Brooklyn, horror, and pot. That should be the tagline to Psychotic! – A Brooklyn Slasher Film. The movie takes place in Brooklyn, New York (Bushwick to be precise) and follows two young adults and their interactions with various other similar-aged individuals as they try to evade a serial killer. They smoke pot, party, smoke some more pot, play some awesome music, get killed, and smoke some pot.
Okay, I am going to just level with you, this movie gave me a migraine. Early on it becomes obvious that the characters are not going to be enjoyable to watch. In fact, every single person is obnoxious and proud of it. Double the fact that everyone is supposed to be high the majority of the time does not help.
The two directors also wrote, starred, produced and it is obvious that their true talent is in the latter. Bad dialogue is one thing but bad dialogue along with bad acting is just pain. This issue extends past the leads and there is only one performance that is okay. The actress who plays Jessica is charming and her dialogue is at least bearable. Although, she is playing the standard love interest and has all of the “indie” heroine quirks that come with the package.
While we are on the topic of characters, at times there just too many of them. The amount does not seem excessive for a horror film but the issue is that the plot jumps around a lot. The two leads split up at one point and we follow them on their separate journeys but then we also follow other characters. After a while, it becomes difficult to keep track of who’s who and why we care if they get killed. Again, it does not help that everyone is high and obnoxious.
Now, that the mini-rant is out of the way, there are some genuinely good points. I already acknowledged that the two leads mainly produce and thus the film looks gorgeous. They managed the money very well and the movie looks crisp and professional. It was also aided by Kickstarter which makes it more surprising for its quality. They only cheaped out with the special effects because the gore is pretty bad. They also had a tendency to have the camera linger on the scenes making it cringy in a bad way. I will give them some credit for using practical effects though. Too many filmmakers have gotten sloppy because of CG and it is refreshing to see good ole fake blood and guts.
On top of its crisp look, the filmmakers did utilize excellent framing and set up some interesting shots. The beginning does a POV reminiscent of the Maniac remake where we are looking through the eyes of the killer as he makes his way through a party. The lighting is also well done as we are constantly presented with neon lights and natural shadows of New York.
My final compliment will be made to the score which has a nice synthesizer sound that fits well with the various party scenes and the occasional eerie moment. It is an original soundtrack written and performed by Blazing Galaxies who are prominently mentioned during the credits.
Psychotic! – A Brooklyn Slasher Film is beautiful and has a catchy score but that’s really about it. Obnoxious characters with bad dialogue and awful acting make watching this movie a chore and unfortunately, the good elements are just not enough to save it.
PSYCHOTIC! is available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Sony PSN, and Xbox.
