John Frankheimer directed this dark thriller about a man who gets a new identity and life through a secret company. It's well made and incredibly disturbing. Every frame of the film has a sense of uneasiness about it, and the viewer never really becomes comfortable. This works sometimes but fails at others regardless of final result it means that the viewer is probably going to have an unpleasant experience along the way. The premise feels like an episode of the Twilight Zone (in fact, it does bear something of a similarity to one), and if the film were tightened up a little more in would've been incredibly effective. The beginning is slow going but absorbing, and at the end it becomes fascinating and disturbing. However, the midsection of the film lags and meanders, with extended sequences such as the hippy party and the other party dragging on for far too long. Very flashy direction by Frankheimer - while many of the compositions are immaculate, others are simply showing off. For all its flaws, it is definitely original, and among the weirdest films ever made.
