zpluscinema

Okay, yes, obviously this is a rip-off of "The Hills Have Eyes." Let's accept it and move on. Most movies these days are ripping off something else, and if the studios can get away with it, so can the indies. But this flick transcends the stigma of "low-budget-straight-to-video-horror-rip-off" for the simple reason that it is incredibly entertaining! Simply put, this is a fun movie to watch. It takes the hackneyed set-up of a bunch of kids taking a shortcut into cannibal mutant territory and delivers it in a fast, interesting, and completely watchable way. Besides the tacked-on opening, I have no gripes with this movie. The cast, the script, the direction, and even the cinematography are all above par, especially given all of our pre-conceived notions about this genre. From start to finish, it's a fun ride (and the Loopz character is a special treat). Plus, the DVD has some good bonus features (the commentary is great). Seriously, if you're a horror fan (especially of 80's slashers, which we all love to love I guess), you're not gonna go wrong with this one. Joe Bob would say check it out.

Everything Brett Piper does is pure gold (okay, maybe "Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell" left a little to be desired). I am never disappointed by his films, which can rarely be said about any filmmaker, let alone the low-budget, independent kind, who have to work a lot harder on their movies. And true to form, "Psyclops" is a great viewing experience. An inspired plot, talented actors, beautiful visuals--hey, this is as good as it gets, folks. The fun begins when an amateur videographer happens upon a lost dimension-bending machine and gets his video camera fused to his skull, turning from video geek to video freak (as the box will tell you). From there, it's awesome effects (Piper did stuff for Troma in his early days), big laughs, suspense, thrills, chills, and yes, even characters you're rooting for. In fact, this movie is put together so well, aspiring filmmakers should use it as reference material, especially for a horror project. Piper throws in everything and the kitchen sink, blending it together perfectly into a fine feast any horror fan will appreciate. I know I do. I'll stop there and leave you with a final thought: go rent this movie right now, emphasis on the right now part.

This is essentially a low-budget rendering of the classic "Evil Dead" premise. However, I don't think it was intended as a rip-off to cash in on that cool movie. It's more likely that no-budget auteur Eric Stanze wanted to cut his teeth on this flick, and didn't want to stray too far from genre conventions. Not to say this is just "Evil Dead," minus Sam and Bruce and a few hundred grand. Compared to most of the shot-on-video horror stuff released, this is halfway decent. Sure, the actors are bad, but the effects are cool, and plot prances along at a pretty steady pace. And the plot, by the way, is a bunch of kids going into the woods and meeting their demise at the hands of demons they inadvertently resurrected. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. For what it is, it ain't bad. And just to comment on distribution, Miramax and the like aren't exactly chomping at the bit to get their hands on regional shot-on-video horror flicks put together for a couple grand, which leaves few avenues for the independent filmmaker to pursue. But Eric Stanze, I feel, has made the best of it, and has gotten his movies out there. I found two of them with relative ease. And just to be redundant, considering 95-percent of shot-on-video flicks should be thrown into a pit and burned by a Haz-Mat team, this is a decent, entertaining movie of nearly professional quality, and it does fall into that small percentile of watchability.