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The Psychotronic Man

  • 1979
  • PG
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
3.0/10
563
YOUR RATING
The Psychotronic Man (1979)
HorrorSci-Fi

A man discovers that he has psychotronic powers--the ability to will people to die. He begins exercising that power.A man discovers that he has psychotronic powers--the ability to will people to die. He begins exercising that power.A man discovers that he has psychotronic powers--the ability to will people to die. He begins exercising that power.

  • Director
    • Jack M. Sell
  • Writers
    • Phil Lanier
    • Jack M. Sell
    • Peter Spelson
  • Stars
    • Peter Spelson
    • Chris Carbis
    • Curt Colbert
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    3.0/10
    563
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jack M. Sell
    • Writers
      • Phil Lanier
      • Jack M. Sell
      • Peter Spelson
    • Stars
      • Peter Spelson
      • Chris Carbis
      • Curt Colbert
    • 23User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos1

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    Top cast29

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    Peter Spelson
    • Rocky Fosco
    Chris Carbis
    • Lt. Walter O'Brien
    • (as Christopher Carbis)
    Curt Colbert
    • Sgt. Chuck Jackson
    Robin Newton
    • Kathy
    Paul Marvel
    • Dr. Steinberg
    Jeff Caliendo
    • Officer Maloney
    Lindsey Novak
    • Mrs. Fosco
    Irwin Lewin
    • Professor
    Corney Morgan
    • S.I.A. Agent Gorman
    Shirl Maschinski
    • Woman in Barbershop
    Christy Berkos
    • Police Chief
    Maryann Gorman
    • Joyce Roberts
    Virginia England
    • Sharon
    Phil Lanier
    • Keith
    Kathy Irons
    • Officer Carr
    Ray Siewert
    • Coroner
    Jack M. Sell
    • TV Director
    Bill Demaio
    • Guard
    • Director
      • Jack M. Sell
    • Writers
      • Phil Lanier
      • Jack M. Sell
      • Peter Spelson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews23

    3.0563
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    Featured reviews

    TokyoGyaru

    This is NOT a movie!!!

    It is so padded that if you cut all the padding out and just left the "plot"/"story," the "movie" would be about 20 minutes. And the non-filler is so incompetent in every way as to almost be offensive.

    I watch a lot of bad movies and find some amusement in them, but this is next-level bad. This makes Plan 9 from Outer Space seem taut and sophisticated!

    This isn't a movie. This is an endurance test! Zero stars!

    P. S. The siren they love to have wail out of nowhere from time to time is one of the most annoying sounds committed to film.
    3KDWms

    a thorough no-no

    I would advise AGAINST watching this...there's better things to do with your time and/or money. If, for some reason, you ARE gonna be subjected to this, don't expect ANY elements of many sci-fi/horror films - no special effects; no gore; no sex - virtually no attempts. So, it's a no-no, all the way. Rigid acting; illogical continuity. The plot is simple: Rocky uses psychotronic ability to dispense with people; and the Chicago-area cops get onto his trail as a result. Psychotronic wasn't in MY dictionary, but I THINK that it means that he can WILL things to happen. I suspect that he WILLED a lot of time in his car. MY psychotronic powers must need a little work: This movie continued for quite a while after I WILLED it to end.
    4Coventry

    Weird with a capital "W"

    Here's another great contender for my own personal award of "Most Demented Film I ever watched", but the least I can say is that it was very interesting. "The Pschotronic Man" begins with the longest and most unnerving opening credits ever, but they're quite sinister and atmospheric what with the really creepy music and odd color schemes and everything. This is one of them rare films that already make you feel uncomfortable before it even properly takes off. The slow-paced story introduces Rocky Foscoe; a barber with a few issues that may or may not be caused by the fact that he consumes his own hair shampoos and conditioner lotions. Rocky starts having strange visions, like himself flying around in a car and such similar tomfoolery, and he gradually becomes the world's first and only Psychotronic Man. Basically, this just means that he's an older, fatter and sleazier male version of "Carrie" who can inflict stuff only by using his overdeveloped willpower. At first, Rocky doesn't comprehend the powers that have been granted to him and even seeks professional help to make the unbearable headaches go away, but then he gradually learns how to control his skills and use it against the people he doesn't like, like his own wife who's in the way of his love affairs.

    "The Psychotronic Man" is overall a pretty cool flick, but sadly director Jack M. Sell wasn't quite sure which narrative tone to maintain. Does this story require a dramatic, mysterious or exploitative tone? Or perhaps a combination of all three? This indecisive behavior leads to an illogical structure and uneven pacing, for example when a moody love-making sequence is immediately followed by an extremely violent murder vision. The film is also slow and uneventful. Especially considering the plot outline, they could have made this into a far more grotesque and trashy cult experiment; even bearing in mind the budgetary restrictions. The overlong chase sequence, for example, is the least spectacular one in the history of cinema. The cars just drive in straight lines and at snail pace, without tricky maneuvers or causing flamboyant accidents. Still, there's some greatness to find in this oddball production, like the creepy sound effects that are frequently repeated, including a church bell chiming and half the tune of Ennio Morricone's classic music for "Once upon a time in the West". I bet the composer of this film was the only person who had great fun on set.

    Bizarre film, to say the least, but it did offer us the collective term for everything in cult, horror and trash cinema that is unique and indescribable. Psychotronic power!
    2Dan_Harkless

    Trigger warning: real dead bodies (?)

    This movie is so bad in every way, it's not even worth going into. Although I'm a bad movie aficionado, I'd never make it through this one without RiffTrax's comedic commentary. With their riffs, it's worth watching once, but I won't be returning to this one.

    The main reason I wanted to review the film was to let people know that there's a scene in a med school where a roomful of students dissect what appear to be real human corpses! (Flayed and contorted into disturbing poses, no less, apparently to make dissection access easier and/or to dehumanize them.)

    There's no way this no-budget '70s turkey had the makeup / props budget for those to not have been real. I'm surprised none of the other reviews mentioned this, and I was surprised the RiffTrax guys didn't give their audience a trigger warning beforehand, and instead merely said stuff like "Wow!" during the scene. Since I don't watch snuff films, this is the most disturbing thing I've ever seen in a movie.
    4lost-in-limbo

    "Doctor, I need your help".

    How bizarre… It's anyone's guess what's truly going on here. Especially after watching the intro where the opening credits go on for a while. And I mean awhile. It was the title that caught my eye "Revenge of the Psychotronic Man". It screams "Hey, look at me"! Anyhow what I got myself into was something bug-eyed. Think of "The Incredible Melting Man", which was made a couple years earlier and the tone is similar, but without the graphic context. Still it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, but you can see why it's virtually unknown. While being a penniless production, its clunky, dry and tawdry nature remains for most part rather entertaining. Why is it entertaining… because of just how unusual and surprisingly twisted it plays out? Even when it seems to concentrate on uneventful filler, there's something unnervingly atmospheric and random that makes it hypnotic. Even when some scenarios are risible (like the first death with the constant slow-motion) and long-winded (there's a lot of driving going on). Something which would hit you straight away would be the creepy score that overpowers many sequences and that of some oddball sound-effects like the ominous bell chimes that comes and goes. You get more of a rush from the music than the visual action. The direction is virtually non-existent, but the gritty location work of Chicago and the shadowy imagery gives it a bit of a moody edge. While the performances are on the stilted side, but durable enough and dialogues remain lacklustre. Bemusing low-grade horror Sci-fi.

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    Related interests

    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror
    James Earl Jones and David Prowse in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    Sci-Fi

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Michael Weldon titled his magazine "Psychotronic Video" and, by extension, his books "The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film" and "The Psychotronic Video Guide," after this film.
    • Goofs
      During the "Oyster Bar" scene, the shadow of the camera and cameraman are seen numerous times.
    • Connections
      Featured in RiffTrax: The Psychotronic Man (2017)

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    FAQ14

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 1979 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Revenge of the Psychotronic Man
    • Filming locations
      • Chicago, Illinois, USA
    • Production companies
      • International Harmony
      • Spelson Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 30m(90 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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