Psyclops (2002)

I have viewed some of Piper's other work and have come to realize that if Edgewood Studios is absent from the credits, then you shouldn't bother. Drainiac was alright, Arachnia was pretty good but Psyclops is his best. The three aforementioned flicks all were produced by Edgewood while the two other Piper films I have viewed, Nymphoid Barbarian and Screaming Dead, both awful films, were not affiliated with Edgewood.Where Piper shines is through his mastery of making every penny in his low budget count. Where the majority of filmmakers flounder is through their special effects; usually of the computer animated variety. These effects are trite and amateurish, and Brett Piper rarely uses them, instead relying on ancient stop-motion techniques (which in my opinion are far more entertaining than all of the insipid films that use computer animation). That being said, Piper's main draw is the homage he pays to old B films of yore.This film tells the tale of video geek Shep (Merriman) who finds a machine that can open other dimensions. His three pals urge him to not tinker with the unknown, but had he took their advice into account, than this would have been a short film. So Shep tinkers away and unleashes creatures from another dimension while fusing his beloved camcorder to the side of his head (a rather bizarre twist but neat and unique). He then sets out to abduct the woman he pines for, Heather (Di Gregorio) with the aid of the creatures and a zombie duo.Although this film isn't great, it is head and shoulders above 95% of the direct-to-video garbage that litters your local rental store. Piper refuses to follow the lemmings in their journey toward the cliffs edge by shunning computer generated effects and creates a true modern B-Rate masterpiece.Violence:$$ (more gore than violence as the creatures kill the scientist that created the time-travel device and basically wreak havoc whenever given the chance).Nudity:$$ (one uncalled for scene of some girl making a home video of herself stripping that the friends watch, just for the sake of a naked body. Diane Di Gregorio also flashes Shep while he goofs around with his camcorder) Story:$$$$ (highly unique for a B-Rate film. Piper's screenplay creates some likable characters and employs solid dialogue to go along with the clever plot).Acting:$$$$ (Dan Merriman shines as the bizarre Shep, a man too eager to tinker and less concerned with the possibility of harming himself or others. He does a brilliant job with this oddball character, despite his obvious flaws, you can't help but like the weird guy. Diane Di Gregorio also shines as Shep's love interest, a naive young woman whose heart is larger than her mental capacity. Rob Monkiewicz and Irene Joseph do fine jobs with their "level-headed" characters.

True, this movie comes with horror b-movie stamp well placed in its forehead. But some of us will usually get a kick of bad movies for being bad, but that doesn't mean that people should start making awful movies without even trying, at that's what this movie feels like, effortless. Its about this guy, who's very "into videos", but after a witch, a curse video and an old machine he gets transformed into Psyclops (I don't even recall him being referred as psyclops but it's not really important), a guy with a camera inserted into his skull (of course we've seen this before in movies like Hellraiser, La Cité des enfants perdus, Brazil, and Star Trek, but we're not actually looking for originality here, are we?), I gotta admit, the make up effects were quite good, the camera didn't seem too displaced and his whole head (camera included) seemed proportionate enough for the character, unfortunately that's the only good thing coming from this movie. The guy also make electricity come out of his hands and he starts harassing his friends and at the climax he tries to use one of his woman friends in a experiment for something (I wasn't paying that much attention) The movie tries to make us sympathize with the main character/villain, like Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde, we don't want to see him harmed, but he is harassing his friends and trying to rule the world or something, of course it doesn't succeed, the character tries too hard to be funny or weird/creepy. The worst thing of it all is the acting, i've seen better in a porn video, it gets irritating, I know you're not supposed to pay attention to those kinds of details in these movies, but at least make an effort! I'm surprised there's even a mention of a director since clearly there was no talk of how and when to say things. In the end, we see these type of films to get a laugh at the absurdity of it all (sort of present in this one) and the laughable & cheesy effects, sure the "special" effects are in effect, special, but nothing a 10 year old couldn't conjure in your run of the mill video editing software.There's a scene at the end where Psyclops makes a beyond the grave (or beyond another parallel dimension/hell whatever) appearance and starts talking (in a oh so clever meta-film fashion) about how could they (his friends) not expect a sequel, in a way ripping of a film like Scream, I mean, who rips off a film like Scream? (well, aside from Scary Movie)In the end the movie doesn't belong in the "good because it's bad" category, it's just annoying.

Truly truly pathetic ! Don't waste one minute of your time on this film. I'm speechless. Awful. I'd have voted 0. Anyone who's given a good write up on this movie is either mad or related to someone in it. The movie started badly but because I'd actually read somewhere that it was good I stuck with it. Alas it got worse. Quite why anyone would make this film amazes me. definitely the worst film I've ever had the misfortune to endure. Avoid at all costs. Wash up some dish's or bath your dog. God please vote and get this down to minus 50, just so no-one else has to go through what I have. The acting was like something out of a porno movie, and poor one at that. 0/10

Everything Brett Piper does is pure gold (okay, maybe "Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell" left a little to be desired). I am never disappointed by his films, which can rarely be said about any filmmaker, let alone the low-budget, independent kind, who have to work a lot harder on their movies. And true to form, "Psyclops" is a great viewing experience. An inspired plot, talented actors, beautiful visuals--hey, this is as good as it gets, folks. The fun begins when an amateur videographer happens upon a lost dimension-bending machine and gets his video camera fused to his skull, turning from video geek to video freak (as the box will tell you). From there, it's awesome effects (Piper did stuff for Troma in his early days), big laughs, suspense, thrills, chills, and yes, even characters you're rooting for. In fact, this movie is put together so well, aspiring filmmakers should use it as reference material, especially for a horror project. Piper throws in everything and the kitchen sink, blending it together perfectly into a fine feast any horror fan will appreciate. I know I do. I'll stop there and leave you with a final thought: go rent this movie right now, emphasis on the right now part.