The Lawnmower Man/Recap
Dr. Lawrence Angelo works for Virtual Space Industries, developing a intellect-enhancing program known as Project 5, which increases the intelligence of chimpanzees using drugs and virtual reality.
One of the chimps goes on a rampage with a gun through the lab, which causes Angelo to leave and start a new life elsewhere. He soon meets Jobe Smith (played by Jeff Fahey), a mentally handicapped lawnmower man, whose guardian is an abusive priest named Father McKeen. Jobe is also friends with Peter, Angelo's neighbors' young son.
Angelo decides he would like to continue his studies of intelligence enhancement, but without needing to apply it for military purposes. He realizes that he needs a human subject, and that Jobe would be the perfect candidate.
Angelo convinces Jobe to be the subject of his experiments, telling him it will make him smarter. Within a short time, Jobe's intelligence begins to show an increase, and Angelo takes Jobe to his lab to continue the experiments there.
Soon Jobe notices that he can manipulate objects with his mind, as well as hear the thoughts of others. The project director, under guidance of The Shop, replaces Angelo's new medication with the original Project 5 aggression drugs.
Jobe's powers and intelligence continue to grow, and he soon takes it upon himself to punish those who wronged him. First he burns Father McKeen to death, followed by torturing a gas station owner named Jake by forcing his brain to be continuously chopped to bits by a lawnmower man with a lawnmower for a mouth [1]. Jobe finishes his revenge by killing Peter's abusive father, by literally mowing him down with a lawnmower. Then he uses his powers to convince the police that the murders were only "bizarre accidents".
Jobe then decides it's time for him ascend to the final level of human evolution, by becoming pure energy within the VSI computer system at the lab. After his ascension, he plans to exit the computer and escape into every system in the world, where his first act will be to make every telephone in the world ring in unison.
The Shop sends a team to capture Jobe, but are quickly defeated by Jobe's immense powers. Jobe returns to the lab, killing the guards along the way before entering the VSI mainframe. Once inside, he finds himself unable to leave, as Angelo has disabled all the connections.
Angelo returns to the lab with Peter and his mother, and heads into the building to plant bombs. Angelo then joins Jobe in the virtual world and argues with him; an angry Jobe overpowers and crucifies him, then enters his mind and finds out about the bombs.
Jobe tries to defuse the bombs, but discovers without his body, he can no longer manipulate objects in the physical world. At that moment, Peter runs into the building. Jobe, still caring about Peter, releases Angelo, and the two run out of the building as it blows up all around them. Seconds before the mainframe can be destroyed, Jobe finds a hidden exit and escapes the computer.
As the film ends, Angelo, Peter, and Peter's mother are all back home, as Angelo contemplates Jobe's death. Suddenly, Angelo's phone begins to ring, followed by another, and another. We cut to see different cities across the globe, as every phone begins to ring at once.
- ↑ because Jake punched him