Psychomania (1973)

The leader of a group of Hell's Angels, Tom Latham (Nicky Henson), through his devil worshipping mother (Beryl Reid) does a pact with Satan in return for the secret of immortality. He commits suicide by riding his motorcycle off a bridge and returns as an Undead. His fellow bikers follow and they embark upon terrorising the people of their community and vow to bring down the establishment.Yes, that's the synopsis! It is errant nonsense of the first order and anybody encountering it for the first time will think to themselves: "Oh, this will almost certainly be unwatchable junk." I thought exactly the same thing when I first saw this at the excellent National Film Theatre in London back in 2006 as part of the BFI's Flipside season. But as it unfolded I suddenly found myself thinking: "God, this actually works." It is shot straight by the talented director Don Sharp (Witchcraft, Kiss Of The Vampire, The Face Of Fu Manchu) and if anybody but him had made it it would have almost certainly been a dud. It works marvelously as a horror comedy and a number of the sequences like one of the Hell's Angels doing himself in by throwing himself out of a plane without a parachute deliver some breathtaking shocks. However, the most memorable sequence has to be the scene where Tom's friends bury him on his motorcycle. A couple breakdown on the main road as a result of a puncture. The guy makes his way across the fields to get help and he gets the fright of his life when the reactivated Undead Tom bursts up through the earth on his motorbike. The film also features the last performance of George Sanders - he committed suicide soon after this film was made - as Reid's butler, Treadwell. Beryl Reid is delightfully eccentric as Tom's occultist mother while the rest of the youthful cast playing the bikers are perfectly in tune with the nature of the production and go through their parts cheerfully.In summary, this is a film that on first glance may detract you from watching it due to its trashy subject matter. But thanks to skillful handling coupled with some neat shocks and real laughs, Psychomania is without doubt a cult classic and is now available as a DVD - Blue Ray double disc set from the BFI.

Psychomania,I remember this VHS box at the local Avondale stores that popped up in the county. I rented it a couple of times, but never really experienced what the plot line on the back of the box had to offer... Recently TCM aired it and I have to say it should have been declared the "Spinal Tap" of UK horror schlock of the times! I love it. The leader of the gang (who resembles Don Stroud) leads his followers into a rebellious rampage filled with frogs, Satan and Druid overtones. A must for fans of the evolution of Zombie films. Notice the extremely early looking CGI at then end of the film. It looks as though they actually burned the negative. A Shepperton Studio Classic.

Silly yet sometimes atmospheric tongue in cheek biker / horror film is quite enjoyable if one knows not to take it too seriously and is prepared to just have a good time. I've seen it described here as "kitsch" and that's as good a way to put it as any. It does have a weird ambiance going for it at times, and includes some moments that are just plain hysterical.Written by Julian Zimet and Arnaud d'Usseau (also the writers of "Horror Express") and directed by Don Sharp ("The Kiss of the Vampire", "Rasputin: The Mad Monk"), its opening credits sequence does make you think that you're going to be in for a more serious experience, but soon enough it becomes more amusing than anything else. The actors know exactly what they're doing and play it all with a wink in their eyes.Nicky Henson ("Witchfinder General") plays Tom, leader of a bike gang dubbed The Living Dead. He gets wind of what kinds of things his well to do mom (Beryl Reid) and butler (George Sanders) are up to, and is intrigued. What he wants most of all is to learn how to come back to life after dying. He gets his wish, and then wants his comrades to have the same experience, although it takes them a while to warm up to the idea. Meanwhile, a police inspector (Robert Hardy, Cornelius Fudge in the "Harry Potter" series), is investigating the destructive antics of the bikers and is confounded by the fact that these crimes seem to be committed by "dead" people.Cult film lovers are sure to get into the wacky spirit of this thing. It's exciting at times, at least in the chase sequences, and viewers will likely howl with laughter seeing Tom ride his bike right through a "brick" wall, knowing that nothing can happen to him once he's returned from the grave. One of the best scenes of all takes place in the morgue. Henson is a hoot in the lead, while Reid and Sanders offer fine support; interestingly, this was Sanders' final film, as he would commit suicide not that long after. Mary Larkin is appealing as Abby; she and Ann Michelle make fine eye candy as the two female members of the gang.Overall, this is paced well and it delivers enough entertainment value to make it a great curio for lovers of strange cinema.Eight out of 10.

A gang of young hippie motorcyclists calls themselves The Living Dead.They terrorize various drivers on the roadways and citizens of British small town.The secret of eternal life is fairly simple:you must kill yourself without hesitation.So our bullying motorcyclists commit suicide one by one and they return literally as the living dead...Extremely cheesy and superbly funny horror/bikersploitation flick made by Don Sharp.There is plenty of violence but no blood and a Black Sabbath-esque proto-doom soundtrack is nicely groovy.The scene of Tom's burial in the ground of the Seven Witches has to be seen to be believed.The stunts are great and the plot is gleefully weird and silly.7 undead bikers out of 10.