Psycho Killer

Andrew Kevin Walker has written some excellent screenplays over the past 30-plus years.

Psycho Killer is not one of them.

The feature directorial debut of longtime producer Gavin Polone (Panic Room; Zombieland), who apparently didn’t seek any advice from his past collaborators, this failed horror/thriller barely presents a fraction of the intelligence and imagination shown in Walker's Se7en, Sleepy Hollow, and The Killer (2023).

In this talent vacuum, the Satanic Slasher (James Preston Rogers, The Righteous Gemstones) nevertheless wields the potent combination of a creepy mask and unsettling, demonically deep voice. However, this highway murderer often sounds like an overly serious version of Tom Hardy’s Venom, an effect that turns unintentionally funny whenever he’s asked to speak more than a few words.

Running parallel to his demonic mission is the ludicrous concept of Officer Jane Archer (Georgina Campbell, Barbarian) going on a vigilante mission to track down the Slasher after he kills her cop husband Mike (Stephen Adekolu, Splitsville). Even factoring in the poor judgment stemming from her grief, Jane makes so many bad decisions that it’s tempting to root for the Slasher instead.

Along this miserable trip, some welcome levity transpires when the Slasher visits the Baltimore home of renowned satanist Mr. Pendleton (Malcolm McDowell) and discovers that his hero and his minions have, er, different interpretations of the religion.

The cop and criminal converge several times to ridiculous ends that make one wonder exactly how Archer pictured them playing out, ultimately bringing them to an eye-rolling climax that feels like it was concocted in post-production.

Hopefully it's indeed the case that Walker's script was taken away from him at some point and revised beyond recognition, leaving his name on Psycho Killer as bait for overly trusting cinephiles.

Fool me once, Gavin Polone: shame on you.

Grade: C-minus. Rated R. Now playing at Carolina Cinemark and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: 20th Century Studios)