When young siblings Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and Luke (Owen Myre) stumble across a buried space gem during a routine backyard game of Crazyball (don’t ask), trouble arrives in the form of an ancient alien warmonger intent on bringing the universe to its knees. Unfortunately for this cosmic monstrosity (the Psycho Goreman of the title, though he’d prefer to still go by The Archduke of Nightmares), Luke and Mimi’s new MacGuffin grants the latter ultimate control over him, thus enslaving PG to the folly of a precocious 12-year-old girl. (And control is something Mimi takes very seriously – just ask her long-suffering brother.) Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, an alien council conspire to destroy Goreman for good, and nothing is going to stand in their way…
Paying loving homage to the forever-fertile ‘kids befriend fantastical creature’ concept so well-trodden in the ‘80s (from the sublime, E.T., to the subpar, Mac & Me), Steven Kostanski’s Psycho Goreman subverts this classic tale by steering away from the safety of Amblin and instead filters its story through the lens of Troma. As such, heart-warming bonding gives way to heart-plucking and bondage, with the outrageous gore played solely for comedy effect. There’s a generous amount of laughs to be had over its pacey 99-minute runtime in fact, and not just courtesy of the gross-out carnage – the deftly written dialogue also impresses throughout. From the suddenly redundant bravado of Goreman, to the pitiful bemoaning of the children’s useless father, Greg (Adam Brooks), every character gets to deliver an abundance of comedic beats that far excel the quality you might have come to expect from a schlocky shocker such as this.
Performances are equally as impressive across the board, with special mention going to the movie’s young leads, Hanna and Myre; Psycho Goreman marks their feature film debuts, and both are destined for great things based on their excellent work here. Sure, Mimi’s relentless cockiness and antagonism of all around her may grate on occasion, but given that she could be seen as the movie’s true villain, it’s entirely believable that this is intended!
The story is admittedly quite slight beyond its fantastic set-up, but with lots of wildly inventive, retro-inspired practical effects to marvel at (there are more rubber monsters here than in an entire season of Doctor Who), genuine laughs aplenty, and enough claret spilled to satiate the thirstiest of horror hounds, Psycho Goreman is a gift for lovers of no-holds-barred creature features of yesteryear.
UK Release Date: Out Now (Shudder)
