The Irish Times: "Cult Movie: The Mind of Mr Soames is an overlooked 1970s classic"

- February 19, 2021

Terence Stamp and Robert Vaughn

Cult Movie: Offbeat Frankenstein fable The Mind of Mr Soames is an overlooked 1970s classic

Ralph McLean
19 February, 2021 01:00

THE Mind Of Mr Soames is a mighty strange film. Adapted from the popular novel by Charles Eric Maine of the same name, it's an odd kind of science fiction morality tale about a young man left in a coma from birth who, after 30 years, is brought back to life on live TV and then thrown into a world he cannot comprehend and exploited as a kind of living freak show.

As John Soames, Terence Stamp is brilliant. Playing a character with the leaning capabilities of a newborn baby trapped in the body of a 30-year-old man who's been lost in a coma can't be easy, but Stamp nails it with a mixture of wide-eyed wonder and genuine fear at the world he's suddenly facing in all its nasty glory.

He's ably assisted by a top-notch cast of British character actors including the great Nigel Davenport and Vickery Turner and there's a memorable role for American Robert Vaughn, fresh from TV superstardom with The Man From Uncle.

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