Split Image (1982)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 111 minuten
Country:
United States / Canada
Directed by: Ted Kotcheff
Stars: Karen Allen, Michael O'Keefe and Peter Fonda
IMDb score:
6,3 (1.353)
Releasedate: 3 October 1982
Split Image plot
"Homeland has kidnapped Danny's mind. Only this man can steal it back...for $10,000 cash, no questions asked."
A student is impressed by a girl who has joined a cult. When he himself becomes more and more influenced, his parents become very worried and try to get him out of the cult. They decide to hire a man who kidnaps him and "deprograms" him.
Actors and actresses
Danny "Joshua" Stetson
Rebecca / Amy
Kirklander
Charles Pratt
Diana Stetson
Kevin Stetson
Sean Stetson
Jane
Aaron
Walter
Reviews & comments
mrklm
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- 11931 messages
- 10217 votes
This excellent thriller intelligently and terrifyingly portrays how a student with a promising future is lured into joining a cult, and how the cult members subtly manipulate him into rejecting his old identity and his family, exchanging them for a new 'family'. The victim is Danny Stetson [Michael O'Keefe], a student and promising gymnast, who meets the attractive, charming, and friendly Rebecca [Karen Allen]. He falls head over heels for her and is persuaded to come along to what appears to be a kind of summer camp. Danny is initially very skeptical but proves unable to withstand the peer pressure from the other teenagers. Moreover, 'camp leader' Kirklander [Peter Fonda] turns out to be an articulate, friendly, and charismatic personality. When Danny's parents [Brian Dennehy, Elizabeth Ashley] realize what has happened to their son, they soon discover that they need the help of Charles Pratt [James Woods], a man who specializes in kidnapping and deprogramming brainwashed youths.
Superbly acted, particularly by O'Keefe and Fonda, but director Ted Kotcheff is the absolute star of this film. As a viewer, Kotcheff skillfully makes you privy to the manner in which, but especially why, Danny becomes absorbed into the cult. Allen is the ultimate seductress, the perfect innocence who believes 100% in her good intentions. Kotcheff makes use of close-ups, unusual camera angles, and distorted images in the blood-curdling finale in which Woods (also excellent) truly stops at nothing to deprogram O'Keefe.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Filmkriebel
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- 10071 messages
- 4711 votes
This is an excellent drama. I didn't have high expectations for it, but it might just be one of the best cult films ever made. The film doesn't fall into clichés or predictable situations. An ordinary boy falls almost imperceptibly into the grip of a charismatic cult leader who subjects him to his utopian ideas. For me, the character of Rebecca could have been fleshed out just a little more: is she manipulating Danny? Is she acting unconsciously? Is she really in love? The dubious role she plays could have been a bit stronger. But it is primarily James Woods, with his ever-energetic presence, who has to bring the boy back to reality. How does he do that? I can safely say things get almost as intense as the exorcism in The Exorcist. O'Keefe, of course, does a good job too, and his delusions burn through the small screen. That second half of the film is truly incredibly well done. The film wasn't successful because American cults had shocked quite a few people throughout the 70s (Manson, Jim Jones), and I think they didn't want to be reminded of that at the time.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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