FILM: Mindhunters
CITY: Amsterdam
A really good lady friend of mine (Yup just friend! I have sooo many female friends I feel like their gay pal; only without actually being gay! It’s the new version of the “You’re like a brother to me” line) picked this up for me when she was living in China as it was never actually released in UK cinemas and I have to say that this was a real up and down flick for me. I will take you through my initial thought processes (not exactly in order) Christian Slater is in it-cool, Val Kilmer is in it – Shit (Worst Batman ever!!!!), Johnny Lee Miller is in it – Cool, Oh my life have you heard his accent – shit, Christians Dead!! – Booooo!, Kilmer is dead – Hooray! Then it begins and we are left asking ourselves if LLCoolJ can save this movie?

The plot of the movie is simple. On a remote island, the FBI has a training program for their psychological profiling division -called “Mindhunters”- who they use to track down serial killers. The training goes horribly wrong, however, when a group of seven young agents discover that one of them is a serial killer, and is setting about slaying the others. Can the few that are left figure out who the killer is? (Queue dramatic music)

I have to say that I really enjoyed ‘Mindhunters’ and I was even more surprised to find out that a movie with so many well known American actors like Kilmer, Coolj, Slater and Patricia Velasquez would be set in the US but filmed in Amsterdam?!

FBI Headquarters:

The scenes that were supposed to be shot at the FBI Headquarters were actually filmed at the “Haagse Hogeschool” in The Hague! The changes included the stars and stripes being attached to the front of the school and as part of the academy a large fence was fabricated. This fence established a perimeter at the entrance with two FBI sentry shelters.

Instructors Office:

The FBI Instructors Office that Jake Harris (Val Kikmer) works in is actually the janitor’s room at the Haagse Hogeschool! It was converted into an FBI instructor’s office with vintage old brown furniture, dark green lamp shades and old boxes as filing cabinets.

Atlantic Ocean:

I can’t believe that anyone really cares but In the final scene on the beach the body of water that is supposed to be the Atlantic Ocean is actually the North Sea off the coast of Holland.

Island Landing:

The team’s arrival to the island was shot at Noordwijk Beach, during which a freak 110-mph windstorm threatened to blow the entire shot.

The Cathedral:

The team’s base during the production was actually an old radio station at Kootwijk. In the movie, the radio station (referred to as “The Cathedral”) is situated on an island, but in real life, the building is located in the middle of a forest, at least 100 miles from the nearest sea or ocean.

Mindhunters - Amsterdam

Filed under: Amsterdam