Best movie of this year hands down!

Good concept, poorly executed.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The first must-see film of the year.

There is indeed a cult following to this movie, alternately titled THE DEATH WHEELERS in some releases. I recall the first time I ever saw the film on a terrible VHS copy put out by one of the really low quality companies that recorded everything in slow speeds to use less tape, the end result being a washed out picture with glitches, static, rolling bars and terrible sound. To say I was unimpressed would be an understatement. And yet I heard and read of people loving this movie and wishing there would be a great print offered by someone. Arrow Video has met that challenge.The story is fairly simple. A bike gang known as The Living Dead tool around on motorcycles that would leave much to be desired by U.S. biker gangs. With skulls painted on the front of their helmets and their name printed on their leather jackets they terrorize motorists on the road by racing by them or straight at them. Oooo scary.The leader of the gang is Tom (Nicky Henson), a long haired well-bred and well-dressed young man with a curious interest in life after death. His mother (Beryl Reid) is a psychic who holds séances in their posh modern styled home. She has a servant of sorts in Shadwell (George Sanders). We're not quite sure if he's her butler, confidant or lover but he's there and helps her. It seems she holds the key to eternal life but she refuses to share it with Tom. He does learn what it is though: you simply have to believe you will not dies with every fiber of your being. Yes, that is the secret to eternal life. Really? So what does Tom do with this information? Test if of course. He believes totally that he will live and on a jaunt with the gang terrorizing the locals he eventually drives his motorcycle straight off the bridge. This results in his death. The gang wants him to go as he lived and buries him in the local cemetery sitting astride his motorcycle in an upward position. No coffin and with barely enough dirt to cover him. But remember Tom knew the secret to eternal life. With the sound of motor revving he pops up out of the ground, his motorcycle propelling him forward.Meeting up with the old gang he shows them he is now invincible. Excited by the news each member then makes the decision to follow suit and they kill themselves one by one only to come back. The only exception is Tom's girlfriend who isn't quite sure this is what she signed on for. More happens but this sets things up for you.For me the story was really lacking in any meat that should have been wrapped around the bones offered here. Perhaps worse was that the "biker gang" seemed more like a bunch of rich spoiled kids tooling around on scooters than the Harley styled motorcycles seen in most biker flicks of the time or on the open roads to this day. That anyone would find this group frightening if encountered on the roads was something I just couldn't wrap my head around. At times I wondered if Austin Powers would pop up as a gang member.And yet there is a certain amount of charm to the movie. It showed a time in history when this was the supposed rebel. It's a far cry from what we've seen represented in English cinema since when you look at films like SCUM or LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad one but at least we have something captured on film that shows us what may have been going on at the time.I give Arrow Video high praises with each new release they offer and it holds true here again. The quality of the print here is such that it made me forget that washed out old VHS version I saw years ago. If there is a fog bank on screen here it is intended rather than a sad state of affairs given us by some cheap video company. In addition to the best version available on disc we have a slew of extras. There's an interview with Nicky Henson, an archive featurette with interviews with the rest of the cast, an archive interview with the music composer for the film, an archive interview with a singer for main song in the film, a new featurette about the company that made the costumes, a short piece on restoring the film and the theatrical trailer.This movie may not be everyone's bag of tea but it is definitely worth a watch. Horror fans will want to add it to their collections. Movie fans will want to give it a glimpse. And those of us who found the film in the dollar bargain bin years ago on VHS will now have the chance to see it in much better shape than we did all those years ago.

During the '70's, some absolutely dreadful horror got made in England. However, some of them are being so odd and obscure that they actually start to become entertaining to watch and often become fan favorite, cult-classic, type of movies, such as this one."Psychomania" really isn't much good as a movie but it simply is extremely entertaining and awesome. When a movie is like that, everything else doesn't really seem to matter that much anymore.As a movie "Psychomania" is being a bit of a pointless and redundant one. It doesn't really feature a story in which a problem needs to be resolved or anything like that and it's being very simplistic with its story and story-telling. Things simply happen in this movie and its best to be enjoyed when not thinking too much into things because the movie and its story really don't make any sense.And there really is a lot to enjoy in this movie. Its premise is ridicules but awesome at the same time and it really does work out entertaining. The movie has lots of good and enjoyable moments, as well as some quite impressive motorcycles stunts and chases, that looked insanely dangerous to achieve. So no matter how simplistic and ridicules this movie gets at times, it remains a very enjoyable one to watch throughout.Lots of once famous elderly actors ended up in movies like this, by the end of the career. And so did George Sanders. The man who was once a much wanted actor, in mostly the '40's and '50's and appeared in movies such as Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca", "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", "All About Eve", "A Shot in the Dark" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray". It's sad to see that he had to end his career with 'crappy' low budget productions such as this one but still I really though that he was great in this movie and simply played an awesome role. Still I don't think that this is the movie he wanted to be remembered by. It actually was the last movie he ever appeared in, before his suicide. He didn't liked- or was afraid to get old and I'm sure that getting roles in movies such as this one must have also in a way contributed to his decision to end his life prematurely.Insanely entertaining silly genre movie!7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Movie about a biker group called The Living Dead (!!!) who ride around and terrorize people. Tom (Nicky Heson) is the leader of the group and his mom (Beryl Reid) is into the occult. He finds out through her that he can die...and come back to life as a superhuman immortal through some ceremony. He does so and persuades the rest of his gang to kill themselves and come back. This leads to some truly laughable sequences with the gang killing themselves in various ways. My favorite has to be one of the guys (stripped to his underwear) walking to a lake carrying a huge anchor that he's chained to. Then he throws the anchor in the lake to drown! They plan to come back and kill all the policeman, judges etc etc and rule the world...or something.REALLY stupid movie. The plot is outrageous even for a horror film and it's treated with the utmost seriousness. Also there's the horrible 1970s wardrobe with furniture to match (wait till you see Reid's living room). Also George Sanders (in his last role) is terrible and totally wasted in a small role as a butler. To make matters worse ALL the deaths or murders are completely bloodless and the movie quickly becomes boring. The only thing that makes this bearable is most of the acting is good. Henson (who claims he hates the movie) is very good and Reid is excellent as his mother. Mary Larkin also has some good moments as Henson's girlfriend. Still, all in all, this is boring, stupid and completely unmemorable. Gets a 2 for the acting only.

"Psychomania" is a rather decent if unspectacular biker film with horror elements.**SPOILERS**Living on the road, Tom Latham, (Nicky Henson) and Abby Holman, (Mary Larkin) the leader of a motorcycle gang, decides to gather around the other members, Jane Pettibone, (Ann Michelle) Bertram, (Roy Holder) Hatchet, (Denis Gilmore) Gash, (Peter Whitting) Chopped Meat, (Miles Greenwood) and Hinky, (Rocky Taylor) and have some fun. After managing to cause some trouble for the locals in town, one of them is accidentally killed during the process, shattering the group. When he suddenly returns days later alive and well, it's revealed that a sacred pendant is responsible for bringing him back to life from death and encourages the others to do the same and die like him. As the group starts coming the ritual and causing chaos in London, the police start trying whatever they can to stop them before they get out of control.The Good News: This one actually managed a few good parts here and there. One of the main points to this one is the fact that there's a lot of fun to be had with the group out-and-about terrorizing others with their bike antics. These are a lot of fun, especially the early game of chicken they play with one pretending to be another automobile by driving-side-by-side so there appears two headlights and causing it to veer off-the-road, and the main one is the film's highlight piece, where they travel along the road terrorizing and torturing others by pulling off the side-mirrors to smash the windows, pull slightly in front of them unexpectedly to force them to stop suddenly or poking and prodding at exposed parts of cars and trucks, in one instance causing it to crash in a massive fireball among other good times. That this last part is comprised of one extended sequence makes it all the better, as we're right up in there for all the action and it makes for a really fun time. Other vehicular fun includes another big section, where they ride through the town square and do everything from driving through signs and hitting people with their bikes to actually ramming into baby carriages and much, much more, which in turn leads to a full-on car chase with the police in pursuit which is a fun way of getting some more action into the whole affair. Aside from the action, it's got enough supernatural dealings to actually manage a few bright spots here as well, including a spectacular sequence where one of the gang envisions a rather freaky sequence where they are shown to be engaging in bizarre rituals and antics to be tortured through brief glimpses of nightmarish devices, and with the freakish repetitions of a mysterious frog featured throughout, it's quite chilling at times. Other good stuff occurs through the opening segment where, while riding their bikes, it shows them running around a fog-encased cemetery with them going in slow-motion, creating a very discerning feeling that works really nicely. The resurrection from the cemetery is also highly chilling, with the mysterious revving noises coming off in the distance, followed by the bike exploding from the crypt and running down the eyewitness in a really good scene. Also of note is the scenes where they all decide to go through with the pact and decide to commit suicide, oftentimes of the most comical means to the bystanders of such events that aren't prepared for such activities, and the light-heatedness of it allows for some levity in the film. The last good part is the film's finale, which mixes in the supernatural elements exceedingly well and makes for some great visuals as well due to the bike members gradually turning to dust in a fine scene. These here are the film's best parts.The Bad News: This one didn't have a lot of flaws, but they were quite serious. One of the biggest problems here is the fact that the means of resurrection for the group comes off as the single lamest, most moronic means of doing so. The logic behind it is fine, with the pendant being able to revive dead souls, but the fact that there's only one line to explain it fully to the group, which consists merely of the phrase that inspires such stupidity just makes it all the more irritating and completely aggravating. It's just one simple line that's used to explain all the features about how they came about from the resurrection. It's just stupid, lame and really shows a lack of creativity, made all the worse when it's featured in a sequence that reveals all to the others in the gang, but no one is shocked that it's happened and accept it without too much convincing. It's unrealistic, doesn't feel natural and feels like it's not all thought-out at all. The laid-back pacing of this one is another problem here, as it's very rarely infused with any sort of energy or momentum to keep this one from being dreary, dull and really lifeless at times, especially during the moments when the returned-biker is out among the populace, and this one really suffers from a rather dreary pace and tone that really makes it hard to get into. The last flaw to this one is the fact that there's such a huge body count packed with so little imagination in the kills, as everyone either dies off-screen or completely bloodless makes it really irritating considering it's so high. A little extra wouldn't have been so bad, but otherwise these are the only flaws.The Final Verdict: With some really good parts to it and some really irritating moments as well, this one ends up being quite middle of the road overall. Really only worthwhile for those who enjoy these kinds of Biker films or are a fan of the style presented here, but those who aren't so much fans should heed extreme caution.Rated PG: Violence