Psychopaths

Unless the ambition of Psychopaths is to motivate Michael Haneke to remake Funny Games for a second time, its efforts are gravely misplaced.

Well-intentioned but tedious.

There's so little substance or originality to this lurid, abstract affair that it comes off as simply a faded grindhouse collage.

Keating fails to effectively transmit his love of pushing the horror genre to new heights, with the result that we feel less gleefully complicit than merely voyeuristic.

None more so than another standout performance from [Ashley] Bell as a Fifties-obsessed fractured mind, who flips from nightclub chanteuse, to Donna Reed homemaker, to carving knife slasher in the blink of an eye.

While the whole thing meanders with no destination, I'm going to hold my position in the middle because it looks fantastic.

Director Mickey Keating should be applauded for trying an ambitious idea, but perhaps he should focus on one particular story and build his characters within that.

as the Storyteller, no doubt correctly, wonders aloud whether some might find the violence too gratuitous and the story too ambiguous, others (myself included) will just relish getting lost in the mannerisms, the mood and the madness of it all.

While Psychopaths misses the mark, it's an admirable effort that should be celebrated and welcomed in the horror community with open arms.

This assault on the senses drowns out any potential narrative through-line, trapping viewers like one of its victims: locked in a cramped box in a basement, far from help.

So, if you're looking for a fun, meaningless throwback thriller, definitely give PSYCHOPATHS a whirl. Otherwise, you might want to stay away entirely.

One or two truly great moments are buried in a self-indulgent, plot-less mess.