Psyclops (2002 Video) User Reviews

Ruined by the Acting

[arfdawg-1 · 4/10 · 27 April 2024]

I really wanted to like this movie. Actually, I really wanted to LOVE this movie.

Unfortunately the actors are so bad at acting the entire movie was ruined for me.

And it really IS unfortunate because the director has talent. It's a low budget flick and he does quite a lot with it. He's very creative and knows how to make the action keep coming. The story unfolds really nicely but then you get blocked from loving it by the really sub-par acting. And it's all of them. They are just horrible.

So unfortunate because as i say the movie is very very creatively done. It could have been great with four better actors.

Lovecraft influences here in hip and funny version of From Beyond

[rixrex · 7 May 2006]

While I enjoyed this B movie greatly, there is no way that it was not influenced by the great New England master of supernatural lore, HP Lovecraft. After all, filmed by citizens of New Hampshire and Vermont, no doubt fairly well-versed in the work of Lovecraft, as is nearly every supernatural and horror B movie scriptwriter. And the similarities with From Beyond are obvious, yet with a lighter touch that makes this venture stand well on its own. Nice animated model insects similar to what would be done in a Band/Full Moon Production, as is the brief glimpse of the "other world". How many here will understand the reference to the "videodisc" being recorded by the old-time inventor of the "other world" viewscope gadget? If not, check out CEDMAGIC.COM and learn about the last great step in non-laser grooved media formats, thanks to RCA.

B-Movie? More like D-Movie (or worse).

[randychico · 3/10 · 26 July 2005]

True, this movie comes with horror b-movie stamp well placed in its forehead. But some of us will usually get a kick of bad movies for being bad, but that doesn't mean that people should start making awful movies without even trying, at that's what this movie feels like, effortless. Its about this guy, who's very "into videos", but after a witch, a curse video and an old machine he gets transformed into Psyclops (I don't even recall him being referred as psyclops but it's not really important), a guy with a camera inserted into his skull (of course we've seen this before in movies like Hellraiser, La Cité des enfants perdus, Brazil, and Star Trek, but we're not actually looking for originality here, are we?), I gotta admit, the make up effects were quite good, the camera didn't seem too displaced and his whole head (camera included) seemed proportionate enough for the character, unfortunately that's the only good thing coming from this movie. The guy also make electricity come out of his hands and he starts harassing his friends and at the climax he tries to use one of his woman friends in a experiment for something (I wasn't paying that much attention) The movie tries to make us sympathize with the main character/villain, like Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde, we don't want to see him harmed, but he is harassing his friends and trying to rule the world or something, of course it doesn't succeed, the character tries too hard to be funny or weird/creepy.

The worst thing of it all is the acting, i've seen better in a porn video, it gets irritating, I know you're not supposed to pay attention to those kinds of details in these movies, but at least make an effort! I'm surprised there's even a mention of a director since clearly there was no talk of how and when to say things. In the end, we see these type of films to get a laugh at the absurdity of it all (sort of present in this one) and the laughable & cheesy effects, sure the "special" effects are in effect, special, but nothing a 10 year old couldn't conjure in your run of the mill video editing software.

There's a scene at the end where Psyclops makes a beyond the grave (or beyond another parallel dimension/hell whatever) appearance and starts talking (in a oh so clever meta-film fashion) about how could they (his friends) not expect a sequel, in a way ripping of a film like Scream, I mean, who rips off a film like Scream? (well, aside from Scary Movie)

In the end the movie doesn't belong in the "good because it's bad" category, it's just annoying.

Pathetic

[[e-mail] · 1/10 · 25 March 2005]

Truly truly pathetic ! Don't waste one minute of your time on this film. I'm speechless. Awful. I'd have voted 0. Anyone who's given a good write up on this movie is either mad or related to someone in it. The movie started badly but because I'd actually read somewhere that it was good I stuck with it. Alas it got worse. Quite why anyone would make this film amazes me. definitely the worst film I've ever had the misfortune to endure. Avoid at all costs. Wash up some dish's or bath your dog. God please vote and get this down to minus 50, just so no-one else has to go through what I have. The acting was like something out of a porno movie, and poor one at that. 0/10

a laughable attempt at a movie

[st3v3n-1 · 1/10 · 2 October 2005]

This movie sucks. Period.

I cannot begin to describe it in words. My friends and I rented it for a laugh, based on the cover and summary we new it would suck. And it did. First, the acting is downright hideous. The main character is horribly cheesy. He is such a geek stereotype. His friend David, is an odd character. He is buff, looks like superman, and wears glasses. However, he is likely to be the smartest character of the movie. The main character's black friend overacts incredibly. She uses her eyebrows to talk for her. Finally, the granddaughter of the scientist plays a horrible witch.

Second, the plot is ridiculous. Why are there random nude scenes? Please tell me! Sure, ill give the director credit for the video camera view, but its overused and very cheesy. Also, the machine opens up a wormhole, melts the camera to the guys head, enables him to see out of it, brings alien bugs to earth, AND lets the bugs control the dead to turn them into zombies. Yes, zombies.

Don't get me started on the dialog. So much of it is unbelievably cheesy. "Are you the granddaughter?", followed by "I am." in a ridiculous tone.

I actually encourage you to rent this movie with friends to make fun of how horrible this movie is. It almost seems impossible for a movie to suck this bad. Watch it, make fun of it with your friends, and be glad there are still sane people on earth.

The only thing this movie didn't have going for it...

[darth_nax · 9/10 · 4 August 2005]

...was a budget of millions. This story with a decent budget and all that brings would have been a huge hit. It is original, funny, warm and dramatic. And there's science too :)

Anyone who likes B movies and wonders what happened to the genre we love so much will be heartened to see this movie. There's all the staples of a good B show. Friends having fun and helping each other, science gone terribly awry, adventure, excitement a well thought out story that actually involves science (as opposed to just using it as a prop) and maybe a sequel.

The best thing by far is the originality. In one well woven plot you get other dimensions, undead, cyborgs, witches and mad scientists. What more can anyone ask for?

Acting 7/10 Plot 10/10 Production Values 7/10 Direction 9/10 Entertainment 10/10

Unlike some others I don't rate movies against other big budget monstrosities that they cannot hope to compete against solely due to the monetary constraints. I rate against other movies in it's class/budget range.

And for the other reviewers who say they watch these B movies because you laugh at how bad they are, you're flat out liars. No-one wastes time doing that unless all you EVER do is watch movies. The only reason you claim to watch them for that reason is to try and give yourself credibility with other viewers of this genre. All you are really seeking to do is to bash a class of movie you have never liked and probably haven't watched in years.

Was this a joke??

[yoharryo · 5 June 2004]

I watched the whole of this movie last night, and I managed the first forty-five minutes by laughing at it but after that wears off it becomes a really really dull movie, with very predictable events. It may be a homage to old '50's B-Movies, but those can actually be 'scary' or at least interesting, and don't use graphics they cannot pull off (usually). This movie however uses bad graphics that they cannot maintain so cover up or don't show again! The sound appeared to be dubbed (which made me think it was a foreign film for a while, which could have been an excuse), however this was not the case and it just turned out to be really annoying. The parts of the movie 'filmed' through 'sheps' video camera were a nice touch, but having half the movie filmed like that seems cheap and tacky.

Brett Piper's Finest///possible spoilers

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 8/10 · 7 September 2007]

I have viewed some of Piper's other work and have come to realize that if Edgewood Studios is absent from the credits, then you shouldn't bother. Drainiac was alright, Arachnia was pretty good but Psyclops is his best. The three aforementioned flicks all were produced by Edgewood while the two other Piper films I have viewed, Nymphoid Barbarian and Screaming Dead, both awful films, were not affiliated with Edgewood.

Where Piper shines is through his mastery of making every penny in his low budget count. Where the majority of filmmakers flounder is through their special effects; usually of the computer animated variety. These effects are trite and amateurish, and Brett Piper rarely uses them, instead relying on ancient stop-motion techniques (which in my opinion are far more entertaining than all of the insipid films that use computer animation). That being said, Piper's main draw is the homage he pays to old B films of yore.

This film tells the tale of video geek Shep (Merriman) who finds a machine that can open other dimensions. His three pals urge him to not tinker with the unknown, but had he took their advice into account, than this would have been a short film. So Shep tinkers away and unleashes creatures from another dimension while fusing his beloved camcorder to the side of his head (a rather bizarre twist but neat and unique). He then sets out to abduct the woman he pines for, Heather (Di Gregorio) with the aid of the creatures and a zombie duo.

Although this film isn't great, it is head and shoulders above 95% of the direct-to-video garbage that litters your local rental store. Piper refuses to follow the lemmings in their journey toward the cliffs edge by shunning computer generated effects and creates a true modern B-Rate masterpiece.

Violence:$$ (more gore than violence as the creatures kill the scientist that created the time-travel device and basically wreak havoc whenever given the chance).

Nudity:$$ (one uncalled for scene of some girl making a home video of herself stripping that the friends watch, just for the sake of a naked body. Diane Di Gregorio also flashes Shep while he goofs around with his camcorder)

Story:$$$$ (highly unique for a B-Rate film. Piper's screenplay creates some likable characters and employs solid dialogue to go along with the clever plot).

Acting:$$$$ (Dan Merriman shines as the bizarre Shep, a man too eager to tinker and less concerned with the possibility of harming himself or others. He does a brilliant job with this oddball character, despite his obvious flaws, you can't help but like the weird guy. Diane Di Gregorio also shines as Shep's love interest, a naive young woman whose heart is larger than her mental capacity. Rob Monkiewicz and Irene Joseph do fine jobs with their "level-headed" characters.

No-budget, but very original and inventive.

[Katatonia · 8 February 2004]

From the same director that brought us the horrible yet lovable Draniac now comes Psyclops! I must say I really enjoyed this movie, it was quite inventive and bizarre. Obviously Psyclops was made on a super low budget like all Brett Piper films, but therein he works his magic.

If you don't like low budget films then you probably aren't going to like the movie. This isn't the latest $100 million Hollywood blockbuster, nor does it ever claim to be. Paradoxically this movie makes you think hard about possible parallel universes, and at the same time suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy the utterly fantastic story.

Scant few films still use stop-motion animation (ala Harryhausen), but Brett Piper still uses them in many of his movies, including this one. The stop-motion animation is very campy like a cheesy sci-fi film from the 1950's, and I'll guess that it's an homage to that era. Psyclops also uses opticals and various forms of CGI, but they are scant and it doesn't rely on them all that much. Did I mention that Psyclops has zombies with good old special effects makeup?

Watching many new films each week I generally see a heap of unoriginal films, or trendy forgettable films. Psyclops may not be exactly Oscar material, but for a "B-Movie" it succeeds where so many others fail in originality. I've seen Psyclops twice now, and it was just as good the second time around as the first.

What a Horror Fan Wants

[zpluscinema · 3 December 2003]

Everything Brett Piper does is pure gold (okay, maybe "Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell" left a little to be desired). I am never disappointed by his films, which can rarely be said about any filmmaker, let alone the low-budget, independent kind, who have to work a lot harder on their movies. And true to form, "Psyclops" is a great viewing experience. An inspired plot, talented actors, beautiful visuals--hey, this is as good as it gets, folks. The fun begins when an amateur videographer happens upon a lost dimension-bending machine and gets his video camera fused to his skull, turning from video geek to video freak (as the box will tell you). From there, it's awesome effects (Piper did stuff for Troma in his early days), big laughs, suspense, thrills, chills, and yes, even characters you're rooting for. In fact, this movie is put together so well, aspiring filmmakers should use it as reference material, especially for a horror project. Piper throws in everything and the kitchen sink, blending it together perfectly into a fine feast any horror fan will appreciate. I know I do. I'll stop there and leave you with a final thought: go rent this movie right now, emphasis on the right now part.