FEBRUARY 6 — If I had to choose only one movie from the long list of new releases in the whole month of January 2021 to watch, I would choose Psycho Goreman in a heartbeat.
In fact, I’ve been excitedly waiting for its digital release date ever since I first saw its trailer a few months back.
The reason for my excitement is not exactly the best one though. At least not the best one in terms of being a cinephile or “serious” film fan.
You see, even the first few seconds of its trailer would’ve alerted the viewer to the fact that this movie is unlikely to pass the normal/standard test of what makes a good film.
The CGI looks cheap, the acting looks over the top, the villains/monsters look like cast-offs from the Power Rangers TV series or 90s Japanese tokusatsu shows like Ultraman and Kamen Rider, and even the jokes are quite corny.
For fans of horror and cult films who grew up during that sweet golden age of latex and practical makeup FX in the late 80s and almost the whole of the 90s though, these things trigger a specific kind of nostalgia, in a very good way, including the Power Rangers cast-offs bit.
So when you add to this nostalgia factor the fact that this film is made by Steven Kostanski, who’s part of the crazy Canadian collective called Astron-6 — a long-time favourite of mine as they’re responsible for some of my most beloved psychotronic treasures in recent memory like Father’s Day, Manborg and the more serious-minded The Void and The Editor — you know it’s going to be very hard for me to resist this one.
Still as obsessed with practical makeup FX and homespun CGI as in his previous films, with the same healthy helpings of blood, gore and blasphemy, what makes Psycho Goreman a wee bit different this time, and a lot more loveable, is that he also seems to be aiming to make a sort of 80s-style children’s adventure film, albeit one that’s not intended to be watched by children.
In short, it’s a children’s film for horror and cult film-loving adults who remember fondly what children’s films and TV shows were like for them in the 80s and 90s.
If you’re not in that exact frame of mind, I don’t think you’ll find much enjoyment in this one, but if you’re of that exact frame of mind, this film will be like manna from heaven.
The film starts by showing an intergalactic warlord who’s bent on destroying everything in his path being beaten by the forces of good and then buried in a place where it is hoped that no one would be able to find him.
But just like any good 80s/90s family movie, we’re then brought into the orbit of two young siblings: older brother Luke (Owen Myre) and his younger sister Mimi (an unforgettable Nita-Josee Hanna), who is a spoiled brat of the highest order, and who’s played with irresistibly demonic glee by Hanna.
Despite the fact that Mimi is clearly a bully, especially to Luke, these two kids do practically everything together with Mimi acting as the boss and Luke as her willing and put-upon sidekick.
And so it is as a result of one of their games of Crazy Ball (a complicated dodgeball-like game with rules that I can’t seem to ever get my head around) that Luke is made to dig a large hole in their backyard (because as Mimi said, “losers get buried”), which of course is how they unearthed the aforementioned evil intergalactic warlord.
They may have unleashed an evil force unto the world, but in digging that hole Mimi also came to be in possession of a mystical gemstone that gives her complete control over the creature, which she ultimately names Psycho Goreman, or PG for short.
In just about 15 minutes, Kostanski has set up a meeting between two of the most unlikely genres — the classic monster movie where a bunch of people unwittingly activates an ancient evil artifact, and those timeless 80s children movies wherein kids discover a magical or alien creature that becomes their best friend. The Mummy meets ET anyone?
What Kostanski does with that brilliant setup is what I think makes Psycho Goreman such a special film, and one that will be remembered as one of the cinematic highlights of 2021, despite its campy cheesiness and unashamed low-budget charm.
First and foremost, this is one absolutely wrong movie in terms of moral message — not only is PG a monster, but Mimi is arguably an even bigger one (even if we admire and, whisper it, like her), there are bits in the film where its blatantly anti-religion stance will shock and offend a lot of people, and don’t even get me started on the hilarious nuggets of advice that the family’s loser father gives to the children.
It’s a family movie without a good moral message to take home, except for maybe the power of love. But if you’re a horror/cult film nut who is attuned to the usually playfully nihilistic wavelength of films like these, this one’s a total hoot and an absolute joy to watch from start to finish.
