PG: Psycho Gorman is available now on Shudder
To say PG: Psycho Goreman is a delicious 1980s throwback is to understate the brilliance of Steven Kostanski’s physical effects-laden movie. Here, the science fiction worlds of The Terminator and RoboCop collide with the B-Movie gore of Troma’s Toxic Avenger and the nostalgia of Turbo Kid. The result is a joyous, dark, creative and brilliant slice of modern fantasy horror-comedy.
Our gory adventure opens with 10-year-old livewire Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and her timid older brother Luke (Owen Myre) finding a strange gem in their garden. But, this is no ordinary glowing gem; it’s an alien artefact that summons a giant evil blue alien (Matthew Ninaber) from the planet Gygax. His appearance spells destruction for every planet he visits, for he is the demon, the destroyer of worlds, and the bringer of pain. However, he is also controlled by the gem in Mimi’s possession. Quickly realising her power, Mimi’s first act is to rename the beast Psycho Goreman or PG for short, before introducing PG to the delights of suburbia as she plays out her deepest fantasy’s through the giant alien. But, trouble lurks just around the perfectly trimmed hedges as an alien warrior arrives to rid the universe of Psycho Goreman’s evil forever.
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Much like Turbo Kid, PG: Psycho Goreman is rooted in the creativity, gore and charm of the straight to VHS gem. But, beyond the nostalgia, Kostanski’s movie is also a love letter to the physical effects work that CGI has slowly replaced. Everything feels comically real in Kostanski’s lusciously imaginative world, from a kid turned into a giant brain to a menagerie of creatures sent to Earth to cut down the all-powerful PG. Each of his creations is embedded in a Jim Henson inspired world of puppetry and creature effects. However, unlike Henson, this world is full of gore, death and destruction as this delightful B-Movie space opera collides with human suburbia.
