Good morning, House of Madness nomads:
Ahhhhh, the 80's. A simpler time when talking cars and hillbilly brothers dominated our television sets, and if you were as lucky as me, your childhood self also doubled as the remote control. Max Headroom advertised New Coke, Ray Charles sang in favour of Big Macs, and every girl in the land had a Cabbage Patch Kid (as did I, thanks, Mom). We had cold wars, "Star Wars", and thankfully no "Storage Wars" to entertain ourselves, and as cheesy as the music, clothing, and films could often times be, you'd be hard-pressed to convince anyone of that era to absolve their memories in exchange for others in their place, for the 1980's were a magical time without the assistance of cell phones, internet, or Nickelodeon. If you wanted to watch cartoons, there was no luxury of having 6549 channels to choose from like nowadays; no, you got your little ass up at six fucking a.m. every Saturday morning to ingest as much animated action as your mind could handle, because the festivities ended at noon, and then you were mentally marooned for another week. You can also easily tell when you're watching a film from the 80's, as the over-the-top action, one-liners and awful creature feature special effects (I'm looking at you, "Pumpkinhead") were indistinguishable, and so uniquely their own style.
"Nomads" is no different when it comes to 80's vibes, but it doesn't rely on the above aforementioned tricks or props, as it instead chooses to proceed with the 'mind-fuck' method, which it does in decent regard. Soon after moving to Los Angeles, Dr. Eileen Flax (Lesley-Anne Down) encounters a crazed patient that can't be calmed by the nurses or orderlies. Dr. Flax uses her charm and good looks to gain the patient's trust, and examine his injuries in the hopes of a diagnosis, not to mention the source where all of the blood is coming from. Almost immediately after letting her guard down, Dr. Flax is attacked by the patient, and as she's pulling away, he whispers something in her ear which clearly shakes her, not knowing that this incident is about to send her down a rabbit hole of insanity.
Dr. Flax starts having mental episodes which quickly transform into out-of-body experiences in which she's reliving the memories of the deceased patient she recently encountered. His name was Dr. Jean Charles Pommier (Pierce Brosnan), a French anthropologist specializing in nomadic groups that recently moved to LA with his wife Veronique (Anna Maria Monticelli), who now seems to be in trouble as well. Dr. Flax has vivid memories of Dr. Pommier stalking and photographing a group of nomadic punks, who seem to get their kicks by vandalizing everything in sight, whilst tormenting anyone who gets in their way. The more memories Dr. Flax uncovers, the more she realizes that Veronique needs her help, as she herself is hopelessly trapped inside the mind of Dr. Pommier. As the two women get closer to the Nomads, they soon realize they should be doing the opposite, and the two newly bonded friends try and find a way to escape their mental and physical clutches. Too bad it wasn't 20 years later, or they could have just offered those grumpy Nomads a Snickers.
Madness Meter: 5.7/10
NB
