Psycho Killer
review by Bobby Blakey
I love a good slasher flick and over the years numerous people have tried to put their own spin on the horror sub genre. The latest, Psycho Killer stars Georgina Campbell and James Preston Rogers, Grace Dove, Logan Miller, and Malcolm McDowell from director by Gavin Polone. Could this latest entry into the genre bring the expected blood-soaked kills or will it fail to conjure up anything worth killing for?
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Psycho Killer follows a Kansas highway patrol officer who sets out on a journey to track down the perpetrator following the brutal murder of her husband. As the hunt progresses, she comes to realize the man responsible is a sadistic serial killer, and the depth of his mental depravity and his sinister agenda is more twisted than anyone could have imagined.
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The visuals from the trailer made me intrigued to see where this film could go. One of the most important outsides of story for any slasher flick is the killer itself. If they don’t offer up a memorable menacing look then you already have a misfire. Thankfully despite his simplistically the killer is a beast of a human and looks the part. He towers over everyone throughout the film and it adds to the imposing presence for him at every turn. This alone gave the film the perfect killer to play with, but ultimately while it works on some levels never rises to where it could have been.
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The story kicks off pretty good using a simple traffic stop as the catalyst that sets it all up from learning of the killer to the obsession of the officer to bring him down. From there it feels uneven in its pacing a lot of times with it weaving in and out of an attempt to make a deeper story but then falling into generic tropes. The highlights are always with the killer himself that while entertaining to watch him wreak havoc is kind of negated by the finale in what everything was set up.
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I don’t need a deep story for this genre and it was all in with the direction they were taking it, but with all the build-up of this menacing figure the finale act doesn’t land all that well. Maybe had they added a bigger supernatural element to it might have at least felt bigger for the buildup. Not looking for that in my opinion, but it just felt anticlimactic. Outside of the lead chasing him played well by Georgina Campbell there are zero characters that matter here and in turn makes nothing in this film really matter.
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I didn’t hate the film but was let down on what could have been as opposed to what was delivered. The ending leaves it open to return should it get the chance, and I would love to see this psycho back to bring the pain, but it would really need to lean into something more for the ride than just the blood.
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Decide for yourself and check out Psycho Killer available now on digital from 20th Century Studios.