Runtime: 93 minutes
Directed by: Don Sharp
Starring: Nicky Henson, Mary Larkin, Ann Michelle, Roy Holder, George Sanders
From: Benmar Productions
Imagine: A Clockwork Orange, a biker movie, graveyard frogs, a bootleg Stonehenge, psychedelic rock music, resurrection, a Jaguar Mark 2 police car, seances, vehicle chases, and groovy clothing all in the same horror film.
If that sounds rather peculiar, imagine my reaction when this movie began on one of the streaming channels that Shudder (on its smart TV app) has along with its library of films and then I saw it all come together. I of course at heard its title before-from looking through said library for the purposes of expanding my queue-but otherwise knew little about it. The end result was definitely uneven as there was more than one lull yet overall provided me enough entertainment plus was definitely unique in how all these disparate elements came together.
The movie follows a “biker gang” in the UK; to paraphrase a Letterboxd mutual, those youths-including two attractive women-look more like a British band that arrived in the wake of Beatlemania than one of the leather-wearing thugs you saw in late 60's Roger Corman efforts. The group (subtly known as The Living Dead) love causing mayhem; usually it's not above trolling but their actions sometimes lead to death. Between that, their leader Tom being a member of a rich family and the set design, A Clockwork Orange comes to mind... even if they aren't The Droogs by any means. His mom and her butler (George Sanders in his final role) practice “the dark arts” so Tom is able to discover how to die then come back to life. As he is unstoppable after he takes his own life then resurrects, that is appealing to his friends...
While the movie has its flaws, it was still fine for what it was. Besides the peculiar nature that permeates throughout, there are moments of black humor and sight gags which were pretty amusing. There are other weird moments which I won't even bring up but all this made the movie quite the trip. Sadly this has a tragic postscript; Sanders was in a bad way by the time he made this film, both mentally and physically. His Wikipedia provides all the tragic details but he ended up taking his own life; I am unsure of the rumor that he made this decision after seeing Psychomania theatrically. This real life event should not prevent you from giving this a chance.
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