Psych:9 (2010)
3 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 2:05 min
BASIC PLOT:
Roslyn (
Sara Foster) is starting a new job at a hospital that's closing down. She's going through, and transferring medical records, as part of the closure. There's only two other people on the grounds, Dr. Irvin Clement (
Cary Elwes), who's upstairs, doing the same job, in the psych unit, and a creepy security guard (
Ryan James), in a shack out front.
At the same time, a serial killer known as "the Night Hawk", has been killing blonde women all over town.
Detective Marling (
Michael Biehn), has been assigned the Night Hawk case, and appears to have suspicions about the identity of the killer.
Cole (
Gabriel Mann) is Rosyln's husband, who drives a cab.
There's not much of a story, just a bunch of characters, bumbling around in an old hospital.
WHAT WORKS:
*AWESOME OPENING SEQUENCE There's a cool opening, using Rorschach ink blots, with faces in them. It's the best part of the whole movie.
*GREAT ATMOSPHERIC The setting was coming through the screen, and the feeling of it was awful! I don't know if it was a set, or an actual building, but it had an ominous aura. The location was disturbing, and it got to you. It really added to the ambience of the movie.
*THE LIGHTERS ARE A GOOD VISUAL METAPHOR They let you know fire is important, a metaphor for history, insanity and cleansing.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
*I HATE THESE WOMEN who marry children, nag them, gripe about them, and then are surprised when they cheat, or act a fool. This is a personal preference, but I hate these types of relationships in movies and on TV. You knew he was an idiot when you married him, don't gripe about it.
*THE GREEN FILTER IS DISTRACTING l know they are going for an industrial feel, but it's too much. It takes away from the amazing visuals the filming location provides, and that's about all this movie has going for it.
*MICHAEL BIEHN IS WASTED IN THIS MOVIE
Michael Biehn, who plays Detective Marling, is wasted here. His character is pointless, goes nowhere, and it feels like he was cast, just so his name could be on the credits (his name made me watch). This flawed script throws his character away, and it's such a shame. When he's on the screen, he steals the show.
*THERE'S NO STORY There tries to be one, but it makes no sense. There was something about childhood sexual abuse, crazy parents, paranoia, and a baby. That's about all I got from this movie. It's not engaging, or even interesting, and certainly NOT entertaining. There are lots of disturbing shots of a disused hospital, but even that is destroyed by the overuse of the green filter.
Several different renderings could have been chosen to advance the story, but instead, there are just more missed opportunities. We could have seen through the disturbed person's eyes, this technique was attempted (I think), but it's so jumbled, it doesn't work. A depiction of that nature works, only when you have a stable, grounding character, that represents reality. Detective Marling (
Michael Biehn) should have been given this role, but instead, he's only given a few minutes of screen time. Without that grounding influence, all you're left with is a haphazard melange of disjointed imagery, and ideas. The viewer cannot tell delusion from reality, so no story forms into anything resembling a cohesive plot
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION:
*The film ventures into strange territory with its attempts at allegories and symbolism, but these efforts lead nowhere, and fail to provide a clear point. It had good actors, who were wasted. It had a cool location, that was wasted. The interesting opening was about all this movie had to offer. I'd skip it, there are better creepy atmospherics out there. Try
Session 9 (2001) instead.
CLOSING NOTES:
*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
