Psycho a Go-Go (1965)

Absolutely Fantastic

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I'm Tacey Robbins' cousin, but that isn't the reason I'm giving this movie the highest rating I can. It compares very favorably to Drive-In type movies of the same era, and was filmed on about one-tenth the budget. It's fun to watch on a number of levels: A great look at mid-1960's culture, a pretty good thriller-type story line, and Tacey Robbins' great voice. And she's pretty easy on the eyes, too! People interested in seeing this movie should be aware that John Carradine does not appear in it. Bits and pieces of "Psycho-A-Go-Go" were cannibalized over the years and randomly spliced into several other movies. This film was, in fact, lost completely until the company Troma took the trouble to edit it back to what it looked like when originally released in 1965.

This film is clearly dated to an interesting time in American history. Notice the hairstyles on both the men and the women and the type of cars everybody drove. You don't see those anymore. At any rate, the reason I bring these things up is because I think that in order to understand or enjoy this film a person has to appreciate the time-frame in which it was made. Whether it's the songs by "Linda Clark" (Tacey Robbins) or the nightclub atmosphere, there is something in this movie that probably makes no sense unless you've seen it firsthand. Now, don't get me wrong, this film is not a very good picture. Other than the performance of Roy Morton (as the psycho "Joe Corey") and the presence of the "go-go dancers" at the very beginning, I found most of the film to be quite routine and dull. Even so, this film exemplifies what a B-movie looked like back in the mid-60's and that's the standard by which it should be judged. So, people who see it now might think it's a lousy movie compared to films of today. And it probably is if you compare it today's standards. But I think we need to keep things in perspective. In short, while this movie is probably a bit below average, it isn't as bad as the score most people have given it. Neither is this movie one that will suit everyone's taste. For that reason I recommend it only for those who can understand and appreciate films from this period and are willing to make allowances.

Al Adamson has to be one of the worst directors in film history. However, like Hershell Gordon Lewis (another dreadful director and the man who made the cult classic TWO THOUSAND MANIACS), it just proves that even an incompetent boob at the helm can still get lucky once in a while. I've seen many Adamson films and was absolutely shocked that PSYCHO A GO-GO (probably one of the poorest named films of all time) was a pretty decent film--especially since it had a budget of only about $89. This is nothing like his long string of ultra-shlocky horror films he made later in the 60s and into the 70s--these films, believe it or not, are probably WORSE than the Ed Wood films (I kid you not--this is possible). If you don't believe me, try watching his HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS or Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN. To quote Colonel Kurtz, "...the horror".I think that despite having an abysmally low overall rating just over 2.0, the other reviewers did a good job on this film. None of them disliked the film or gave it a bad review--understanding that for the money, it was an awfully watchable film. In particular, I ask you to read the review by 'sol', as it explains the plot very well--so well that my going over it in any detail is irrelevant. Instead, I'll just give a very quick synopsis.A gang of crooks make a daring jewel robbery but the operation goes haywire when one of the victims triggers an alarm. In their haste to escape, one of the gang throws the bag with the loot into a nearby pickup truck. However, when the innocent driver of the truck soon leaves the vicinity, the gang track him down and brutalize him and his family. Of all the crooks, the most evil and menacing is Joe, who takes great delight in murdering innocent people. Will Joe kill the nice wife or the slightly annoying young daughter? Tune in yourself to see.First, there is a lot to like. Joe was a great character and Roy Morton seemed competent playing this role (a rarity in an Adamson film--to have anyone who can act is usually a mistake) and was easy to hate. The music was also excellent, though at times repetitive. It was certainly unusual to hear such a lovely voice (Tacey Robbins) in a low-budget film as well. As for the script, it also wasn't bad and plays a lot like a Film Noir film of the 60s with a little gore and violence added into the mix. In addition, the location filming (especially at the end) was surprisingly and improved the film.As to what was bad, the worst problem was probably the direction, as some of the shots were poorly framed or should have been redone--but Adamson, having the talent of a lemur, just wasn't up to the rigors of directing or spending more than $100 making any film! Smaller problems were acting as well as the presence of the minstrel doll (something that would no doubt offend many today) and the plot holes involving the escape of the mother and daughter. The child, though semi-competent, comes off as a bit whiny--worrying about this stupid doll as a psycho is chasing them! However, this is a minor concern. But a bigger concern is the writing after the two escape. Several times the mother COULD have ended it all (such as just picking up the gun when Joe was fighting with the boxer, running over Joe when he was standing in the road, etc.). Again, however, due to the budget, you can't nitpick too much. Overall, a decent very low budget film and one that has an unfairly low score.

**SPOILERS** Remade some seven years later in 1972 as "The Blood of Ghastly Horror" and the even more ridicules title "the Man with the Synthetic Brain" that had actors John Carradine and Tommy Kirk inserted into the film. "Psycho a Go-Go" seems to be, without any cuts and edits, a fairly good low-budget crime film with a nice, as well as hum-a-long, soundtrack that makes the movie a lot better then it's later absurd reincarnations.Having their plan of robbing a jewel merchant go so smoothly at first the five hoods, Joe Travas Nick & Curtis and the getaway driver Vicky, are about to leave the building when the tied-up secretary Miss. Walker sets off the alarm alerting he security guard in the building. Making a run for it Travas throws the suitcase of jewels down on a truck and is shot by one of the guards. Hurt and asking his fellow robber Joe for help Travas gets a bullet in his chest by the crazed Joe killing him; it seems that Joe wanted to split the jewels with one less person thus keeping more for himself. Vicky who was supposed to get the jewels drives off empty handed but gets the licenses plate of the truck driver who unknowing has the stolen jewels.Back at the crooks hideout the big mastermind of the operation and boss Vito is mad as hell for his men, and woman, losing the $500,000.00 in jewels and wants to trace the trucks plates in order to find out who owns it and get his, and his jewel robbers, ill-gotten gains back.Finding that the truck belongs to a David Clark, a local contractor, the hoods break into his house and try to beat the truth out of him about where the jewels are only to find out that he has no idea what their talking about. The hoodlums also find out that Clark's wife and six year old daughter Linda and Nancy have left the city for a vacation at Lake Taho by bus. This has Joe & Curtis take off to get, or head, them off before they get away. Linda and her six year-old daughter Nancy don't know it but the valuable jewels are hidden,by an unsuspecting Nancy, inside a black mistrial doll that David gave her for a sixth birthday present. What fascinated me most about the film "Psycho a Go-Go" was the appearance and acting of it's star Roy Morton playing the psycho killer Joe Corey. Looking like the Marine DI sergeant in the TV show "Gomor Plye USMC" Morton looked like he was doing, in some scenes, a Jack Nicholson imitation and this is years before most movie goers ever heard or even saw Jack Nicholson! Joe, or Roy Morton, was without a doubt the most interesting person in the movie and his acting as a mindless psycho was so real and disturbing that you had, like what it seemed like those in the movie, a hard time believing that he was actually acting.Vito's attempt to retrieve his stolen jewels falls apart with him ending up getting shot by the police as they come to David's rescue with Nick, who was shot in the crossfire, and Vicky captured. Joe & Curtis catch up with Linda and Nancy at the Lake Taho bus terminal and kidnaps them only to have Joe go psycho, which was very natural for him, by trying to rape and murder them. Curtis, a brain damaged ex-prize fighter, comes to their rescue getting killed by Joe, with a hand gun, who Curtis at the time was beating the hell out of.With Linda and Nancy on the run by car away from the crazed and homicidal Joe Corey he carjacks a car on the highway and is on their tail. This sets up the final scene with both Linda & Nancy trying to escape from Joe by doing some mountain climbing with Linda's husband and Nancy's father David coming to their rescue with his cop friend Frank.Joe Corey does finally get his jewels finding them in Nancy's discarded doll only to end up together with them at the bottom of the 6,000 foot snow covered mountain that he was chasing Linda and Nancy on. The acting of everyone in the film "Psycho a Go-Go" didn't even make a passing grade in a high-school play. Tacey Robbins as Linda Clark was out and out embarrassing with Miss. Robbins also doing a song, yes Linda Clark was a Go-Go dancer and singer in the movie, that was so bad that she sounded like she was singing it in a crowed New York City Subway car during the hight of 5:00PM rush hour.It was Roy Morton's bone chilling performance that really made "Psycho a Go-Go" worth seeing and I often wonder what happened to him all these years since he just disappeared from sight and was never seen or heard from again?