Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Jan 10, 2012 18:34:26 GMT -5
Plot:An idyllic, small, self-sufficient community. On the surface, it seems like the perfect neighborhood. Everything you could possibly need is within walking distance. But the pastoral exterior conceals a dark past and an even darker secret. As a group of individuals (each with their own ties and agendas with the town and each other) converge on the enclave, strange things begin to happen. Very strange things. Strange enough to test (and then break) the very fabric of reality itself.
Cast:
Katie Featherston
Glenn Morshower
Adrienne King
Debbie Rochon
Reggie Bannister
Kathy Lamkin
Shannon Lark
Natalie Jones
Brandi Price
Denton Blane Everett
Krystn Caldwell
Brady Hender
Joe Grisaffi
Mel House
Melanie Donihoo
My Thoughts:WEEEEIRRRRRD!!
Review:It's been a long time since I've seen a horror movie as weird as "Psychic Experiment". From filmmaker Mel House. But House is known for his strange genre fare. But "Psychic Experiment" takes things to a whole nother level. And furthermore, takes "WEIRD"...to a whole new level! The movie follows an idyllic small suburban community. Everything looks normal on the outside. But within the community, there's something a foot!
People are committing strange murders. With strange powers. And the murders are being committed by strange beings. Can anyone get to the bottom of the creeping (and deadly) weirdness? I didn't truly enjoy this movie persay. As a story. But as a weird, strange scifi/horror film, in the vein of "Scanners" and "Videodrome"? It's pretty decent. And the cast is certainly chocked full of familiar genre faces. Debbie Rochon, Adrienne King (playing the villainess oddly enough), Reggie Bannister, Kathy Lamkin, and Katie (Paranormal Activity) Featherston.
Mel House also makes an appearance in the movie which he directs. And they even managed to snag Glen Morshower into this film. So what clicks, and doesn't click in this movie? Well the cast clicks of course. As does the gore and odd and strange overtones of the movie. It's also very visually stomach-turning. One of the few horror's I've seen in some time that made me just a tad bit queasy. This movie is really gross in some areas. And even more disgusting and gross in others.
And all of this gross-out fodder is right in the vein of "Videodrome", which I mentioned above. A movie which is praised by many in the horror community. And it seems that most filmmakers who are on an indie budget, try and pattern their scifi/horror's after that movie. But "Psychic Experiment" does enough to stand on its own. By crafting the age old story of "undercover sinister behavior" in the burbs. In fact, the movie harkens to those typical scifi/horror movies where a small town or small suburb is used by an insidious group of people to further and harbor a bizarre experiment.
In this movies case, it's basically mind-control and psychic experiments. You could call this film cheesy. Considering it copies a lot of what it does from a movie like "Firestarter", "Firestarter:Rekindled"...and even some old tv series episodes. But it pushes the envelope a lot farther than either of those movies or shows did with how graphic, twisted, and off the wall it is. King gives a good performance as the films evil female supervillain. Louise Stack. Actually, having King, a scream queen play the main baddie in the movie was a nice change of pace.
Rather than some old, male suit. King goes over the top in her evil villainy from time-to-time. But for the most part, she holds it together nicely. And even has some deliciously cold moments of being "Mrs. pure evil genius lady". Having her performance backed up by Debbie Rochon, who plays the second villain in the movie. An estranged mother who is also conniving and manipulative towards her son, also gives the movie an extra layer of stepping outside of the box. Very rare to see a horror film with two strong female leads.
Who are also the villains. In fact, cannot remember if I've seen that in a horror movie. EVER! But Rochon and King's characters make for very formidable villains in the movie. Especially given the tools and tactics that the films bad guys are using on and at the good guys. So they more than hold their own against the group of people who are trying to face them down. And in a rare instance, the movies villains are better than the films heroes actually.
Who are basically a group of people brought together by fate. And who even by act 3, are still trying to figure out what exactly is going on. Including Bannister's character Joseph. Who is one of the more complex characters that I've seen in an indie horror movie in some time. But the film does have moments where it falters. Which is why we now move on to where this movie "didn't" click. While the special fx were pretty well done, the visual fx were very 80's, cheesy, and cheap-looking.
Although that's Mel's usual directing style. So I guess I could give them a pass on this. Also the films dialogue is quite bad. But again, I think that was the inside joke here. To make an 80's scifi/horror/gore movie. That strongly resembles and 80's, scifi/horror/gore movie in every way. Including dialogue. But the low budget does make the movie look amatuerish in a few important spots. However in the end, I'd actually recommend this movie to hardcore genre fans.
And those who might be fans of Adrienne, Debbie, Reggie, Katie, etc. If you're the casual genre fan though. Who's looking for something more edgy. You might wanna skip this one. As you won't really "get" the gist of this particular movie.
Positives:The special fx are very 80's in terms of the exploding heads, blood, melting flesh, etc. The story is really 80's scifi/horror too. Which is why it works in the context of this particular movie. Good performances by the vets Bannister, King, and Rochon. And kudos for putting two females in the lead roles. And making them both the villains. A very bold move.
Negatives:The films low budget makes the visual effects look really bad. Like "Slime City" bad. But again, I guess considering what they were going for here. That was "the joke".
Overall:Two stars out of four.