Mindhunters - Jede Sekunde zählt

“An utterly despicable script that devolves into a parody of itself. A group of people in an isolated place, terrorised by a mysterious killer (how many times has this been done before), all mixed with a good portion of clichés and a would-be surprising revelation. Some of the elaborate murders are straight out of Final Destination, but while they could be taken lightly there, here they are meant to be deadly serious, and several scenes make this thriller an unintentional comedy. It's a good thing Harlin's direction makes this bit of screenwriting idiocy at least somewhat watchable, but I still don't understand the effort of a once-so-excellent action filmmaker to waste his energies on something like this; he's been systematically undercutting the branches beneath him in recent years, and unfortunately, he's doing a really good job of it." (21.11.2004)

The last noticeable film of Renny Harlin, after many years, turned out to be an adrenaline-filled action-packed ride, but it is tripped up by a clichéd ending. Surprisingly clever crime ride, thanks to several excellent scenes like the shootout in water and refreshing visuals, deserved a better progression, but the final impressions unnecessarily remain low like this. (14.05.2006)

The behavior of all the characters got on my nerves quite a bit. But more than anything else I was annoyed by the boy’s blonde hairstyle. And that's not the only reason it sometimes felt like I was watching a parody. A lot of scenes are unnecessarily dramatic and the effects are not very good. Not even the huge amount of obvious effort can save the stupid script and weak cast. This film certainly didn't live up to my expectations. 2 stars. (05.02.2012)

Assuming you haven't seen enough slasher subgenre films (because if you had, you would soon realize that Kevin Brodbin took inspiration wherever possible, and in better films than Mindhunters) and if you can turn off your brain (but beware, really turn it off, there's no room for half-measures here), you might enjoy the film because Renny Harlin is a decent craftsman and he manages to create atmosphere quite well. But what's the point, when the screenplay is truly not for intellectuals and it contains all sorts of obvious foolishness? When you add to that the fact that the more well-known actors are rather lackluster and the film belongs to the B league, it's more likely a recipe for disaster. I have never mastered the art of shutting down my gray matter, so for me, it gets an overall impression of 25%. (02.11.2013)

Renny Harlin is getting increasingly shittier, it's as if he forgot how to direct. The fights are laughable, the plot doesn't flow, the script is rubbish and even the actors are nothing special. Where is the problem? God knows, but this movie cannot be recommended, not even as a deterrent example of a claustrophobic thriller, where a group of people is solely reliant on their abilities and on each other, and to top it all off, the key culprit is within their own ranks. This has been done a thousand times before and a thousand times it has been done better. Even the much-criticized D-Tox has a better atmosphere and is much more intense than this disgustingly boring crap. (08.05.2008)