There is a large group of movies made that are considered so
bad they’re good. I know, it doesn’t make sense when you read that does it? But
the fact is they are enjoyable on some level even though there are mistakes,
bad acting, bad lighting, bad cinematography and more wrong with them. Some are
intentional, others are not. In the case of PSYCHO COP RETURNS I’m not quite
sure which that is.
Having not seen PSCHO COP I had no idea what to expect here.
It doesn’t matter as far as I can see. The movie kicks off with a group of
office workers planning a bachelor party after hours in their workplace. As two
of them walk down the street discussing plans they make the mistake of doing so
in front of Officer Joe Vickers. Hearing them discussing drugs he gives them
the once over and lets them go. But the truth is he only let them go to get a
better idea of where they were heading and with plans on making sure they paid
for breaking the law.
Night falls, the office closes and the party begins.
Strippers are brought in and quickly disrobe while the guys hoot and holler.
Drugs are off the menu as the guy carrying them dumped them before Vickers
approached them but alcohol is pouring freely. As all of this goes on there are
more people left in the office building. One is a female exec working on a
project, the other is a couple working on each other. Yes, believe it or not,
they’re fooling around in the office.
Vickers enters the building and confronts the security guard
and then kills him. Doors locked, elevators in his control, he heads upstairs
to take care of the lawbreakers he overheard earlier. What they didn’t realize
in their fear of a law enforcement officer is that he isn’t a standard issue
policeman. The truth he is an undead Satanist with psychotic tendencies. In
other words, he’s evil and like to kill people. This is what he does for the
next hour or so.
The movie is a flashback to the films of the time with the
body count rising and the gruesome methods of their demise being as creative as
the ratings code would allow at the time. The gore is there, the screams are
there and the chase sequences are there. And so is what was probably intended
to be another franchise in the form of Office Vickers. Poor puns and bright red
blood flow freely here but weren’t enough to make movie fans embrace the two
films. At least at the time.
Instead the films developed a cult type following with fans
running VHS copies of the movie until they wore out. A DVD release of the film
in 2005 came out but had much of the violence and sexual content removed. Now
Vinegar Syndrome has brought out a fantastic version of the film with a blu-ray
print that is as clean as you’re going to get.
Their version contains plenty of extras as well, something movies
like this rarely receive. Included are:
A commentary track with Director Adam Rifkin; "Habeas
Corpus" - a 43 minute documentary on the making of PSYCHO COP RETURNS,
featuring brand new interviews with: Adam Rifkin (Director), Robert R. Shafer
(Lead Actor), Dan Povenmire (Screenwriter), Peter Schink (Editor), Miles Dougal
(Co-Star), Rod Sweitzer (Co-Star), Nick Vallelonga (Co-Star), Barbara Niven
(Co-Star) and Melanie Good (Co-Star); "The Victims of Vickers" -
featurette with SFX Artist Mike Tristano; cover artwork by Chris Garofalo; and
reversible cover artwork. Not bad for a 20 some year old movie.
One interesting thing to note is that the director is a
pseudonym for Adam Rifkin, the director of such films as THE DARK BACKWARD, THE
CHASE and DETROIT ROCK CITY as well as having written SMALL SOLDIERS, MOUSEHUNT
and ZOOM. He made the film as a learning process and to have fun while making
the film. The end result is one that while not a fantastic movie is one of
those fun slasher pics from the 80s/90s that is a must see for fans of the
genre as well as a great drinking film for those who imbibe. Cheers to Vinegar
Syndrome for keeping this one from doing little more than collecting dust.
Click here to order.
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