Psyclops

If I were in a position to distribute DVD's, here is one way I would make money:

Everyone wants to be a filmmaker, and wants their work to be seen. Fair enough. Make a film with your own money, give it to me for free. If I like it, I will distribute it and keep all the profits. If it makes money for me, we'll negotiate a deal for your next film, or you can take your next one elsewhere if you don't like my deal. You don't owe me any future commitments if you become a success. Whatever. If it doesn't make money, Sayonara. I make all the money, but you get a chance to establish yourself as a filmmaker.

I suppose that Psyclops was made under such a deal. IMDb never heard of the film or any of its cast members. I guess the budget was literally zero, except for out-of-pocket costs. It's a horror/comedy shot on DV. Clearly the "actors" must be working for free. They can't be professional actors, judging from their line readings. The make-up and locales could easily be scrounged.

The concept is just loony and creative enough to be entertaining. Sort of.

A film geek stumbles upon a video recorded on laser disk in the 1870's. The geek and his pals watch the century-old anachronism, then track down the home of the forgotten genius inventor, and they find that he also invented a machine that can open up the gateway to other dimensions. Needless to say, the techie feels that he simply must try the ancient machine, and when he does so he unleashes plagues of insects and reanimates the dead into zombies.

NUDITY REPORT

Diane Di Gregorio shows her right breast in a light bondage scene.

Katy Jordon shows possible areas of her body, but is seen on a video-within-the-video

available only at MTI video

The meddling kids manage to reverse that effect and close the portal, but not before the techie is turned into a new kind of mutant - half human and half video camera. (You see, he was always looking through his camera, and when the magic rays hit him ... never mind. Why bother to explain anything that silly?)

The Critics Vote

no reviews available

The People Vote ...

no IMDB listing

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, I don't know. I feel embarrassed to give a no-budget picture with amateur actors a C- , but I found the script weird enough and clever to hold my attention, and I thought the director did quite a good job within the limitations of DV. This might have been a fairly good comedy/horror film if they had some money.