So they took the plot devices from the movies Silence of the Lamb. They took the way the antagonist moves and corrupts from the movie Fallen. And they took the way the killer displays corpses like in Seven.

And they jammed it into one 90 minute movie. They even use the same Demon as Fallen. Samael. And She even killed him the same way as in Fallen poison.

Ironically I Rewatched all these movies before I watched this one. And a lot of others in the Genre. To Kind of create a theme going in.

Looks like I didn't know how right I was. But unlike Elias Koteas, time was not on John Malkovichs his side.

If you saw Fallen you would have gotten that joke.

Straight out of the gate, this movie isn't worth watching at all, and was even worse than I expected! It might even be considered insulting. This is a poor take on one of Hannibal's stories, with a dumb twist even Shyamalan would be embarrassed to include.

The high quality production of the visual elements employed on the Trailers (the impressive looking Angels) are the only remarkable part of the movie.

Sadly, the movie is riddled with problems.. from the terrible casting of every part, flat dialogue, poor audio quality, slow pacing, to rushed scene transitions. Then the content and execution leave a lot to be desired. And the "revelation" is so late in the game, you can't even muster the energy to care. It is quite ironic to open IMDB and check the movie's description, only to find the words "when a copycat strikes".

Would not recommend anyone waste their time on this.

Mindcage should be called "Silence Of The Lambs-Fallen-Seven Mash-Up" as it combines many elements of those three films and the result is a poor copy which doesn't come close to any of the films it is plagiarising from.

The story is about two detectives: Jake Doyle (Martin Lawrence) & Mary Kelly (Melissa Roxburgh) trying to solve a series of copycat killings. The murderer is copying the methods of a soon to be executed serial killer known as The Artist (John Malkovich) who used to display his victims in an artistic way. So in true silence of the lambs fashion, Detective Kelly goes to interview The Artist in order to get his insight onto who could be behind the murders. It turns out that the imprisoned killer knows far too much about the case and the detectives involved. He is willing to share information bit by bit if his demands are met. Conveniently a high profile person is taken by the copycat and a deal is struck with the artist in order to save her.

MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD: When the detectives find the kidnapped woman, it turns out that Detective Doyle was being possessed by The Artist and he was responsible all along. Sort of like in the movie Fallen staring Denzel Washington. Detective Kelly has to shoot him and Doyle is blamed for the copycat killings. The Artist orchestrated everything to get his sentence changed since he has the ability to possess anyone he has made a sketch or drawing of. Which begs the question why exactly he let himself get caught in the first place if he was supernaturally powerful.

While Malkovich is clearly having fun with the role, the lead detectives can not match him. Martin Lawrence trying to act in a serious role is akin to watching someone who had a mild stroke, got drunk and decided to pretend he was a tormented detective. He mumbles and snarls through what he thinks is dramatic acting. Melissa Roxburgh is slightly better but not exactly nuanced in her performance at times as she goes from calm to manic in order to portray the urgency of the situation. It doesn't really work. She looks like she is having some sort of mood swing. Some of the other actors are fine as are the effects but ultimately they are wasted on what is a jumbled up story with little originality and so many inconsistencies that it's not worth watching.