Movie Review: Psycho Goreman (2021)
Psycho Goreman is not at all what we expected it to be, and in the best way possible.
Written and directed by Steven Kostanski, who also co-wrote and co-directed the visually stunning Lovecraftian cosmic-horror film The Void (2016), Psycho Goreman is a sci-fi horror film that doesn’t take itself too seriously, was able to bring all of the best out of horror tropes, include some pretty great nods to ’80s and ’90s nostalgia, and wrap everything else up nicely.
The film starts off with a couple of kid siblings named Luke (Owen Myre) and Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) playing a game called “crazy ball” in their backyard. They have a pretty epic encounter, and after losing due to a switcharoo, the brother is forced to dig his own grave. While doing so, they uncover a sarcophagus of sorts with a gem in the center. After removing it, Psycho Goreman (“PG” for short) is released after they go to bed.
PG actually is really the Arch-Duke of Nightmares from the planet Gigax, but because he is bound to do the bidding of whoever holds the gem, which just happens to be Mimi. Without giving too much away, this leads to some funny situations. After all, it’s pretty much every kid’s dream to have their own monster to do their bidding.
Psycho Goreman is a love-letter to cheesy horror and sci-fi. Our favorite things about this film, aside from just the overall great quality of acting, writing, direction, were the score, the costume design, the practical effects, and the comedic timing. These four things stood out and really set this film apart from a lot of other films like it. There are a lot of films out there that can do some of these things well, but not all of them. And that’s what made this one so special. The score throughout this entire film made it seem more like a big production than an indie film. The costume design was literally out of this world. They had some amazing monsters, creatures, and other aliens and they all looked fantastic.
The practical effects were extremely gory, as you would expect with a title like “Psycho Goreman”. But they were also very well done. There was a lot of blood spilled. A lot. There was enough blood to make GWAR proud, and to be honest, this played out in some scenes like it could have been somewhat inspired by them. (Rest In Peace, Oderus) And lastly, the comedic timing. Man, did they nail it. Some of the best moments of the film are parts where not a lot is going on, but the way someone says something, or just the way they shoot a particular scene just hits that perfect spot.
Overall, Psycho Goreman is not what we expected, but it is what we needed. Few films come through with everything just working, but they managed to pull together one of the most enjoyable horror/sci-fi/comedies we have seen yet. We would highly recommend that you give this one a watch. You can watch it on Amazon Prime by clicking on the image below:
