San Franpsycho

Direct to video movies are usually pretty lame, but I was pleasantly surprised by this picture. I loved the title when I saw it at my local Hollywood video store, so I picked it up. I read the back and it sounded interesting. So I rented it. I wasn't expecting much, because as I said earlier, most direct to video movies are lame. The movie had me entertained throughout. I thought the killer was actually very believable. I don't know about everyone else, but in my opinion a huge hulking man overpowering another person and taking their life is much more believable than some tiny old guy or some skinny little dude that they usually portray as serial killers in movies. I'll put it to you like this, if I ran into this killer in a dark alley, I'd be pretty friggin scared. Anyway, on with the review. You can read the synopsis to know what the story's about, so I'll just tell you that it was a good late night popcorn flick. And I don't think it was trying to be anything more. I enjoyed it and my wife enjoyed it. It had good acting. Especially by Joe Estevez and the Killer. I thought the music was good. It had that sort of industrial Nine Inch Nails vibe to it and the ending was cool. Not your typical Hollywood type ending. Really good for an independent release. It had me wondering how good these filmmakers could do with a budget in the millions. All in all, I liked it enough to add it to my collection of horror movies. Trust me, rent it, sit back and enjoy yourself.

I lived in San Francisco until I was twelve years old. The only thing that really scared me was the thought of ever ending up in Alcatraz. Now the thought of a psycho walking the streets could scare anyone anywhere. I thought the title was catchy but had a really bad feeling about the actual movie. Never really seen any movies with Joe Estevez, but I'll get to him later. When you watch a low end budget/quality type of film you pretty much know what your getting. I'm not one to get into what other reviewers think or say but I don't know what movie they were watching. I've loved watching horror films since I was a kid and all I have to say is how many horribly made garbage can you see? And no, this isn't a horror film, it's a thriller and a very well made one. I really liked the fact that they went that extra mile to make a "movie" which was more of a motion picture attempt, rather than some recycled crap that keeps getting made over and over and over. San Franpsycho introduces two detectives on the trail of a man killing people for his own sick pleasure. A news reporter finds herself being at the top of his list as far as someone he goes out of his way for, risking getting caught. Joe Estevez really played his role well for me seeing him for the first time. He has that old school charisma going for him. He really stood out as should your lead character. The rest of the cast I have mixed feeling about. The psycho himself really needed to be on the screen more. I really liked the performance but there wasn't enough of him. I think the insight in that was to tease the audience with him but not over do it with him. But one of my complaints of the film was to have this guy more involved and produce more of a back story. I see him looking at pictures from other cities but the audience doesn't see them? I don't understand that. I think that would have added a little more gore, even if it's just coming from a picture. The smaller roles seemed to be throw ins. The other cop complimented Estevez very well. You have an older/younger thing going as well as them being different races. The reporter is the actual lead role in the story. The priest character was one of the better moves in this story. They have a priest get involved knowing no one will expect him to get killed. And that's one of the more disturbing parts of the film. But believe me when I tell you that this film has it's share of problems. Like I said, the smaller roles didn't do it for me. The one thing I think most horror/thriller filmmakers don't get is that your victims need to be where your better performances need to come from. If those actors are weak, the performances are weak and it ruins those moments of excitement that these kinds of movies strive on. The killings good enough but you need the actors in these roles to come through a lot more. Some time could have been taken off of this movie. I really liked the fact that someone took the chance and made a dialogue/character driven story but you can only have so much explaining and talking period. If you want a good thriller to watch, watch San Franpsycho. Good movie.

go get your camcorder, your little brother, and the disturbing neighbor next door who throws boiling water on raccoons; and you got yourself a film! well, that's what these guys thought anyway. it was so bad i can't even remember the majority of it except for flashbacks comparable to someone who toured in 'Nam. despite the really corny title, the horrible quality, the terrible actors, and the cliché writing, i think this movie isn't the worst i've ever seen. i'm saving that slot for everything with steven seagal, chuck norris and jean-claude van dam. anyhow, if you are out of options when it comes to finding new "horror" films that you haven't seen 1,000 times already, (as i was) and you are debating this one, i would still skip this. it had absolutely no redeeming qualities. this mock serial killer thriller was a weak, puny attempt at an even B film. if they're really lucky it might make the wal-mart $4.50 bin. but, i highly doubt it.

This is one of the most laughably bad films I've ever seen. I cannot believe whoever wrote the review above was serious. Perhaps he was connected with making it. It doesn't have anything going for it. There is no suspense, the acting is dire, the direction hopeless. The music score (?) is three trite notes played ad nauseam. The plot (?) must have taken all of five minutes to write. The dialogue is what a 10-year-old would come up with if asked to do a homework project. The only (slightly) redeeming feature is the actor playing the psycho himself, who grimaces, trembles and gurns magnificently and thus is amusing at times. The only reason you would be on the edge of your seat would be if you were suffering from a weak bladder. Don't waste your time.