Psychomania

This is a movie you cannot watch without smiling due to its many kitschy, laughable elements. The only son of a wealthy old English family of frog-worshippers heads a bike gang called the Living Dead that discovers how to come back from the Great Beyond by wishing really, really hard. Hijinks ensue as the bikers kill themselves one by one and come back, ready to commit better mayhem than they ever could when alive because now they are indestructible. The story features unbelievably short skirts on all the girls; a hippy folk song about the glory of living and dying as a biker; young moms being terrorized by the Living Dead as they push prams in their go-go boots and hot pants; interior decor that inspired the makers of 'Austin Powers;' and arcane frog-worship ceremonies that ultimately lead to the undoing of the gang. Never a dull moment.

For years after its release, this movie was considered as juvenile, sensationalist trash. It was also 'allegedly' one of the reasons the veteran actor George Sanders made the ultimate career move - after his involvement with the film. However with today's young directors pre-occupied with concrete, drugs and misery, this old film now looks quite stylish and appears to be maturing like a cheerful old wine.

The British are one of the few cultures with enough savvy to pull off a good cult cycle science fiction scenario.

This one involves a family of a Satanic nature, the mother of whom is prim and proper, and whose other member, her son, is the leader of a Hellish motorcycle gang.

Goerge Sanders is the wild card as the butler figure.

The son learns that he can have an immortal and immoral life of evil just by dying, under the right conditions. The catch is a series of rituals along with an unfailing Faith in your resurrection into Evil.

He paves the way and convinces the rest of his biker gang to join him. It is a small grass roots gang of 2 women and 5 other men. Most are willing, but a couple of them relent.

Ann Michelle excels with a great presence as an evil biker girl. Too bad she wasn't a heroine more often, but the seventies were not a decade of risk taking, despite what people claim. Stereotyping was a seventies staple.

Still, this film has a great atmosphere to it, a bit of humor, and some creativity, never detracting from the story line.

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!

Like a few other people, I first saw this as a kid and it stuck. Anybody who remembers seeing 'Tommy' as a nipper and being hooked by it will know what I mean.

It's really quite a terrible movie, but something saves it from being just another unwatchable 'cult' film. In fact, I would rate it as one of the better cult films I've seen.

The film is actually well paced, and it never seems to drag. The story, although ridiculous, is easy to follow and always makes sense. The whole thing hangs together nicely.

If your a fan of retro 1970s British culture (or atleast silly interpretations of it), this is one film to add to your collection.