Horror Movie Review: Mind Leech (2023)

Low-budget and barely an hour long, written, starring, and co-directed by Chris Cheeseman and Paul Krysinski, one glance at Mind Leech and you might think you’re in for a rough ride.

So, it’s a really pleasant surprise to find that it’s a delightful and fun horror movie that showcases passion and drive. One with some laughs, some gooey gore, impressive practical effects, and good acting.

Starring Ryan Brown and Steff Ivory Conover, Mind Leech is set in 1998 within a small snowy town. It begins in charmingly classic monster horror style. As we see two men ‘disposing’ of some unknown chemical tank in a river. When it doesn’t sink, they get the bright idea of shooting it which sees the gas inside leak out and into the water.

As one of them smartly says – we probably shouldn’t breathe that in.

We then cut to sometime later and two other men are ice-fishing. The water has an unnatural and unhealthy-looking hue but they’re confident they will finally catch something. Which they do, a huge leech that latches on to the temple of its victims and can control them. Albeit with hilariously poor coordination.

As it jumps from victim to victim and causes chaos in the small town, a couple of local police officers are on the hunt.

The short runtime actually ends up being to Mind Leech’s benefit as the pace is kept snappy and energetic. It doesn’t take long for the mind-controlling leech to enter the story and for the townspeople to come under its spell. The low budget does mean we don’t a cacophony of chaos but it does enough damage to keep things entertaining.

What Mind Leech does particularly well is give us a cast of characters that are likeable and amusing to watch. In particular, the pairing of cops, played by Ryan Brown and Steff Ivory Conover. The latter is a delight throughout. It’s nice to see everyone giving it their all and treating the project with respect.

It also gives us a monster that is both deadly and believable. Something innocent turned into something terrifying by human hands. The leech is a practical effect, and it looks awesome, which is no surprise considering both directors have done special effects for big name films.

Mind Leech gives us a throwback tongue-in-cheek story, good characters that are well-acted, and a peppy runtime, making it a fun horror movie well worth checking out.