It can’t be THAT bad… right?
Wrong.
Through all 92 minutes of “Psycho Killer,” one thought constantly loomed: What were they thinking? Honestly – I still don’t really know.
“Psycho Killer” has gained notoriety because it comes from “Se7en” writer Andrew Kevin Walker. The film follows a motorway patrol officer who sets out to find the sadistic serial killer responsible for her husband’s brutal murder.
Strong Setup with Nowhere to go
That premise contains the two necessary ingredients for at least a semi-entertaining slasher: a memorable killer and a badass final girl. “Psycho Killer” has both. It just has no idea what to do with them.
The film quickly sets the tone with an intense opening sequence. It emphasizes brutality and establishes emotional stakes. From there, though, any sense of structure disappears. There’s no rhyme or reason to what follows.
From that first sequence alone, “Psycho Killer” expects audiences to fully invest in Jane. The problem? The script gives her nothing substantial for the remainder of the runtime. While she is technically the protagonist, her character arc feels less developed than the killer’s.
Bits and pieces of information about Jane surface throughout the film. But they remain just that – fragments. The story reveals them, then moves on without exploring the emotional fallout. As a result, she becomes a dull lead, reduced to a pawn in an uneven narrative.
And this issue does not stop with Jane. Nearly every development in “Psycho Killer” feels misprioritized. As time jumps forward, the film glosses over the most interesting moments and instead lingers on the least compelling ones. You are left wondering what happened in between.
Performances Wasted
In my eyes, Georgina Campbell (Jane) is a name to watch in horror. From “Barbarian” to “T.I.M.” to “Lovely, Dark, and Deep,” she has proven herself in effective genre projects. Here, she receives almost nothing to work with.
Campbell delivers a committed performance filled with emotion and rage. Unfortunately, the script only allows glimpses of that depth.
James Preston Rogers (Satanic Slasher) serves as the film’s looming threat. Physically, he brings an imposing presence. His dialogue, however, often veers into unintentional comedy. That likely falls more on the writing than on Rogers himself, but the killer’s exaggerated, cartoonishly low voice distracts from moments that should feel intense.
“Psycho Killer” spends significant time probing the killer’s mental state. Yet none of it builds toward anything meaningful.
An Identity Crisis
The film also struggles with tone. With a villain named the Satanic Slasher, you would expect full-fledged horror. Instead, “Psycho Killer” plays more like a generic action thriller.
This marks Gavin Polone’s directorial debut, and that inexperience shows during the film’s supposed horror set pieces. The blood is there. The tension is not. Frequent slow-motion shots turn violent acts into spectacle rather than fear-inducing moments.
Magnus Nordenhof Jønck’s cinematography gives the film an old-school aesthetic, which occasionally works in its favor.
“Psycho Killer” wastes its potential. It has the killer. It has the final girl. The film does nothing worthwhile with either – resulting in a disjointed mess.
Rating: 1 out of 5
