A barber drinks aftershave. A car explodes. Am I in heaven? Not quite, but not quite heaven still ain't such a bad place to be. The brainchild of multitasking visionaries Jack Sell (director, writer, cinematographer, producer) and Peter Spelson (writer, producer, leading man, background in insurance sales), The Psychotronic Man seems to have science fiction slasher intentions, but behind the scenes tussles grounded it in PG territory. This isn't such a bad thing though, in a curious way the lack of gore (a little bit of blood but nothing serious) prevents the film from ever getting cosy and for much of the first half as well as the final moments there's a dislocated feel to proceedings that contrasts well with the stark Chicago grit of the location. Dislocation is the best thing about this one, there aren't really any moments when it feels like an ordinary film. Repetitive soundtrack made mostly of weird noises and an ominous church bell, needless but rather cool helicopter shooting (something about lonely roadways rather evocative seen from up on high), freak outs made of clutching the hair and gurning intently to the aforementioned weird noises, its a heady brew. Regrettably the second half of the film deals more with the police on our titular villains tail and is taken up with a lengthy and fairly uninteresting chase scene, only enlivened by some fun tilted angles. Peter Spelson does a good job on the whole as the star, with a sub community theatre performance that ends up surprisingly convincing as a man with fried synapses. Sadly it isn't a very well written part, we learn nothing except that he is a sleazy loser grouch who cheats on his wife. One of the least sympathetic of psychic powered killers in cinema and I've seen a fair few, what's more I'm naturally disposed to like them. Of the rest of the cast Chris Carbis sports an Irish accent as the chief of police (don't really know why this stuck out for me), other roles seem to all be filled by locals of varying, mostly low level talents. They convince well enough though, this isn't a film that needed Olivier or anyone like that. On the whole I was well engaged by about half of this one and loosely for the rest. It isn't something I'd recommend to anyone other than weirdness connoisseurs (it being the film that led Michael Weldon to adopt the term psychotronic as a descriptor of cinematic style), but to those who have to see it (you know who you are) it should provide some pleasure. 6/10.P.S. Peter Spelson's only other acting role was in the bonkers supernatural slasher gem Blood Beat. That one is an essential for weirdness fans, perhaps best watched in a double bill.

Stop experimenting with drugs, kids. Al you need is... a good mixture of shampoo & hair lotion. At least, according to this movie. A depressed barber starts drinking his own products and becomes... Psychotronic Man! The walls of his sanity come crumbling down also, but I guess that's just a minor side-effect.Oh yes, this is a fairly inept film featuring lousy acting and a lot of filler-footage. Many scenes get padded with various songs and even a car chase manages to be too long and uneventful. But nevertheless, the look & feel of the film drips with vintage retro-ness, the soundtrack is cool and the whole film feels like a bad acid trip you can't get out of. It's actually a fun flick to watch, when in the right state of mind. Another way to watch this film, is by simply turning off the sound, and mixing your favorite late 70's & early 80's psychedelic rock tunes to it. The editor (Bill Reese) shows us this can be fun, as the car chase sequence already features cuts to the rhythm of a groovy soundtrack.An out-of-the-ordinary, experimental piece of independent drivel. It really feels as unique as it looks inept. Lovers of obscure cult cinema should give it a watch. I watched about 13 films (which we expected to suck badly) in two days, and "The Psychotronic Man" was one of two that actually stood out or proved to be more memorable (and better) than most of the other ones.Good Badness? Oh yes, even for half of the right reasons. 5/10 and 8/10

Peter Spelson is Rocky Fosco, a Chicago city barber with a big quiff, sideburns and a pimp moustache. He drives around listening to crap country music and fixes his hair a lot. Spelson wrote and produced this very bad, no budget supernatural psychic killer flick with his pal Jack M. Sell (the guy responsible for the music, editing and mis-direction). Obviously made fer a coupla' bucks, our hairy barber is soon blacking out and dreaming he's in a flying car surrounded by smoke and disco lights. He tells his doctor (in a sequence that flashes back to the previous two minutes) and fixes his hair some more till the headaches go out of control and he drives around and fixes his hair. Then a farmer has a flashback and Rocky kills him by using his newly acquired Psychotronic powers (which involves him fixing his hair while staring intently). Duuuuh. It's rubbish, but absolutely brilliant rubbish and the type of loose brained ESP horror trash that won't quit getting crapper/better with each passing moment and it's just an ahead of it's time amateur Scanners (80) made by inept mental patients. It's genius I tells ya'. Solid gold white trash cheeze with wonky tunes, a little blood, disco dancing, the worlds slowest, dullest, longest car / foot chase and a title way cooler than it's content. Watch it twice!

this has to be one of, if not the worst film that i have seen. the story line makes very little sense, as the only power he seems to have is to scare people so they some how accidentally die, and to make cars fly. there is only about 5 sound affects used, and they don't match what is happening in the film. most of the time is spent on useless shots, such as a minute zoom shot on a shirt lying on a road. the actors aren't up to much, most look like they don't know what to do next, and are reading off the sheet.. totally unbelievable. the only positive side is that it had my family laughing at how rubbish it was... so unless your a fan of films that are so bad that they make you laugh for that reason.... i would stay away from "the psychotronic man"