Psychic Killer

source: Psychic Killer

Psychic Killer

Although the plot to the movie is far fetched, I really enjoyed the diversity in actor Jim Hutton. I've never seen him like this before & I enjoyed what I saw. A must for all horror fans & Jim Hutton fans alike!

Decent performances by a cast of familiar TV faces enliven this routine horror yarn about a mental patient (Hutton), hospitalized for a murder he didn't commit, who learns astral projection, and uses his new powers to bump off the people he holds responsible for his arrest, his mother's death while he was imprisoned, and the price of meat! One of the murders is unwisely played for comic relief, and Hutton's monster makeup at the end makes him resemble Michael Sarrazin on a five-day bender.

Arnold Masters was wrongly locked up for murder but once he is released the police find themselves investigating a series of brutal and unexplainable deaths, all related to his case. He is chief suspect but the murders happen when he is at home, being under police surveillance. Matlin's Movie Guide described this as "a violent shocker" but also rated it as a bomb. I disagree with the latter. It certainly is violent with deaths including an elderly lady pushed off a cliff, a sexy nurse being scolded to death in the shower nudity) and a butcher being butchered in the back of his shop (very well done). However we also have a deliberately comical death involving an Italian business man and a crane. I enjoyed this film, it's a killer on the lose (before the slasher boom) but with a difference. Acting is all good. It's pretty violent but as mentioned does have a streak of humour and is well paced.

To be honest, I actually looked forward to watching the entire movie...but then again I'm used to watching the worst of the worst Blaxploitation movies. But the acting was actually really good. Of course all the characters names have already slipped my mind, but the female psychologist was really good, can't remember if I've seen her in anything else - guess I should research that. The 'meat' scene was a lot more graphic than I expected. It was cool to see Judith Brown in something else other than all the Pam Grier movies I've seen. One thing to improve Psychic Killer would have been more of Stack Pierce (THE black Visitor from the TV Series 'V') in the film (at least some more flashback shots would've been cool). Another thing may have been a non-matted widescreen print. Couple of things were cut off in this print. In other words, I think it was shot in 4:3, but matted for the DVD/theatre release. I really liked this movie, and will keep it in my collection.

The 70's movie industry was generally low on quality, but quite often original, as in this movie. Starring Jim Hutton, who died too young and never quite made it to the top in Hollywood, This is a revenge movie with a difference. The deaths, for 1975 were pretty original, that acting wasn't too bad and the movie kept you interested to the end. Not that bad.

Kirilian photography is featured throughout this intriguing film. Although promoted as horror, the sci-fi element is strong. Mental patient, Jim Hutton, eliminates his enemies with "accidents" carried out through psychic phenomena. Naturally this series of bizarre killings has the police quite perplexed. Such creative dispatches to the beyond as dropping a cement slab on his shyster lawyer, could easily be interpreted as "black comedy". The lets get right down to "business" romance between policeman, Paul Burke, and Hutton's Psychiatrist, Julie Adams, even has some levity to it. The movie has sexual titillation, nudity, splatter, creative kills, and an original and impressive ending. In short, a good exploitation film, with an interesting sci-fi premise. - MERK