When I read Visions of Death's synopsis, I thought it sounded fascinating. I knew I was gonna like it, but I was blown away, quite honestly. I agree with the reviewer who said it's kick-a**. I know it sounds lame to say that of a movie from the early 70s, but trust me, the action is a thousand times better than what's coming out nowadays. Contemporary films just go overboard with violence. I really do believe less is more, and this movie exemplifies that, as do other thrillers and crime dramas from several decades ago. This has a solid story. Monte Markham was perfectly cast as Mark Lowell, a college professor living in Denver, and a clairvoyant who has spent all of his life not telling anyone about his psychic abilities, including his girlfriend (Barbara Anderson). His predictions had always been harmless, but one day as he's going to his class, he starts having indiscernible visions of a man walking around what looks like a factory. He can't see his face, but he's able to see that he's planting a bomb. The visions are intrusive, so much to the point of disrupting his instruction, causing his students to notice that he's behaving oddly. Figuring the safety of the public is more important than trying to keep his clairvoyance a secret, he goes to the police department to tell them what he saw. A short time later a building actually explodes, and he's pegged as a suspect by Lt. Phil Keegan (Telly Savalas). When he finds out Mark is a clairvoyant, he automatically labels him as psychotic, even going so far as to have him take tests for 24 hours straight, so he can make mistakes and prove his theory that he's deranged. As the movie progresses, he helps the police with the investigation, leading Keegan to realize he had misjudged him. What a foreign concept to so many people - not making assumptions about a person based on our own preconceived notions. We can really use more films like this. The acting and pacing of the story were all top-notch. It was highly intriguing to be of the made-for-TV variety. Just like the movie that came out before, Thief, it rivals mainstream, box office hits.
