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[Review] ‘Psycho Goreman’ Puts Emphasis on Goofy Gory Fun

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The chances are that if you grew up in the ’90s, you were a fan of the highly popular Power Rangers TV series. Based on the Japanese tokusatsu Super Sentai series, Power Rangers featured a group of teens donning super-powered suits to battle rubber-suited monsters and entities from alternate dimensions to protect the Earth from ultimate destruction. Even if you weren’t an avid fan, the expansive reach of the series was unavoidable. Psycho Goreman, the latest from filmmaker Steven Kostanski (The VoidLeprechaun Returns), infuses the tokusatsu genre with his gory splatstick sense of humor, making for a blood-soaked spectacle for the ’90s kid at heart.

Siblings Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and Luke (Owen Myer) couldn’t be any closer. They spend nearly every waking moment together, getting muddy and playing their made-up game Crazy Ball. It probably helps that Mimi is bossy and domineering. The fearless tomboy steamrolls just about every family member with her assertive personality, especially dad, Greg (Astron-6 member Adam Brooks). During a particularly grueling game of Crazy Ball in the backyard, the siblings uncover a strange gem that awakens an evil intergalactic conqueror. The being, which the siblings’ dub Psycho Goreman, is eager to assemble his former team of evildoers and continue their path of destruction, while the benevolent rulers that locked him away in the first place race to stop him once and for all.

The only catch is that the gem gives Mimi the ability to bend P.G. to her iron will.

Kostanski checks off every major nostalgic box in his evocation of ’90s era live-action fantasy fare, from Power Rangers to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The over the top creature designs brought to life via rubber-suits, the highly exaggerated portrayals of good and evil, equally melodramatic battle sequences, the tropes, and the insanely cartoonish action and style feel right at home with our childhood favorites. The only key difference is that Kostanski employs his impressive special and visual effects background to add a very adult layer of bloodletting and gore to the fold.

It doesn’t just add stakes to the mix, at least for the intergalactic beings, but the carnage adds a hefty dose of humor, too. There are no lofty ambitions or depth here; Psycho Goreman wants to give you a good time, plain and simple. It achieves that through the bizarre bond that Mimi forces upon her unwilling captor. P.G. intends to destroy and create Hellraiser-like art with his victims’ entrails. Seeing his bloodthirsty quest derailed by an undeterred child with zero sense of danger makes for a goofy yet charming time.

Though intentional, Mimi is an exceedingly abrasive character guaranteed to be off-putting for some. She creates so much trouble and pain unto others, and she’s not sorry for any of it. That she leads the film, along with her quieter, more passive brother, means that enjoyment could hinge on the character’s reception. There’s an attempt to layer in a more poignant conflict between family members later on, but it feels shoehorned in and half-baked. None of it’s necessary, either; you’re watching this for the gory monster mayhem.

Psycho Goreman delivers the schlocky space operas of our youth but injects hyper-violence and splatstick mayhem to liven things up. It’s a no-fuss, straightforward story meant to showcase the special effects and creature designs, and it more than delivers there. We may not care about the human protagonists by the time the end credits roll and the ’90s-style end credit rap kicks in, but Kostanski’s latest does leave you hoping to see more of P.G. and his continued quest for domination of the cosmos.

Psycho Goreman releases in select theaters, VOD, and digital HD platforms on January 22.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

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‘Dancing Village: The Curse Begins’ – Exclusive Clip and Images Begin a Gruesome Indonesian Nightmare

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Indonesian filmmaker Kimo Stamboel (MacabreHeadshot, The Queen of Black Magic) is back in the director’s chair for MD Pictures’ Badarawuhi Di Desa Penari (aka Dancing Village: The Curse Begins), a prequel to the Indonesian box office hit KKN Curse Of The Dancing Village. Lionsgate brings the film to U.S. theaters on April 26.

While you wait, whet your appetite for gruesome horror with a gnarly exclusive clip from Dancing Village: The Curse Begins below, along with a gallery of bloody exclusive images.

In the horror prequel, “A shaman instructs Mila to return a mystical bracelet, the Kawaturih, to the ‘Dancing Village,’ a remote site on the easternmost tip of Java Island. Joined by her cousin, Yuda, and his friends Jito and Arya, Mila arrives on the island only to discover that the village elder has passed away, and that the new guardian, Mbah Buyut, isn’t present.

“Various strange and eerie events occur while awaiting Mbah Buyut’s return, including Mila being visited by Badarawuhi, a mysterious, mythical being who rules the village. When she decides to return the Kawaturih without the help of Mgah Buyut, Mila threatens the village’s safety, and she must join a ritual to select the new ‘Dawuh,’ a cursed soul forced to dance for the rest of her life.”

Kimo Stamboel directs from a screenplay by Lele Laila.

Aulia Sarah, Maudy Effrosina, Jourdy Pranata, Moh. Iqbal Sulaiman, Ardit Erwandha, Claresta Taufan, Diding Boneng, Aming Sugandhi, Dinda Kanyadewi, Pipien Putri, Maryam Supraba, Bimasena, Putri Permata, Baiq Vania Estiningtyas Sagita, and Baiq Nathania Elvaretta star.

KKN Curse Of The Dancing Village was the highest grossing film in Indonesian box office history when initially released in 2022. Its prequel is the first film made for IMAX ever produced in Southeast Asia and in 2024, it will be one of only five films made for IMAX productions worldwide. Manoj Punjabi produces the upcoming Indonesian horror prequel.

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