When siblings accidentally uncover a long-buried demonic alien overlord intent on destroying all life throughout the universe, control of the being falls into the hands of whoever holds a gemstone that was found with him. That’s obnoxious 12-year-old Mimi who now has an evil being from space to do her pre-teen bidding. Which one is the real monster?

There’s a lot of fun to be had in Psycho Goreman, a film that lovingly emulates similar SF for kids from the ’80s. It’s filmed like it was made then, the retro mainly practical effects look like they’re from then, it all could have gone straight to VHS in fact. That nod to ’80s nostalgia runs throughout and is wonderful.

Great too is PG itself, a fantastic character, designed brilliantly and played just right. You can really feel its humiliation having once led galactic revolutions and massacred entire planets, now being forced how to play ball games… Other bizarre creatures are equally fun.

But the best thing about the film is the idea from which it has been created. The notion of a hugely evil, immensely powerful force in the hands of a little girl who isn’t phased by the beast in the slightest is absolutely inspired.

Unfortunately, the script, some of the performances, and the lack of internal logic make the film itself less inspiring than that idea. Simply put, it should have been a lot funnier than it actually is and it certainly needed a script editor to point out some of the problems, like why PG terrifies the crap out of Mimi’s parents but everyone else in the town seems fine when they go shopping or head out for a burger.

Part of the issue is the brave decision to make Mimi thoroughly unlikeable. She’s just about as annoying as any child ever put on screen. Her sweet-natured brother Luke is a counter to this but, even so, she does grate.

The Blu-ray extras consist of some cast interviews, which are sweet, some fun behind-the-scenes videos of the miniatures and the brilliant creature design and make-up effects, fight choreography which is really enjoyable, but what you really want from the extras is the director commentary.

Stephen Kostanski (The Void) doesn’t disappoint, talking with humour and enthusiasm about the making of the film, how it was sometimes cobbled together, where the ideas behind the story came from, and the production process. It’s the best of the extra features and pushes the overall package up from just quite good to worth it.