With the traits and touches of "Psycho", "Halloween" and "Donnie Darko", the claustrophobic and suspenseful "Oliver's Mind" follows a schizophrenic teenager who refuses to take his meds thinking he can cope with things without them, but what comes on the news isn't much helpful with reports about a killer on the loose right on his neighborhood. The teen in question is Oliver (James Edwards), who lives with his caring mother (Renee Gelbard Haubner), always protective of the boy and the one who has to deal with his visions and uncontrolled episodes, taken to a far extreme with what he saw on TV. Oliver snaps for real when he senses that the mysterious killer is closer than he thought and now is up to him to warn his mom about the dangers they face. You probably know what comes next.
Creators Matthew Rosenbaum and Jacob Friedman surely made a thrilling project, filled with suspense and a certain dose of humor (which, actually, should be completely removed from the story, it looked way too forced). They know how to build tension and confusion, and make you care for the characters, something extremely hard to find these days. However, the B-movie quality doesn't help the project in any way. It feels cheap, almost amateurish. And the digital video looked odd, without much quality. You can make film about simple (or weird) things, but the trick is try to not look too simplistic and for the plenty of references found here (and I think they're quite obvious to catch), one could mix all that and develop something beyond a conventional slasher/ psychological thriller film.
No harm was done, it's filled with good qualities and there's a nice conclusion to it as well. And it stays with you for some time. Maybe it was just me, trying to imagine a more detailed and longer film with layers and layers and complicated plot twists. That could and should happen. 7/10