Go Go Psycho Goreman!
I Do Not Care For Hunky Boys. Or Do I?
Review by- Greg E. Death
After several recommendations I finally pulled the financial trigger and paid for Shudder. I honestly still don’t know why exactly; I’m a massive horror snob and wasn’t optimistic about finding anything to suit my fancy. To my surprise I have found some gems, Pieces, Black Roses and Ichi The Killer to name a few. One selling point was the new Creepshow series but for the most part it’s been a snooze fest. Needless to say I wasn’t super hyped for anything wearing the “Shudder Original” tagline. Psycho Goreman bears that title and features a still of a bootleg Toxic Avenger. I figured it would be good for some eye rolls and Id fall asleep to cheesiness and screams of one movie wonder actors. After viewing Psycho Goreman I realized I’m an idiot and have probably been wrong about everything in my life.
Psycho Goreman is the story of a demon alien thingy that looks like Thanos and Hordak from Masters of the Universe had a baby. Demon Alien guy has no name besides “Arch-Duke of Nightmares” or “unholy terror of doom” or whatever. He is finally given the title Psycho Goreman, PG for short, from a sassy little girl and her verbally abused brother played wonderfully by Nita-Josee Hanna and Owen Myre. After stumbling upon a magic amulet thingy they are given the power to control the Arch-Duke of Nightmares; hilarity ensues. Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) is mouthy to the point of annoying at times but her charm always shines through and I found myself not hating her as much as I really wanted to. Interactions between PG and Luke (Owen Myre) are particularly funny and memorable. At no time does Mimi seem to be concerned that an evil space demon wants nothing more than to kill her slow and painfully instead she is gloats constantly about the power she possess over the big space monster.
While all the whimsicalness of controlling space demons is happening we learn of the Templars, angelic looking robot who look like they would have battled Gwar alongside Cardinal Syn. Knowing PG has escaped and doesn’t possess his amulet gives the Templars the perfect opportunity to take him down once and for all; and rule the galaxy themselves, or something like that. I was pretty much under the impression that if either side won the galaxy was doomed so I guess it doesn’t matter. PG battles it out with the Templars and other baddies resulting in some scenes that look like Troma remade Power Rangers, it’s beautiful. There’s plenty of surprises and fun to be had so I don’t want to give away much, honestly the less you know the better. While I was dreadfully awaiting some sappy moral message about friendship to emerge towards the end I was fully ready to vomit and hate this movie. What actually happens is a fresh and funny take that never deviates for the characters personalities we’ve grown to love. A personal favorite of mine is Mimi’s father Greg (Adam Brooks) who perfectly portrays anyone who grew up listening to Weezer and is now a father. PG is played by Matthew Ninaber who does an amazing job through pounds of making up expressing his frustration. While Matthew Ninaber stomps around in the big spooky suit its Steven Vlahos providing the angry alien voice of our hero. Hero? I don’t know if PG is the hero or if there even is one in this movie which is part of what makes it so damn fun and charming.
Psycho Goreman is a funny and gore filled romp well worth a watch, I’d dare say it’s worth a Shudder membership. While other movies have tried a similar set up of kid/monster relationship, none have ever made it this entertaining. It walks such a fine line between goofy kid’s movie and full-fledged gore fest which is a near impossible feat to pull off. Hopefully writer/director Steven Kochanski is already thinking of a sequel.
4 Crazy Balls out of 5
