Psychic Killer (1975)

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

"Psychic Killer (1975)" its not that bad, its actually a pretty fun and enjoyable B movie. When it comes to 70s low budget exploitation is hard to find one that actually has some decent elements, and "Psychic Killer" certainly has some notable moments in the middle of all its absurdity.Its decently made and its not boring (its mostly entertaining) even if it has some scenes that are quite dull. It delivers the usual dose of gore and nudity that these movies are known for and it does it in a very amusing way.With an interesting plot, halfway decent scenes and a good pace, "Psychic Killer" stands out from the average 70's schlock.

"Psychic Killer" is a strange story about... guess what? A psychic killer! A killer who wants revenge and is able to get it from a rather considerable distance. Beyond that, there really isn't much to know about the plot.The film comes from director Ray Danton, who is/was largely a TV director. This is rather evident in the style of the film, which seems like it could have been made for television or at least used similar equipment. There's a different feel from television to cinema, and this just didn't feel like a silver screen production. Not that this makes it a bad film, necessarily.What does make it a bad film is pretty much everything else. We early on get a body falling off a building that is about as fake as can be. And this wasn't a comedy. Other deaths are equally cheesy, with maybe one that was at least a bit worthy of respect -- though not praise.There was also bad music which doesn't match the scenery. I'm not sure if the music would have matched much of anything, but it certainly didn't go with what we saw. That Internet Movie Database users have given this film a 2.7 out of 10 is no surprise once you've seen it. I have to give the movie more credit than that, but not much.One interesting thing about this film is discussion of Kirlian photography. In the 1970s (when this film was made) there was some serious discussion about the Kirlian photography and its connection to the paranormal. Dr. Thelma Moss of UCLA led the parapsychology laboratory and much of her time was devoted to efforts to avoid factors proposed by skeptical peer-review in order to confirm some connection. How successful she was is unclear, though I doubt she had much luck.The film is hyped up on the back of the box comparing the killer (Arnold) to other notorious movie killers. But don't be fooled. Even if Arnold came first (and, being from 1975, that's a valid point) he didn't really leave a lasting mark then and he won't leave one now in the film's DVD release. Horror fans may find this a good film to pass the time with, but unless you're drinking or have a high tolerance for bad movies, this one isn't anything special.

Psycho killer flicks are a penny a dozen, but at least this one has something about it. Psychic Killer was released before the slasher craze really kicked off, and is surprisingly more original than many films in its class. The idea behind the plot is, of course, pure B-grade horror hokum, but somehow it works out better than many 'man with a knife' flicks. The film was obviously hampered by budget constraints, and this comes across by way of the fact that much of the movie is dialogue based. The film also has something of a cheerful tone about it, and despite messy scenes that see hands ripped apart by meat grinders and someone crushed under a slab of cement, the movie never really shocks all that much. The plot follows a man who is in a mental institute after being wrongly accused of murder. While there, he learns the ability to 'psychically' leave his body, and upon getting out and realising his mother has died while he was locked away, he vows to use his new found power to get his revenge on everyone that he believes has wronged him.The film moves slowly throughout, and since a lot of the scenes focus on dialogue, Psychic Killer never really gets a good rhythm going, and every time we see an exciting sequence, it's generally followed by a slow one. This is obviously a result of the budget constraints, although the screenplay is also somewhat at fault as the movie could easily have made more of its central sequences without over stretching the budget. The plot idea is actually one of the film's strongpoints. It's silly and ensures that the movie is very much on the 'B' side of cinema, but it's also really rather interesting. The characters drag the piece down, however, as none of them are given any time to develop and there isn't anyone on the roster that is particularly easy to identify with. The gore scenes are few, but the one that takes place in a butchers shop is a treat. Other murders that see people killed by 'accidents' are rather sinister, but also rather humorous and overall, even though this film isn't brilliant; there's enough to recommend it to genre fans for.

As a result of being wrongfully accused of murdering a doctor and being put in a mental institution, Arnold Masters plans bloody vengeance on everyone directly or indirectly responsible for the death of his poor old mother. Luckily (for him) he inherited a medallion carrying a supernatural force and this allows Arnold's spirit to step out of the body and to commit the murders without leaving a trace. The premise of "Psychic Killer" is giant nonsense but it does guarantee a lot of fun and thrills. Besides, there are more than enough elements that indicate that this movie shouldn't be taken too seriously, like the over-the-top acting and the exaggeratedly ludicrous killings. This movie looks suspiciously much like a standard Roger Corman production: the budget is extremely low, but the ingeniousness of the script and the enthusiasm of the B-cast widely make up for it (Neville Brand and Julie Adams are particularly splendid). In case you like older horror and you have a morbid sense of humor, you're destined to like this cute piece of 70's schlock. The climax is tremendously hilarious and it looks quite a lot like a demented version of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". No essential viewing whatsoever, but a gigantically entertaining 'video-nasty' I can't recommend highly enough.