Another AIP pressbook courtesy of It Came From Hollywood, The Mind Benders was released on a double-bill with Operation Bikini. The movie fit the 1960s zeitgeist with elements of the Soviet Union, brainwashing, sensory deprivation, and spy secrets. TV Guide‘s review, dated 2014 (cited in Wikipedia’s article) noted: “a strange movie that leaves a deeper impression than one might expect due to the originality of the plot and the tense direction. It is the direct predecessor of Altered States.” On the seat-selling slants page they recommend suspending a mannequin from the theater marquee, dressed in a scuba diver’s outfit. Ah, the fun creative days of movie promotion without memes and social machines.
