Cast: Nita-Josee Hanna, Owen Myre, Matthew Ninaber, Steven Vlahos, Adam Brooks
Year: 2020
Min: 95
Two siblings, Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and Luke (Owen Myre), are playing a lively game of CrazyBall. Mimi wins, so Luke, naturally, has to bury himself alive. He doesn't finish digging the hole, though, as he finds an alien gem. Mimi takes it with her. Soon, an evil and destructive alien being, known as the Archduke of Nightmares, from the planet Gigax, rises from the ground. He has been imprisoned on Earth, after an unsuccessful attempt at trying to destroy the universe. He moves into an old, abdonanded factory, killing a group of thieves who live there. The monstrous alien being has incredible strength and powers, including the ability to horribly alter the body of his foes. The next day the siblings find the monster, and he threatens to kill them. But, Mimi has the gem, which mean she has control over him.
As such gets him to join on all the fun, including dressing up, learning how to play and joining in on crazy ball, and teaching him how to talk in a "cool" manner. She also renames him Psycho Goreman or PG for short. But, in the meantime, Pandora, of the religious zealot (AKA religious assholes), alien race known as the Templars, takes human form and goes to Earth to kill PG. The Templars enslaved PG's people and are the ones who imprisoned him., on Earth.
Psycho Goreman is a Canadian sci-fi/ horror/ comedy. It's written and directed by Steven (The Void co-director) Kostanki, who comes from cult production company Astron-6 (The Editor, Father's Day, etc.). It definitely has that companies humor style. And, like those movies is filled with homages to other genre flicks. It was originally going to premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, but alas COVID-19 shot those plans to shit. It did eventually play other festivals and came to the movies and video on demand, early this year. It begins streaming exclusively on Shudder on May 20, 2021.
The best and most simple way to describe this movie is as fun. In fact, from the moment its super cool prologue comes on it sets up what will be an absolute good time to be had. Thanks to Kostanki's writing and directing the movie is wonderfully imaginative. Honestly, if you are sick of derivative, unoriginal dreck then this fucker is for you! It is so fucking funny, that watching it, almost made me spit my coffee out! I love the type of humor that this movie has, for example when Mimi says that "Grandma is in hell forever", I was fucking dying! It simply so much fun that I had a smile on face, if not outright laughing my ass off, throughout its running time. As a matter of fact, I haven't laughed this fucking hard in ages.
In some ways, it plays like a cooler, meaner, gore drenched ET, as the kids "befriend" and hang with PG. It also plays as a tribute to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, including a great homage scene, wherein the kids teach PG to say "Frig off!"! As a matter of fact on top of the ET and T2 influence, it also throws in Power Rangers (especially when comes to the look and feel of the monsters) with the splatter comedy of Dead Alive and Evil Dead 2.
It's gore content is bloody and over-the-top. There is a truly a double decapitation that had me jumping for joy. Other splatter highlights include: an exploding and squished heads, face ripping, broken bones, and more. This excellent makeup FX work also comes into play with cool, but at times purposely cheesy, looking monsters and alien beings. One of my favorite creatures in the film, is Alasdair, a formerly normal, human kid, who Mimi likes. But, when he shows no interest Mimi sets PG's powers on him and he turns into a giant, walking brain! I fucking love that!
The movie is oddly cute, at times, but in a manner that will sicken you make you wanna barf from the saccharin content. But, rather this comes from a natural likability. It even throws in fun moral lessons that one might get from watching 80s cartoons. The movie even has a kick ass heavy metal song at the end. This pretty much seals it as one of the most motherfucking cool movies in recent memory.
The acting is quite good, with Nita-Josee Hanna being especially awesome as Mimi. Her character is so funny and a total asshole, brat, that, as such, she is one of the most awesome kids in horror in many a moon. Matthew Ninaber does a great job in playing the psychical side of P, while Steven Vlahos does an excellent job providing the monster's voice. Combined they do a great job in bringing him to life. He is a great character and needs to be some future sequels. I hope he becomes the next horror icon!
Holy shit is Psycho Goreman ever a complete and utter blast to watch! The flick is utterly hilarious, that I laughed so hard, that I fucking cried! It is completely gore drenched and manages to play homage to various sci-fi and horror movies, as well allusions to kids shows from years past. The acting is solid, especially from Hanna as Mimi, who is best kid in horror in forever. PG is such fun monster, that he better get some more adventures. The cool and fun looking practical FX are another plus. This resulting film is one of the best horror comedies since Happy Death Day. As a matter of fact, it is definitely an early contender for one of the best horror movies of 2021!
