Psychomania

Ok, kiddies. My whole life I have been a horror film junky. My parents, being the lovely and supportive folks that they are, always bought or rented me these bloody movies when I was a kid. As a gift on my 11th Christmas, I got Psychomania.

I will always thank my parents for giving me this movie. It's great and cheesey in all the right ways and scary in all the ways a movie can be. It's creepy good fun! RENT IT NOW. Please. :)

This is the stuff late night B-movies are made of! In more ways than you can count this simply should not work: a group of well-spoken, middle-class motorcycle *cough* rebels called (in an act of Shakespearean foreshadowing) "the Living Dead", whose whole raison d'etre seems to be raising terror in local supermarkets and such, decide to become zombie bikers for a hoot. They are able to achieve this with the aid of hidden knowledge from their leader, Tom, (who has a butler for God's sake!) who has made an occult alliance with a hoodoo frog…or something, and who get eventually get thwarted, in (it must be said) quite a chilling way, before they presumably wreck havoc by knocking over another bin. And yet…despite the ludicrous plot, executed with some ludicrous suicide scenes, and the ludicrous funeral scene for Tom (which will genuinely have you mouthing "what the…?")…not to mention Tom's ludicrous Lazarus moment, the film does have a certain eerie feel to it which, although not particularly scary, nonetheless raises it above the slight 70s campiness of it all and makes it a watchable flick. A lot of this vibe is certainly owed to the music which, in addition to the wah-wah pedal getting an inevitable seventies workout, has a memorable recurring motif and certainly adds a tinge of mystery to proceedings…especially in the morgue scene. Certainly the movie, along with the likes of 'Dracula AD 1972' and 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula', signalled the death knell of British horror which had ruled the sixties, but if you happen to come across it nestled among the late night schedules and you don't have work the next day, then with your tongue set firmly in your cheek settle down and enjoy...you could certainly do a lot worse.

Tom Latham is the leader of a delinquent motorcycle gang known as The Living Dead – his fascination with the paranormal fed by the death of his father and the clairvoyant gift of his mother. When he is finally allowed into a room that has been locked since his father's death he learns a secret – that, when you deliberately die and totally believe you will return from the other world, then you will do so and will truly become one of the living dead. During a high speed chase, Tom deliberately goes off a bridge and is buried by his gang in their way – on his bike in full leathers. And this is how he returns to life again, but more powerful than an human and with his juvenile delinquent streak now turned into a murderous callousness.

Everyone is keen to stress how "bad" this film is but I do not think that that is fair in any way. OK it will not be challenging for the top of many "greatest film of all time" lists (well, maybe "greatest undead biker movies" list) but it is what it is and it works as such. What it is is a British b-movie, made cheaply and with a clear agenda to cash in on both the zombie and motorcycle youth genres by going for the base requirements of both groups. Of course, outside of the world of the b-movie it is no earthly good at all and, even as one, there are areas that could have been better. The main area of this for me is the fact that, once undead, the gang simply continue to terrify old ladies in shops, rather than becoming more ambitious in their actions. Otherwise though, the "problems" are all part of the genre – bad dialogue, basic effects, average actors and so on. All of these are at the level one would expect but add to the pleasure of the film as a b-movie; it doesn't ever take itself seriously, which again is part of it working.

The cast are mainly long-haired youths who can do limited work with the material but probably would not do much better with more. Henson is in permanent "cocky" mode but is good enough, while Larkin does a good genre performance of being freaked out and a bit frightened. She is in the shadow of Michelle looks-wise, mainly because the latter's performance is pure pouting and such. The rest of the gang are so-so biker types. The real surprise of the cast is George Sanders – for whom this was his last film as he was to commit suicide the next year. He is an effect presence and it is a shame that more was not made of his part in the film.

Psychomania has something of a cult following and you can see why because it is good enough as a genre b-movie to be a sort of trashy pleasure. Don't go into it expecting anything more than that and you will find a curiosity b-movie that is trashy but strangely enjoyable.

I've just watched this great film, and I just can't believe I haven't watched it sooner. What a movie! It's got everything a great seventies horror should have - groovy music (very reminiscent of Air's soundtrack for The Virgin Suicides), a well-spoken biker gang, hilarious suicide attempts, the living dead, as well as a bizarre occult fascination with frogs. Or were they toads? Who cares. It's a great film anyway, and I was pleasantly suprised at it's total lack of sex and gore. It just goes to show that you can have an entertaining horror film without resorting to exploitation.

And as for suprise endings, well, you'll never see this one coming, I promise you!

PSYCHOMANIA (aka: THE DEATH WHEELERS) is the uplifting tale of a gang of bratty bikers and their hopelessly infantile leader, Tom Latham (Nicky Henson). Growing dreadfully bored with the hum-drum world of anti-social thuggery, Tom decides to dabble in the realm of the occult in order to gain immortality for himself and his terrorizing, turd brigade.

Luckily, his mum (Beryl Reid) is a medium, and their butler, Shadwell (George Sanders), just might be more than he appears to be- Hope you guessed his name! So, Tom attains a toad talisman, and gets a crash course in his diabolical family history. Then, after a fun day of mindless murder and mayhem, including a game of baby-pram-pinball, Tom does the unthinkable! He initiates his infernal plan for his gang's eternal, psychotic playtime!

The rest is about his mates' following his lead, and the unfortunate results. A grand time is had by all!

EXTRA POINTS: For the notorious "biker funeral" and "motorcycle resurrection" scene. It truly must be witnessed to be fully appreciated! Who knew that bikers wove flower wreathes or wore crocheted vests?

EXTRA EXTRA POINTS: For the gang members' names, like,"Hinky", "Hatchet", "Gash", "Chopped Meat", and, of course, "Bertrem"!

EXTRA SPECIAL POINTS: For the novel suicides, including, tossing oneself into a lake, wrapped in battleship chains! Amazing!

These motorbikes run on pure cheeeze! Soooo, squeeze into those leather trousers my friends, for this is why cinema was created! Is that another pram?!...