Strong and Moving!

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Psychomania (1973)** 1/2 (out of 4)A motorcycle gang called The Living Dead have a rather bizarre leader who is constantly talking about suicide. The man finally decides it's time because he knows that death isn't the end and that he will come back. When he does come back from the dead he talks his other motorcycle riders to do the same and now they go terrorizing their community.You know, it's hard to come up with a stranger horror film than PSYCHOMANIA. I remember the first time I watched it I must have been around the age of eight or nine and I didn't know what to make of it. Looking at it twenty-five years later I can see why it confused me so much and its even more confusing to watch today. I say that because who on Earth would have thought to make a horror film like this especially in 1973? PSYCHOMANIA isn't an awful movie but at the same time it's certainly not great. The film is pretty much something on its own and there's no question that it's original in its own silly way. There's no gore in the movie. Most of the violence is just the motorcycle gang riding around and knocking things out of people's hands. There's really no scares. There's not too much horror either for that matter. Yeah, there's just not too much here.What it does have is a rather bizarre atmosphere where it really does feel as if it's taking place in another universe. What universe that is I don't know but this here is the film's biggest saving grace. While watching the movie I didn't really like it but at the same time there was something about it keeping me glued to the screen. What was it? I have no idea. It is worth noting that this turned out to be George Sanders final movie role.

I mean, come on...George Sanders, biker thugs who return from the dead, and a creepy, wah wah-drenched soundtrack. What's not to like? "Psychomania" isn't the kind of film you overanalyze; it's the kind of film you sit back and enjoy for the simple pleasure it offers. Nicky Henson (Ian Ogilvy's buddy in "The Conqueror Worm") might have been embarrassed about starring in this low-budget scare flick, but he does a very respectable job as Tom, the smirking rebel without a cause who wants to live forever. Beryl Reid plays his enigmatic, oddly passive mother, a medium who wants Tom to stay away from the mysterious room in which his father died. The terrific George Sanders is their butler, Shadwell. He seems fairly harmless at first, but his sinister significance becomes apparent soon enough. Lots of eerie moments and a nice, gloomy, '60s-gone-sour atmosphere. Watch "Psychomania" late at night, all by yourself, with the lights out :)

This was the final film of George Sanders. Apparently, this film was the one he was working on when he decided to kill himself. Well, after seeing the sort of silly and stupid film this was, I can easily see why Sanders decided to end it all--it must have been to atone for being in this hilariously bad film! PSYCHOMANIA has cult favorite written all over it. You certainly can't accuse this of being a good film, but there is a certain kitschy silliness about it that make it fun. The film begins with an incredibly lame-o biker gang called "The Living Dead"--wow, THAT'S subtle. They spend most of their time acting out in many really dumb and wussy ways. This is definitely NOT a biker gang in the tradition of the Hell's Angels--most like Hell's Wussies. Anyway, the head of the gang has a mother that is into the occult and toads (why toads?!?) and somehow he learns that if he kills himself and believes he's coming back, he can--and be immortal! Once back, Tom convinces the rest of the gang that life is great when you are dead and one by one they start killing themselves. Believe it or not, this is all very funny--and my daughter and I found ourselves laughing at these scenes. Once undead, the zombie bikers look pretty much like anyone else--they just seem to enjoy killing people. Again, it ain't sophisticated, but it is, in a VERY low-brow way, quite funny.So what happens next? Do the undead punks kill off each and every person in the UK? Do they form a band--after all, they already had nice stylish hairdos and clothes!? Do they decide to follow George Sanders' lead? See this film for yourself to find out for certain.PSYCHOMANIA is chock full of silly stunts, psychedelics, incredibly dumb and ineffective police, mumbo-jumbo, frogs and an incredibly deadly earnest style--it takes itself very, very seriously. And, undoubtedly, it's dumb...but funny because of its dumbness. However, it's obviously not a film for everyone--mostly for bad movie fans and for anyone who likes laughing at the 1970s.I'd give the film a 2 for quality, a 4 for the frog and an 8 for being so dang funny--though it's supposed to be a horror film! An overall score of 4 seems reasonable.By the way, was the leading character's mother a toad?! I'm not sure about this...but I think it's the case. Crazy man!

When a motorcycle gang leader was born, his mother apparently signed her soul and his over to a spiritualist whose symbol is the Frog. Now grown up and raising hell in a British village, the hooligan comes to understand that if he commits suicide, he'll soon rise from the dead an indestructible zombie. This catches on, and pretty soon all his followers (in a biker gang called The Living Dead!) are throwing themselves out of planes and over bridges. Low-budget wheeler from the UK isn't badly made, but doesn't have its tongue far enough in cheek. As a result, some of the mayhem the kids create is ugly and disturbing rather than gleefully nasty. George Sanders (looking sadly aged) plays the occult leader who doubles as Beryl Reid's butler (!), while good girl-biker Mary Larkin amusingly resembles Mariel Hemingway. Watchable enough, yet the supernatural plot twist on the genre isn't taken to the bizarre highs one may hope for. The picture stays depressingly grounded, despite ethereal directorial touches and a nightmare-in-the-daylight ambiance. ** from ****