directed by:
Joshua Nelson written by: Joshua Nelson genre: Horror |
The scariest thing about "Psycho Therapy" from writer, director Joshua Nelson? It's the patients one hundred percent. These guys and gals are completely ridiculous and even more strange? That our leading lady psychologist is married to a dude who is just as crazy. An evil version of Joe Pesci is I've ever witnessed one. What elevates my opinion on these scary crazy patients even more you ask? It's the fact that people like these actually do exist. Nelson's film may have exaggerated a little by grouping them all together in one place, but individually there's no question of the reality of these quasi-humans.
"Psycho Therapy" delves into the life of a meek shrink who feels none of her clients even listen to her. Making matters worse is the fact she herself is a doormat and punching bag for her abusive husband. It's a lot for one person to take and as asked a few times during the film, how could she help anyone if she can't even help herself? Eventually, since this is a horror flick, everyone heads off to a weekend retreat where all hell breaks loose. This is a horror film, after all, it has to happen some time right? Let me be blunt. This is a pretty decent flick marred by some repetitive flaws. The cast manages to act out some pretty crazy roles in pretty crazy ways. It's because these characters are meant to lean so far over the normality line, any trace of a less than perfect performance is masked by the exaggerated nature of the characters. So, from a viewer's perspective, pretty much everyone performed excellently - allowing skewed personalities to become front and center... and even a little fun.
So about those flaws? First and foremost is the crazy amount of unneeded scenic cuts. It goes like this, some dialog from someone - a cut to a city scene. A little more dialog, another cut to a city scene. There's literally what could amount to ten minutes of pointless city shots - if it doesn't move the story along don't do it. Having a slicker, more polished but slightly shorter film never hurt anyone. The other thing I really noticed was the completely overblown nature of most of the film. This could have been a creative choice, but it was quite distracting. When it's all said and done, "Psycho Therapy" feels a little long to the punch with a quick and it's over payout. That's not to say it's bad in any way, just slightly unbalanced. I love this type of slasher flick, bringing back loads of memories of me obsessively watching this type of movie when I was younger. My real concern is that the lead up is just really long for all but the most dedicated genre fans, and the casual audience may not stick around long enough. This could have been alleviated a little by losing all the city cuts, but that's not the point. Nelson puts forth a solid genre flick that with a little patience, is the perfect fodder for some beers and a picture with the guys - and gals. |
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