Jump to content

Psycho Girls

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Psycho Girls
Directed byJerry Ciccoritti
Written byMichael Bockner
Jerry Ciccoritti
Produced byRobert Bergman
Michael Bockner
Jerry Ciccoritti
StarringJohn Haslett Cuff
Darlene Mignacco
Rose Graham
Agi Gallus
Michael A. Miranda
Pier Giorgio DiCicco
CinematographyRobert Bergman
Edited byRobert Bergman
Music byJoel Rosenbaum
Distributed byUnited Entertainment Pictures
Release date
  • 1986 (1986)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Psycho Girls is a 1986 Canadian slasher film directed and co-written by Jerry Ciccoritti and starring John Haslett Cuff, Darlene Mignacco, and Rose Graham. It was shot in Toronto and is Ciccoritti's first feature film.

Plot

[edit]

A woman escapes from an insane asylum along with two of her fellow inmates, to revenge herself upon her sister.

Production

[edit]

Psycho Girls was shot over a period of eleven days in 1984 in Toronto. Locations included the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. The budget was $18,000. Of the completed film, the director stated, "It was strictly a means to an end, to establish a name for ourselves. In many ways it’s just another run of the mill horror film, made by the numbers." [1]

Release

[edit]

The film was picked up for distribution by Cannon Films and was part of a large slate of projects written off as a massive loss for the company. The film was released on MGM Home Video in 1986.[2]

A Region A Blu-ray was released in 2023 by Vinegar Syndrome, newly scanned and restored. The disc featured a commentary track with co-writer/director Jerry Ciccoritti and director of photography/editor Robert Bergman, as well as several interview features.[3]

Reception

[edit]

Writing in Psychotronic Video, Michael J. Waldon noted that the film had "a surprising, bizarre edge," adding "PSYCHO GIRLS is the most warped. It’s narrated by a would be scriptwriter, typing lines like "What is money anyway, but paper with germs on it?". His story is about a woman in an asylum since she was a child, for killing her parents by putting rat poison in pancakes (!). She escapes to terrorize her sister, and in a shocking sequence, she and two sadistic, laughing maniacs kill people during a dinner party. The sex and violence is off screen, but still intense. The director shows up as a pizza delivery boy. A character is shown reading The Gore Gazette."[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Kimber, Gary (June 1987), "Young Horror Film Stylist Gerard Ciccoritti Makes a Name for Himself With Low-budget Vampire Shocker", Cinefantastique, 17 (3/4)
  2. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (26 January 1987), "Cannon Loses Some Luster", The New York Times
  3. ^ "Blu-ray Review: Psycho Girls". Inside Pulse. August 24, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Weldon, Michael J. (1989), "Two From Italian Canada", Psychotronic Video (1)
[edit]