Thunderhoof

Plot synopsis:
Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas), a former CIA agent, is searching for his son Robin (Andrew Stevens), who was kidnapped by a secret intelligence organization inside the CIA called PSI led by ruthless Ben Childress (John Cassavetes), Peter´s former friend.
This organization kidnaps psychics to turn them into weapons in the service of the United States government. To control the psychics better for that purpose, they also kill their families. Childress gained the trust of Peter and Robin to apply this on both of them. Peter survived the attempt on his life, but his son believes he was killed by Muslim terrorists before being taken away by Childress on the pretext of wanting to protect him from them in order to manipulate him later. Childress' organization then systematically experiments with Robin to increase his powers and develop his ability to control them, while at the same time control him, but this also makes him progressively mentally more and more unstable.
In the meantime, a teenage girl, Gillian Bellaver (Amy Irving), discovers that she possesses psychic powers, including telekinesis and extra-sensory perception, and that their uncontrolled manifestations are harming people who touch or provoke her. She volunteers to attend the Paragon Institute, which had been attended by Robin, and whose director, Dr. James McKeever (Charles Durning) also works for Ben Childress. During her training, it is discovered that she has a psychic link with Robin, and that her psychic prowess is comparable to his. Upon learning this, Childress begins to plan her kidnapping and the assassination of her family.
Peter finds out about Gillian through his girlfriend Hester (Carrie Snodgress), who works at the clinic. He manages to warn her through Hester and manages to break her out, in which Hester, accidentally dies. Together they track Robin to Chicago, where Childress' ruthless experiments have finally rendered him insane. Robin delights in torturing and killing his teacher who seduced him into having a sexual relationship with her in order to manipulate him for the experiments. Robin, in his insanity, also plans to torture Peter, when he finds out he is alive, as well, because he also thinks he was involved in the experiments. Childress made sure of that in order to get rid of both of them. The two have a confrontation because of it in the upstairs bedroom of a mansion, during which they are thrown out of a window and fall to their deaths.
As he dies, Robin has some form of psychic contact with Gillian, in which he transfers his powers to her with the implied message to save herself from Childress and avenge his death. When Childress the next morning tries to persuade Gillian to accept his "help", she, realizing his true intentions, finally embraces her psychic abilities and avenges Robin and Peter by exploding Childress from the inside out.

Tags: violence

Review:
a pre Karlson's "Gunman's Walk". Even though Phil Karlson is a cult film noir director, his B movies are hard to find, especially his B westerns like "Adventures in Silverado", "They Rode West", "The Texas Rangers", or "The Iroquois Trail". I saw these westerns ("The Texas Rangers" and "The Iroquois Trail" are really tough), but the early "Thunderhoof" is the most invisible one, beginning to think this western is for ever lost. Maybe my fate was never to see Preston Foster, William Bishop, Mary Stuart and the handsome horse Thunderhoof I've been admiring on stills and lobby cards from my collection. And I finally saw a 16mm print, discovering another great western by Phil Karlson. "Thunderhoof" is really a B western shot only in mountains, no town settings, with only three characters and two horses. And there is a lot of tension between these three characters, the same kind of tension we see in Karlson's western masterpiece "Gunman's Walk". And maybe this was too unusual and too mature in a 1948 western, and it could explain why it was forgotten till now. Phil Karlson's touch is there : filming on location, smart camera tricks, tough fight, horse friendship. Preston Foster and William Bishop have shot other great titles with Karlson. Today, Phil Karlson's films noirs are easy to find, I hope one day his B westerns will be also available. Tough Phil Karlson really needs complete recognition, a book on his career is still missing.. Rawboned, windswept western with three people and a few horses.. Texas rancher Scotty Mason (Preston Foster) goes into the Mexican desert-country in search of a wild horse, and takes his young wife, Margarita (Mary Stuart)and his hired-hand, The Kid (William Bishop,) whose life Scotty had saved a few years earlier.The Kid falls in love with Magarita before they have crossed the Texas border, and spends more time plotting to get rid of Scotty than he does horse-hunting. Before long the two are engaged in fisticuffs in a mountain pass, but Scotty spots the horse he is hunting (Thunderhoof) and the chase is on. Scotty breaks his leg in the capture and, with a make-shift splint, Scotty, the Kid, Margarita and the horse start the return trek to Texas.Scotty and the Kid get into another fight, in a blinding sand-storm, and the Kid tosses Scott in a ravine, and tells Margarita that Scotty has deserted them. She joins the Kid and the old-clichéd poisoned-water hole rears it head along the trail. She learns the truth about Scotty from the delirious Kid.Anything with only three people in the cast and directed by cult-favorite Phil Karlson is sooner or later going to get tagged as a film noir sleeper, whether it was or not.