I’d never heard of Psychosis either, not before it fell
through my letterbox, but I’m always willing to try on a new horror outfit.
It’s rare that they fit of course, but as any shelf stacker at Blockbuster
Video will testify, there are plenty more costumes in the closet. After
pressing play, with very little hope for the next ninety minutes, I was
pleasantly surprised by the words ‘Starring Charisma Carpenter’ flashing up on
screen. Being a long time Buffy devotee, I have often wondered what happened to
my one time favourite Sunnydale resident. She was next seen starring alongside
Sly, Arnie, Jason and Bruce in The Expendables, but we'll let that go for now.
With Psychosis, she appears alongside Paul Sculfor and Ricci Harnett. Not the
greatest of endorsements it has to be said, the warning signs are there for all
to see.
Quite what Charisma Carpenter is doing in a movie of this
magnitude remains a mystery; things could’ve been so very different for the ex
Sunnydale cheerleader had Joss fulfilled his ambition to dress her up in all
things Wonder Woman. That didn’t work out of course, but in a way I’m glad,
because Charisma Carpenter was the only thing that held my interest over the
following ninety minutes. In 1992 a group of young Anarchists braved the
snow-covered wilderness to set up camp against the construction of a motorway
by-pass. A terrible fate awaited them. 15 years later, Susan (Charisma
Carpenter), a successful horror novelist and sensitive soul, relocates from her
native California to the rural English countryside in search of peace. Things
aren’t quite what they seem however, and Susan is about to discover that
sometimes crazy is the safest place to hide.
She’s a little bit unhinged bless her, and once she arrives
in the countryside with her dull as dishwater husband, David (Paul Sculfor),
director Reg Traviss pulls out every horror cliché known to man in order to
keep the viewer interested. There are a couple of neat twists it has to be
said, the final moments of the movie are genuinely satisfying, but the rest of
the production is hampered by lifeless direction, weak turns and a complete
lack of chills, thrills and suspense. Low production values don’t have to get
in the way of a good movie, but when the director is lacking in creativity, a
lack of funds can translate to restlessness and boredom. Reg Traviss doesn’t
seem capable of anything other than amateur filmmaking, his soulless direction
is sluggish and any attempts at scares are unrecognisable.
Sarah is never quite sure of what is real and what is
imaginary, which begs the question, why didn't she watch a few horror movies
beforehand and check them off like the rest of us? My own particular favourite
was the ‘child’ playing ball in the front garden. Don’t get me wrong, children
can be scary, but this particular child looked like he was twenty five. He even
had facial hair for Christ’s sake. A special mention goes to Ricci Harnett, for
exposing himself in front of everybody's favourite ex-cheerleader. I doubt very
much the sight of his penis disturbed her, I’m guessing in truth that this was merely
the point where realisation took hold. Perhaps Joss has another short lived TV
show on the horizon, even that would be better than screaming your lungs out in
the dreary - that should read picturesque - English countryside. The worst
crime of all, she doesn’t even get naked, not even a little bit. What kind of a
low rent horror production is this?
Psychosis isn’t without merit(s). The twist in the tale is actually quite effective, but you
have to sit through ninety minutes of nothingness in order to get there. And
lets be truthful here, it’s not like we haven’t seen this kind of twist a thousand
times before. Fans of Cordelia Chase might want to check it out, because let's
face it, it’s always nice to see Charisma Carpenter in your lounge. Psychosis
is shocking and scary from a certain point of view, and scraping the barrel is
perhaps a good line to finish on, had I not incorporated it midway through a
sentence. Damn it. AW
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