be done with it on a low budget while keeping everything practical. It did get some kills in there, and there was definitely also a decent amount of practical gore. The kills and gore in general were also done really well. We just would have liked to have seen more.
The acting in this was pretty solid for being low-budget. Steff Ivory Conover (Deputy 'TJ' Johnson) and Mischa O'Hoski (Sheriff Benjamin Pailey) were outstanding as the police partners who had to respond to and deal with the wake of mayhem that follows the leech. And the rest of the cast was also decent.
The only thing we felt could have been better was the writing. It was corny at times, and it was hard to tell whether it was trying to be a super cheesy horror/comedy, or a serious horror film with some comedy undertones. Either way, it worked. While, at times, it could have been more consistent, we feel like the effort that went into this from everyone involved resulted in a quality product.
Overall, we would definitely recommend Mind Leech to fans of cheesy horror, and low-budget creature features. It has just about everything you could ask for and even managed to surprise us a few times.
You can watch Mind Leech now on the film's website here: https://www.mindleech.com/
