I’ll admit, when the project was announced over five years ago, I was intrigued at the prospect of Andrew Kevin Walker — writer of “Se7en” — returning to the grisly thriller genre that built his name.
Sadly, “Psycho Killer,” directed by Gavin Polone, in his directorial debut, was shot three years ago and has basically been dumped by 20th Century — not screened for the press, and with very little marketing. For those who saw the film during Thursday previews, the embargo remained firmly in place until 9 a.m. this morning.
The reviews are only starting to trickle in this morning, as some critics paid to see it on Thursday evening, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody, it’s apparently very bad. There are only 20 reviews submitted on Rotten Tomatoes, but they’re all negative — every single review is basically a 1-star rating.
The film follows a Kansas highway patrol officer (Georgina Campbell) who has to deal with the brutal murder of her husband. It’s a revenge story — she sets out on a journey to track down the perpetrator. As the hunt progresses, she comes to realize the man responsible (James Preston Rogers) is a sadistic serial killer, and “the depth of his mental depravity is more twisted than anyone could have imagined.”
As mentioned, the film was shot in early 2023. The budget was around $10M — 20th Century is hoping they can just make their money back on this one, but even with that small budget, the odds are stacked against that happening. Still, I’m curious — how bad can this film actually be? Malcolm McDowell has a supporting role!
Walker, who wrote David Fincher’s “Se7en” and “The Killer,” not to mention he script-doctored “Fight Club” and “The Game.” His other credits include Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow” and Joel Schumacher’s “8mm.”
“Psycho Killer” is now in theaters.
