If you’re like me and have a bit of a twisted sense of humor
then the odds are pretty good that you will like PSYCHOS IN LOVE. Made in 1987
while the video boom was still going strong the movie was one of those straight
to tape films that filled the shelves at mom and pop video stores across the
country. With its cover depicting a wedding couple kissing while the groom is
stabbing a woman and the bride is decapitating someone with a chainsaw pretty
much summed up the movie in a single picture it was either one you sought out
or were repulsed by. Back then I was at least curious.
At the time I wasn’t all that impressed but then again I was
watching so many releases while owning a store and trying to decide what to buy
that I was a bit jaded. With the film’s release by Vinegar Syndrome I can now
make a better call on if it was good or not.
Joe (Carmine Capobianco) owns a bar where he meets women.
Once he finds himself alone with them rather than what most would expect, a
quick roll in the hay, he instead kills them. Until he meets Kate (Debi
Thibeault). Kate has the same compulsion as Joe in that she goes out with a
guy, takes him home and then kills him.
As any fan of TV crime shows will tell you it usually takes a
trigger to provoke a serial killer. In this case it’s grapes. Both Joe and Kate
have an aversion to grapes in any way, shape or form as well as anyone who
likes grapes. Thus when grapes or wine are mentioned they kill the person
promoting them.
The couple eventually move in together and carry on with
their hobby of killing people. It’s not cheating as no sex ever happens and the
end result is always the same, a dead body. That becomes an issue when their
drain gets clogged with body parts. The good/bad news is their plumber doesn’t
hold that against them since he’s a serial killer as well. He just asks that
they give him the body parts once their deeds are done so he can eat them.
Here’s where a problem comes up. Finding happiness with one
another both Joe and Kate have begun to feel that they no longer need to kill
anyone. Their psychopathic ways are stifled by their love life. What are they
to do?
The movie is a mix of good and bad parts. The good is that
there are some truly funny moments in the film. It does a decent job of
combining the dark humor necessary to make it work with the gore factor that
will keep gore fans happy. On the downside the acting is pretty weak and
perhaps that’s intentionally so. The cinematography is also very low budget. In
some cases that helps with the humor as boom mics pop into a scene and are
grabbed by the actors. Moments of the fourth wall being broken also add some
funny spots.
Vinegar Syndrome has done a bang up job with this release.
Not only are they offering it in much better condition than ever before with a
new 2k scan from a 16mm camera negative. The amount of extras included here is
amazing for a film that’s more cult favorite than box office smash. Included
are a commentary track with director/writer/producer Gorman Bechard and Carmine
Capobianco (who also helped write the script and the music), a commentary track
with Gorman Bechard, DIRECTING PSYCHOS an interview with Bechard, PLAYING A
PSYCHO an interview with Capobianco, DISCUSSING PSYCHOS a discussion with
Bechard and Capobianco, MAKING PSYCHOS a making of featurette, a Q&A
session shot at Cinema Wasteland in 2016 with Capobianco, the original trailer,
behind the scenes photo gallery, promotional image gallery, rough edit outtakes
and extended scenes, highlights from the PSYCHOS IN LOVE stage play, four short
films directed by Bechard, a booklet essay by Art Ettinger and Matt Desiderio,
original artwork from Derek Gabryszak and a reversible cover artwork. Whew!
That’s quite a load of extras!
As I said this movie is not for everyone and the more
mainstream your movie tastes run the odds decrease in how well you will like
this one. But if you enjoy the quirky, if you like movies that are a bit off
base, if you sense of humor runs toward the dark end of the spectrum then
you’ll want to add this one to your collection.
Click here to order.
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