Psychopaths (2017)

Several psychopaths wreak havoc over the course of a violent night.

Director:

Mickey Keating

Writer:

Mickey Keating

Stars:

Ashley Bell, James Landry Hébert, Mark Kassen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ashley Bell	...	Alice
James Landry Hébert	...	The Strangler
Mark Kassen	...	George
Angela Trimbur	...	Blondie
Ivana Shein	...	Brenda
Jeremy Gardner	...	Cop
Sam Zimmerman	...	Mask
Larry Fessenden	...	Starkweather
Helen Rogers	...	Farrah
Jeff Daniel Phillips	...	Storyteller
Katherine Skelton	...	Motel Girl
Mike Williamson	...	Hotel Manager
Michael Villar	...	Mutton Chops
Ross Francis	...	Head Orderly
Matt Mercer	...	Orderly

Storyline

Several psychopaths wreak havoc over the course of a violent night.

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | execution | electric chair | masked killer | strangled to death | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 December 2017 (USA)

Filming Locations:

The Pink Motel & Cadillac Jack's Diner, 9457 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley, California, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,418

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glass Eye Pix, High Window Films, Sorrows Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in I Build Your House (2018)

User Reviews

Visuals in Support of Nothing

Sadly, another well made film by Mickey Keating that is ultimately disappointing (following Darling and Carnage Park and POD - but that was a super low budget first film so the positives outweighed the negatives in that case). Keating has an excellent visual eye, and this film is nothing if not a testament to the skills of it's editing, but it is all in the service of absolutely nothing. And even though I personally prefer films that are intelligent, offer new insights and observations within their genre, and approach their subjects with depth, I can still sit back and enjoy movies that seek only to entertain. And during the first half hour of this film I was willing to cut it a lot of slack, even though it announced its conspicuous lack of depth with the line "There ain't no why to evil" and a faceless narrator whose ramblings skirt perilously close to "crap happens". But regardless of the "hook" the film hangs it's narrative on there is no story to speak of and no characters of any depth or real interest even though many of them are given monologues that frequently serve no purpose except adding to the run-time. Keating is too influenced by other directors so there are extended sequences of figures dancing against black or performing old songs in the white light of a stage spotlight (thank you Mr. Lynch) or too-sleazy characters (a totally unbelievable police officer) who gets to have a lengthy, profanity laced monologue saying nothing worth listening to and punctuated by beating another character (an attempt at Tarantino?). Plot? Narrative? Follow-through? Anything??? He doesn't even develop the idea he started with as his hook. You watch the film without engagement, succumbing to frustration that you wasted your time and the director wasted an opportunity to make a good film. And at the end everything dribbles away and we're supposed to see that as clever because the unseen and omnipotent narrator apologizes if it was all "too ambiguous". Keating obviously needs to spend more time re-writing and polishing his screenplays (or find himself a co-writer who will push him toward creative AND coherent), but there is still no reason for the slew of improbabilities and impossibilities that litter the film even if the director's excuse would be "it's supposed to be stylized", such as a character doused in gasoline who wrestles with another man holding a lit cigarette, before taking out a lighter and using it to ignite even more gas - all without attracting a spark. And tossing the fingerprint-laden metal lighter into the fire. Those fingerprints would remain. Or the fact that the same record album contains stylistically divergent music by completely different artists, or an officer is going door to door at 4:30 in the morning and greets a woman with "I hope I didn't wake you". And that same officer's hair (especially if it's a period film as all the accouterments suggest), and the way characters react around a very public crime scene etc etc etc. This film is almost enough to make me give up on Mr. Keating eventually producing a successful film. But I have nothing, if not hope; which is why I turned this on in the first place.