Prémonitions

Gremlins star Zach Galligan plays psychic psychology student Patrick Costello, who has a thing for his lecturer Laurel Young (Catherine Mary Stewart), who is currently seeing fellow psychologist Professor Steering (Michael Nouri). Patrick quits his classes so he can date Laurel (who is cute, but she's no Phoebe Cates), but becomes concerned for her safety when, after a series of nightmares in which he sees young women being strangled with a belt, he becomes convinced that Steering is the serial killer currently in the news.

Call me crazy if you like, but Psychic reminded me a bit of Fright Night. There's no vampires in this film, but Galligan reminds me a lot of William Ragsdale, and Michael Nouri definitely has something of Chris Sarandon about him. Also, both films share a similar basic plot: a young man 'sees' the killer responsible for a series of murders, but no-one believes him due to his far-fetched story. Fright Night is by far the superior of the two films, though, Psychic's script and direction being much more pedestrian and predictable (you don't have to be psychic to figure out how the film will end). Thankfully, the strong central performances make the movie a reasonable time-waster, even though it might not remain in the memory for very long.

The college student Patrick Costello (Zach Galligan) shares an apartment with his childhood friend Nick (Albert Schultz) and has a crush on his professor Laurel Young (Catherine Mary Stewart). Patrick has premonitions through dreams and daydreams since he was a kid and recently he is foreseeing the deaths of young women. He succeeds on dating Laurel and soon he learns that she is also dating her friend and also professor Theodore "Ted" Steering (Michael Nouri), who is the serial-killer wanted by the police. Now Patrick seeks evidences to prove that Steering is a killer to protect his beloved Laurel, but nobody believes in his words. When Steering invites Laurel to travel with him to another town, Patrick has premonitions with her becoming his next victim. What can he do to save Laurel?

"Psychic" is a lame thriller full of clichés with a predictable story and one-dimension characters. The ridiculous Patrick produces many evidences against himself breaking in apartments. The two detectives are totally stupid and annoying. Why Steering is a serial-killer? There is no development of his character. The speed of the machine for clearing snow on the road seems to be in a car race. Last but not the least: what a hot professor would find attractive in a guy like Zach Galligan to have one night stand with him? My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Psychic, Premonição Fatal" ("Psychic, Fatal Premonition")

Patrick Costello (Zach Galligan) lives with his childhood friend Nick who knows about his psychic powers. He has visions of women getting killed. His college professor Laurel Young (Catherine Mary Stewart) brings in guest lecturer Theodore Steering (Michael Nouri) to talk about abnormal psychology. Patrick uses his powers to date Laurel. He discovers that she's also dating Steering whom he suspects could be the serial killer. He tells the police but they don't believe his vision. He tracks down the next victim April Harris (Andrea Roth) but she's not dead. When April turns up dead later, he becomes prime suspect. He tells them that Steering is the killer but Steering is actually consulting with the police.

The big drawback is that Patrick is really stupid or really naive especially considering he's not new to his powers. He is way too slow on the uptick. He's been through it and shouldn't be surprised at being arrested. The psychic becoming the suspect has been done before. It would be helpful to have a sharper story with smarter characters. The tension drops when Patrick is released. It would be ballsier if Patrick stays locked up and the movie gets turned over to Laurel. The top three actors are good but the supporting actors are mostly inferior.

Directed by George Mihalka, the man behind popular 80's slasher, "My Bloody Valentine", this made for cable flick features another psycho on the loose. The one here is strangling women in Boston. Annoying Zach Galligan stars as Patrick, a psychic who has visions of the murderer in action. Turns out, the teacher he has feelings for ("Night of the Comet"'s Catherine Mary Stewart) is involved with the man from his visions, Professor Steering. Patrick thus sets out to prove that Steering is responsible so that he doesn't make her his next victim.

The story here is pretty typical, and there aren't many surprises along the way. It is, however, a well-made picture, handsomely photographed and coming off as if it had a bigger budget than it actually did. The vision/murder sequences are my favorites of the film, edited in such a way that makes for an especially surreal vibe. The ice skating vision is particularly memorable.

Getting back to the story, one of the few surprises that we do get reminded me of a similarly effective one in the 80's anthology film, "Screamtime". Other than that, you pretty much know how this thing will end long before the halfway point. Thus, the film is aptly titled.

A college student, who has psychic powers, has a crush on his female lecturer, who happens to be dating an older man, in fact a professor, who may be a serial killer. The plot gives us a love triangle, police investigation and a series of rather tame killings. Psychic is a rather low key Canadian horror/thriller that has TV/straight to video written all over it. It is a far cry from the director's excellent My Bloody Valentine (1981), but it is still a perfectly reasonable watch none the less.