User reviews

Kirilian photography is featured throughout this intriguing film. Although promoted as horror, the sci-fi element is strong. Mental patient, Jim Hutton, eliminates his enemies with "accidents" carried out through psychic phenomena. Naturally this series of bizarre killings has the police quite perplexed. Such creative dispatches to the beyond as dropping a cement slab on his shyster lawyer, could easily be interpreted as "black comedy". The lets get right down to "business" romance between policeman, Paul Burke, and Hutton's Psychiatrist, Julie Adams, even has some levity to it. The movie has sexual titillation, nudity, splatter, creative kills, and an original and impressive ending. In short, a good exploitation film, with an interesting sci-fi premise. - MERK

PSYCHIC KILLER is certainly an effective little horror film, very much a product of its era. It's a film with many flaws, not least the shoddy construction of certain scenes and the general slow pacing that never pays off, but at the same time it remains interesting. The plot is a unique one that mines the late '70s craze for 'psychic' thrillers (see also THE EYES OF LAURA MARS, PATRICK, THE MEDUSA TOUCH) and the creepy atmosphere is spot on.

The weird-looking Jim Hutton stars as a guy sent to prison for a crime he may or may not have committed. Whilst inside, he befriends a black guy who gifts him the power of psychic ability, and on release the guy simply sits back in his chair and wills the deaths of those who have wronged him or his family in some way.

Much of the running time consists of a series of weird death scenes more than a little reminiscent of the likes of the FINAL DESTINATION series. They're well staged and avoid cheese for the most part, and an interesting cast and production team adds to the fun. Paul Burke's investigating cop is a great character and the actor's very likable. Aldo Ray has a minor role as a supporting detective and the evil-looking Neville Brand plays a butcher. There are roles for two famous faces from the 1950s, Whit Bissell (I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF) and Julia Adams (THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON). The script was written by Greydon Clark, who went on to direct WITHOUT WARNING, and the direction was by Ray Danton, the SANDOKAN actor. Give it a look.

It was the '70s, and the ratings system was a bit different. We have plenty of graphic violence. Not too horrible, but there's definitely disturbing stuff in there, such as the meat grinder death scene. Not to mention, there is an extended nude shower scene.

I'm not arguing about the content of the movie. I rather enjoyed it. Only you look at movies like this today and wonder how it could ever have been a PG film. The content here is clearly on par with R-rated movies of today. A man is arrested for a murder he didn't commit and put in an asylum. Fortunatley, he's put in a room with a crazy black man who knows voodoo, the best way to get revenge. When he's released, he uses the voodoo man's tools to astrally project himself to dispatch the people he blames for his incarceration (and the death of his mother while he was gone). Hilarious mayhem ensues.

This is the kind of movie to watch on a Saturday afternoon. It's dull, but always entertaining. I recommend it to all fans of '70s b-horror movies.

We've all heard the expression "if looks could kill," but how about thoughts? What if it were possible to kill somebody, no matter the distance, using the power of the mind to manipulate objects. Well, that is precisely the setup of Ray Danton's 1975 horror outing "Psychic Killer," an undeniably shlocky yet undeniably fun exercise in out-of-body homicide. In the film, we meet a 33-year-old mental patient named Arnold Masters (Jim Hutton, father of Timothy, 42 here in his final film), who repeatedly declares his innocence of the charge of murdering his dying mother's doctor (his mother had had no health insurance, and so that doctor had refused to perform a lifesaving operation on her; a situation that resonates even more strongly today, 36 years later!). Masters' luck soon takes a decided turn for the better, however, when his innocence is established, a fellow inmate gifts him with a voodoolike amulet, and he is released from confinement. Too bad, though, for all the folks who crossed Masters in the past, as the amulet soon confers on him the ability to slay from afar. As the film's trailer proclaimed back when, "The Evil of the Future Has Arrived"....

"Psychic Killer" has a rather simple, straightforward story line, but to the film's credit, it also boasts a cast of pros who seem to be having fun with it. As the investigating cops on the case, we have TV vet Paul Burke and Aldo Ray (not quite 50 here but looking much older). Masters' therapist (and God knows he needs one; the poor guy has almost as many mother issues as Norman Bates!) is played by Danton's then-wife, Julie Adams, who viewers will perhaps best remember as the bathing-suited beauty who is carried off in "The Creature From the Black Lagoon," and Israeli-born Nehemiah Persoff chews the scenery winningly as an expert on parapsychology and Kirlian auras. As for Arnold's victims, three of the unfortunate bunch are Whit Bissell, here nudging toward the end of his remarkably prolific career, Mary Wilcox, who had recently greatly impressed me playing the beautiful necrophiliac in the highly underrated film "Love Me Deadly," and Neville Brand, as a butchered butcher. It is a pleasure to watch these old pros dig into this dubious material and help put the conceit over. As for former actor turned director Danton, he does just fine in this, his third film (his two earlier pictures were "Crypt of the Living Dead" and "Deathmaster"), giving "Psychic Killer" some nice jolts and really keeping things moving; still, the picture cannot help but give off a decided Kirlian aura of cheese. The film is hardly a sleek-looking affair, and seems at times a bit crudely put together, but again, the enthusiasm of the cast, Danton's evident skill and William Kraft's occasionally freaky-deaky background score help smooth over the rough patches. Really, my only beef here is with that car that topples over a cliff, falls hundreds of feet...and fails to give the viewer a nice, satisfying fireball explosion to cap things off. Danton, apparently, should have watched some '60s Bond films to learn how to give such scenes a nice dramatic topper! Other than this quibble, though, my seal of approval to "Psychic Killer"...straight through to its incinerating conclusion.

"Psychic Killer" is a strange story about... guess what? A psychic killer! A killer who wants revenge and is able to get it from a rather considerable distance. Beyond that, there really isn't much to know about the plot.

The film comes from director Ray Danton, who is/was largely a TV director. This is rather evident in the style of the film, which seems like it could have been made for television or at least used similar equipment. There's a different feel from television to cinema, and this just didn't feel like a silver screen production. Not that this makes it a bad film, necessarily.

What does make it a bad film is pretty much everything else. We early on get a body falling off a building that is about as fake as can be. And this wasn't a comedy. Other deaths are equally cheesy, with maybe one that was at least a bit worthy of respect -- though not praise.

There was also bad music which doesn't match the scenery. I'm not sure if the music would have matched much of anything, but it certainly didn't go with what we saw. That Internet Movie Database users have given this film a 2.7 out of 10 is no surprise once you've seen it. I have to give the movie more credit than that, but not much.

One interesting thing about this film is discussion of Kirlian photography. In the 1970s (when this film was made) there was some serious discussion about the Kirlian photography and its connection to the paranormal. Dr. Thelma Moss of UCLA led the parapsychology laboratory and much of her time was devoted to efforts to avoid factors proposed by skeptical peer-review in order to confirm some connection. How successful she was is unclear, though I doubt she had much luck.

The film is hyped up on the back of the box comparing the killer (Arnold) to other notorious movie killers. But don't be fooled. Even if Arnold came first (and, being from 1975, that's a valid point) he didn't really leave a lasting mark then and he won't leave one now in the film's DVD release. Horror fans may find this a good film to pass the time with, but unless you're drinking or have a high tolerance for bad movies, this one isn't anything special.

"Psychic Killer" is quite amusing, and at the least can boast a twist on the usual sort of vengeance-themed murder spree. Some viewers might say that the ideas being explored deserve a much better cinematic treatment, but as schlock goes, this movie does show its audience a decent time. There's a fair bit of gore, and a little bit of imagination in terms of the death scenes. As guided by former actor turned director Ray Danton ("Deathmaster"), this has also got a hell of a cast of familiar faces to keep things watchable.

Jim Hutton plays Arnold Masters, a Norman Bates type who was wrongly convicted of murder and sent to a mental institution. While incarcerated, he makes the brief acquaintance of fellow patient Emilio (character actor Stack Pierce, who has a strong presence). Emilio provides Arnold with the tools to orchestrate murders while not being physically present at the murder scenes. As a result, flustered police lieutenant Jeff Morgan (Paul Burke) has to try to solve killings that don't make any sense.

The concepts of Kirlian photography (which can be seen behind the opening credits) and astral projection are good enough of a hook to reel viewers in. Hutton is good as the unbalanced protagonist. Making appearances are Julie Adams and Whit Bissell from "The Creature from the Black Lagoon", Nehemiah Persoff, Rod Cameron, Neville Brand (as a butcher whose only real "crime" is charging too much for his meat), Aldo Ray, and Della Reese. Mary Charlotte Wilcox supplies the T & A as a sexpot nurse who likes to tease her bedridden patient. In a supporting role is film director Greydon Clark ("Without Warning"), who co-wrote the picture with Danton and Mikel Angel.

This movie is "good" fun, although it does lead to a pretty horrific finale.

Seven out of 10.

A little known 70s psychological thriller that's mostly memorable for its veteran cast and crew over it being really any good. Written by Grayden Clark and oddly directed by actor Ray Danton, it features a lot of the formers signature camp, but once the story starts getting going it's just really blah and the kills are as well. Other than a nice death scene with Neville Brand, a pretty effective ending, and the fact this managed to get a PG rating despite boobs and blood its nothing special.

And I guess my review still isn't long enough for IMDB so here is some more nonsense to read. And I guess my review still isn't long enough for IMDB so here is some more nonsense to read.

Psycho killer flicks are a penny a dozen, but at least this one has something about it. Psychic Killer was released before the slasher craze really kicked off, and is surprisingly more original than many films in its class. The idea behind the plot is, of course, pure B-grade horror hokum, but somehow it works out better than many 'man with a knife' flicks. The film was obviously hampered by budget constraints, and this comes across by way of the fact that much of the movie is dialogue based. The film also has something of a cheerful tone about it, and despite messy scenes that see hands ripped apart by meat grinders and someone crushed under a slab of cement, the movie never really shocks all that much. The plot follows a man who is in a mental institute after being wrongly accused of murder. While there, he learns the ability to 'psychically' leave his body, and upon getting out and realising his mother has died while he was locked away, he vows to use his new found power to get his revenge on everyone that he believes has wronged him.

The film moves slowly throughout, and since a lot of the scenes focus on dialogue, Psychic Killer never really gets a good rhythm going, and every time we see an exciting sequence, it's generally followed by a slow one. This is obviously a result of the budget constraints, although the screenplay is also somewhat at fault as the movie could easily have made more of its central sequences without over stretching the budget. The plot idea is actually one of the film's strongpoints. It's silly and ensures that the movie is very much on the 'B' side of cinema, but it's also really rather interesting. The characters drag the piece down, however, as none of them are given any time to develop and there isn't anyone on the roster that is particularly easy to identify with. The gore scenes are few, but the one that takes place in a butchers shop is a treat. Other murders that see people killed by 'accidents' are rather sinister, but also rather humorous and overall, even though this film isn't brilliant; there's enough to recommend it to genre fans for.

As a result of being wrongfully accused of murdering a doctor and being put in a mental institution, Arnold Masters plans bloody vengeance on everyone directly or indirectly responsible for the death of his poor old mother. Luckily (for him) he inherited a medallion carrying a supernatural force and this allows Arnold's spirit to step out of the body and to commit the murders without leaving a trace. The premise of "Psychic Killer" is giant nonsense but it does guarantee a lot of fun and thrills. Besides, there are more than enough elements that indicate that this movie shouldn't be taken too seriously, like the over-the-top acting and the exaggeratedly ludicrous killings. This movie looks suspiciously much like a standard Roger Corman production: the budget is extremely low, but the ingeniousness of the script and the enthusiasm of the B-cast widely make up for it (Neville Brand and Julie Adams are particularly splendid). In case you like older horror and you have a morbid sense of humor, you're destined to like this cute piece of 70's schlock. The climax is tremendously hilarious and it looks quite a lot like a demented version of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". No essential viewing whatsoever, but a gigantically entertaining 'video-nasty' I can't recommend highly enough.

Decent performances by a cast of familiar TV faces enliven this routine horror yarn about a mental patient (Hutton), hospitalized for a murder he didn't commit, who learns astral projection, and uses his new powers to bump off the people he holds responsible for his arrest, his mother's death while he was imprisoned, and the price of meat! One of the murders is unwisely played for comic relief, and Hutton's monster makeup at the end makes him resemble Michael Sarrazin on a five-day bender.

Arnold Masters has several axes to grind. Hes in prison for a crime he didn't commit (his mother who had a tumour who due to be operated on but wasn't. The doctor who was due to undertake the procedure was then found dead in his office by Arnold who was then framed for his murder).

He tells his backstory to a fellow prisoner who confides his story to Arnold in return. His daughter was turned into a prostitute by a pimp. He says to him that he will seek revenge on this man by carving his name into his chest and slitting his throat. Lo and behold, sometime later he tells Arnold that hes done it and without leaving his prison cell. Before Arnold can ask him how, his confident scales the prison fence and jumps from the very high prison wall killing himself. It is later confirmed in the paper that the pimp indeed was murdered in the way the prisoner stipulated.

Arnold then inherits his friends belongings one of which was an amulet. This allows the owner to leave their body and travel psychically anywhere they want. Perfect for seeking revenge against your perceived enemies and enacting revenge.

Arnold is then found to be innocent and released. Those who failed his mother are then one by one found dead in very strange circumstances that defy logic and reason.

I remember seeing the trailer for this film on almost VIPCO video back in the 80's. The trailer was extremely evocative and I'm glad to say that now that I've seen the film it is every bit as brilliant as it's trailer.

Early/mid 1970's America is captured beautifully and the film has it's own very eccentric character. Check out the murders and how unorthodox they are- whether they involve a shower, a new building's cornerstone or a bacon slicer and mincing machine! The sequence involving the nurse before she steps into the shower from Hell could have been lifted from one of the great Russ Meyers' movies.

This is a great concept for a horror movie- someone spiritually leaving their body to avenge their grievances through the power of their minds. Transcendental meditation and other New Age concepts were very fashionable in the 70's and so it's great that this should mind it's way into an exploitation movie made for 42nd Street and the Drive-Ins.

And if you need any other recommendation for seeing this I'll just say this. It stars Neville Brand!!!Now if that isn't enough of an incentive then I don't know what is.

"Psychic Killer" focuses on Arnold, a prison inmate wrongly convicted of killing his mother's doctor after he refuses to perform life-saving surgery on her because she has no medical insurance. When Arnold is ultimately vindicated, he sets forth on a killing spree using astral projection to keep him physically disconnected from the crimes.

This oddball mid-'70s effort predates the more popular Australian film "Patrick", which has a similar premise, and is actually a rather effective albeit strange mixture of science fiction and horror. Visually, the film has the look of a number of low-budget movies of this era, particularly those set and shot in Los Angeles--it at times almost has the feel of a made-for-television affair, except it is more violent and generally more scandalous.

The film boasts a somewhat distinguished cast, with Jim Hutton leading as the protagonist, with Neville Brand, Nehemiah Persoff, Julie Adams, and Aldo Ray appearing in supporting parts. Adding to the appeal here is the series of death sequences perpetrated psychically by Arnold, which, as others have noted, possess a "Final Destination"-esque quality to them (there is one particular protracted sequence featuring a crane and a large stone block that is almost comic). There is also a number of black-and-white flashback sequences featured that are undercut with an unnerving score that are unexpectedly eerie.

All in all, one has to take "Psychic Killer" as it is: A low-budget effort that is imaginative and mindlessly entertaining. Arnold's motives for revenge lend the film a bit of pathos that makes him a sympathetic character, which add a unique flavor to the film as a whole. 7/10.

The 70's movie industry was generally low on quality, but quite often original, as in this movie. Starring Jim Hutton, who died too young and never quite made it to the top in Hollywood, This is a revenge movie with a difference. The deaths, for 1975 were pretty original, that acting wasn't too bad and the movie kept you interested to the end. Not that bad.

Arnold Masters was wrongly locked up for murder but once he is released the police find themselves investigating a series of brutal and unexplainable deaths, all related to his case. He is chief suspect but the murders happen when he is at home, being under police surveillance. Matlin's Movie Guide described this as "a violent shocker" but also rated it as a bomb. I disagree with the latter. It certainly is violent with deaths including an elderly lady pushed off a cliff, a sexy nurse being scolded to death in the shower nudity) and a butcher being butchered in the back of his shop (very well done). However we also have a deliberately comical death involving an Italian business man and a crane. I enjoyed this film, it's a killer on the lose (before the slasher boom) but with a difference. Acting is all good. It's pretty violent but as mentioned does have a streak of humour and is well paced.

"Psychic Killer (1975)" its not that bad, its actually a pretty fun and enjoyable B movie. When it comes to 70s low budget exploitation is hard to find one that actually has some decent elements, and "Psychic Killer" certainly has some notable moments in the middle of all its absurdity.

Its decently made and its not boring (its mostly entertaining) even if it has some scenes that are quite dull. It delivers the usual dose of gore and nudity that these movies are known for and it does it in a very amusing way.

With an interesting plot, halfway decent scenes and a good pace, "Psychic Killer" stands out from the average 70's schlock.

A man falsely imprisoned man gets revenge on the people responsible for it and also on those responsible for his mother's death after he's released - but he does it through a some kind of out of body travel ability given to him by a man while he was imprisoned.

The story itself is interesting and the kills scenes are pretty good - one is hilarious! But the dialogue is terrible. Kudos to the actors for delivering their lines with straight faces.

I find this movie frustrating with how it treats the main character. He's unjustly imprisoned and the victim of this whole thing. When he starts getting revenge I'm rooting for HIM, but they try to make a jerky lieutenant the hero? He's a complete dick. He even gets the girl! I would have liked this so much better if they would have made this harassing lieutenant another victim of this guy's justifiable revenge. But oh well.

A little confusing and awkward in many places, but ultimately entertaining.

To be honest, I actually looked forward to watching the entire movie...but then again I'm used to watching the worst of the worst Blaxploitation movies.

But the acting was actually really good. Of course all the characters names have already slipped my mind, but the female psychologist was really good, can't remember if I've seen her in anything else - guess I should research that.

The 'meat' scene was a lot more graphic than I expected. It was cool to see Judith Brown in something else other than all the Pam Grier movies I've seen.

One thing to improve Psychic Killer would have been more of Stack Pierce (THE black Visitor from the TV Series 'V') in the film (at least some more flashback shots would've been cool). Another thing may have been a non-matted widescreen print. Couple of things were cut off in this print. In other words, I think it was shot in 4:3, but matted for the DVD/theatre release.

I really liked this movie, and will keep it in my collection.

Although the plot to the movie is far fetched, I really enjoyed the diversity in actor Jim Hutton. I've never seen him like this before & I enjoyed what I saw. A must for all horror fans & Jim Hutton fans alike!