Prison of the Psychotic Damned: Movie Review
Independent horror films are really a genre all their own. They also are not everyone’s cup of tea (much like independent film in general). On one hand, the filmmakers have the ultimate freedom to make the exact movie they want to make because major studios aren’t involved telling them how to do things, what to changes to make, etc. On the other, filmmakers have the ultimate restrictions because they do not have large budgets for actors, special effects, wardrobe, etc. It is unfair to judge independent horror along side studio films. They should be judged on how well the film came out and how well it embraced the restrictions it had and used them to their advantage. How is the overall story? How are the characters? No matter the budget, a poor story is going to be a poor story and money isn’t going to change how the characters relate to the audience.
With that said, Red Scream Films LLC hired me to review their 2007 release, “Prison of the Psychotic Damned”.
To start, let’s take a look at the DVD box art. The box art, as well as a movie poster, is a big selling point to a film because it gives a glimpse as to what the film is about with some graphics and text. Many times these overpromise what is in the film, but what is featured should relate to the story, characters, and sets. Prison’s box art features a Christ-like man with piercing green eyes and blood all over him. Behind him is an old graveyard with your typical cross tombstones and spooky old trees. I had the expectation that “Christ” would be featured in the film as a major or minor character – he wasn’t. He wasn’t even in there. I also expected that the graveyard would be featured – nope. No graveyard. The box art wasn’t fitting to the film. No idea why this was selected, but it sets up a completely wrong expectation for the film.
Now on to the film…
The film opens with an extremely long title sequence. It appeared that each person that had something to do with their film got a few seconds with their name and their name alone on the screen. Other than the length, I really liked the title sequence. This, unlike the box art, set up the movie. Lots of stills from they heyday of the Buffalo train depot, stills from the current condition, and overlays of newspaper headlines. I enjoyed the title music track too- I don’t think it really fit, but I did like the music. What upsets me is that the title visuals were so well done that it doesn’t make sense why these weren’t used as an inspiration for the cover art. They should have been!
The opening scene is of some girl rambling about something and then she decides to cut herself. She then spits on a mirror, cuts herself some more, and rips open her t-shirt (however, she didn’t make the little cut in the collar area and had trouble with her rip). I’m not sure the point of this scene. That’s why I’m writing about it. It wasn’t necessary.
As the film progresses, we learn that there is a filmmaker who is making a documentary about the Buffalo Train Depot. I have to give a mark that this was one place where they embraced the low budget movie- film within a film. Shaky camera work, bad lighting, bad audio, all of that is now OK because you can see the equipment they are using.
According to history- for a bit of time, the depot was used as a prison for the criminally insane while their main facility was being built. I think that was what happened.
The filmmaker brings along a cameraman (fat guy, quick to make innuendo jokes and fart- he was supposed to be funny). She also brings along 3 others. 1 is a psychic and a psychic is important to have on hand when visiting haunted locations. The girl who cut herself at the beginning- she’s supposedly crazy and was brought along because she could relate. Then some other girl who wears black and pink and freaks out. I think she was brought along to freak out. Not sure.
The thing about horror movies is that there should always be at least one person that the audience cares for. There could be more, but at least one. With a main cast of 5, 1 would be about right. Unfortunately, there isn’t one character that you can care for in this movie. They are all extremely annoying. They even annoy each other. They fight as they are introduced to us. They fight throughout the movie. It is never explained how they know each other outside of the project… well one of the girls is explained. I guess it can be assumed that the cameraman is an employee. But really, I’d fire that guy and the other explanation is a weak plot twist that doesn’t go anywhere.
As you can guess, the ghosts do not appreciate having people in their domain. The story isn’t entirely unique, but it does work for the location. I liked what the writer was trying to do with his story- except for that opening scene and the annoying characters.
Visually the film looked great. Amazing shots of the decrepit train depot. In fact, the train depot really became another character in the film. At times it was claustrophobic. Other times, it was completely open. It looked like a place that I would love to do some urban exploring. Sadly, the visuals couldn’t overcome the annoying characters. I reached the point where I was hoping they would fall through the floor or a big plaster ornamentation would fall and crush them just so I could keep watching the various rooms of the station. This never happened.
My overall reaction? This is hard. If you do not care for independent horror films, you aren’t going to care for this movie. If you do like independent horror, I think there are elements you are going to enjoy. I never once found myself tempted to turn it off (although if there had been more scenes like the opening, I probably would have had this temptation). I’ve seen better, but I’ve seen far worse. Far, far, worse. I’d give it about 2 stars overall, but that is just because of the annoying characters. Visually, I’d give it 4. If I didn’t hate the characters, this would easily be a 3 stars.
Sponsored by Red Scream Films LLC
