"PG: Psycho Goreman": B-Movie, A-Potential

Platform: Shudder, Hoopla

Release Date: January 22, 2021

Not every movie wants to wow you with thought-provoking plot details and awe-inspiring dialogue. Sometimes, a movie just wants you to have some dumb fun and PG: Psycho Goreman absolutely delivers in that area. This film near-perfectly balances sci-fi aspects with horror-comedy and family drama to produce a product that already feels like a cult classic.

After Mimi beats her brother in a game of crazy-ball, Luke is forced to the loser's punishment of digging their own grave. Upon reaching the bottom, they find an odd looking container with a shining gem lodged on top and Mimi is quick to grab it for herself. The next day, they learn that they unwillingly released a nameless creature from another world who dubs himself the Archduke of Nightmares. Upon being revealed to Mimi that the gem she took grants her control over the creature she names Psycho Goreman (PG for short), she uses her newfound power the same way any crazed, bossy, egotistical child would and the results are glorious (for the audience that is). PG's resurrection is discovered by a group of extraterrestrials responsible for imprisoning him in the first place and they send one of their own to put an end to PG's destructive ways. With Mimi, Luke, and their family drama pulled into this high stake battle, will they stand behind their world-destroying “family member”?

Yes, this movie is gold, but it is as gold as a B-horror movie could be and not everything it does is flawless. Whether intentional or not, at times the scenes with the siblings come off as old 90's kid commercials, like the kind you would see in the early days of Nickelodeon. They are a tad bit overacted and the editing effects added to the film do little for enjoyment. There is a lot of cringe living in the core of this movie, but the interactions with Mimi and Luke's parents take it to another level. I guess they were supposed to be emulating marital issues but it just came off as two terrible actors with no chemistry. There were some scenes and plot details that increased their value but I think had they been kept to just those few scenes, we would have had more time for entertaining aspects I felt got the shaft. It is probably wrong for me to expect much better than the creature designs they offered, but PG was not too bad and the practical costume application was on the higher end of what these types of movies typically have. If they had put that much effort in to some of the other creatures, it would not have felt as “90's Power Rangers bad” as it did.

I think the Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and PG interactions stole the show, with Mimi's nonchalant interruptions of a terror-talking powered creature cracking me up every time. Her character was acted way over the top but it always seemed to be appropriate, especially with her brother, Luke (Owen Myre), having a much more subtle characterization and balancing the ridiculousness out. They way the movie translated the way certain characters just accepted PG's existence and his abilities helped set a fun tone for the film. Haring back to aspects of the film that I felt got shafted, I thought that a more extended look at PG in public, meandering around the town in his best Scooby Doo-disguise attire would have been gold. The little we got of that was really funny and I wish that more of the everyday interactions were explored. More than just for comedy, I think that those interactions would have helped better propel PG's character shift in the third act.

A B-level movie usually struggles to garner anything about a C-rating, but this horror/sci-fi/comedy delivers a lot of A's across the board. This was a great palette cleanser considering the bulk of movies being focused on recently were either Oscar nominees or blockbusters. Most importantly, though, is the greatness that you will get for watching through the credits. No, there is no end credit scene, but instead an original, 90's-inspired rap song that is the perfect ending for such a movie.

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RATING: 😈 😈 😈 😈. 5 / 5