By Geno McGahee
“This will be the best summer of my life.” – Reg (Douglas Kidd)
I love when I stumble upon a horror movie of the past that I haven’t seen. PSYCHO PIKE is a Canadian horror film from 1992 and it immediately reminded me of PSYCHO SCARECROW, and it wasn’t just the similar name. They had the same feel and the two films just so happened to have a common actor. Douglas Kidd plays one of the lead roles here as “Reg” and he was also in the 1996 gem “PSYCHO SCARECROW,” which you should check out if you haven’t seen it already.
Reg and his best buddy, Tim (Wayne MacNamara), have hit the road with their girls to visit the lake. There is some tension though. Reg is dating Tim’s ex, Rhonda (Dawn Kelly), and there are still some feelings between the two. Tim’s current girl, Dara (Sarah Campbell) is rather accepting and is seeing how it all plays out but wants Tim to forget about that zero and get himself a hero…more or less.
When they arrive at the lake, they stop at a nearby gas station owned by Willy (Cliff Mackinson). Willy is very talkative and wears a patch. He reveals that a fish bit out his eye and that there might be something strange going on at the mill to make the fish so aggressive. The group sort of laughs it off, but there is some truth to it. Reg is there working for his Uncle Slats (John Alexis) and they are cooking the books to make the lake look safe and to save the mill from closure. Reg is sending in samples of clean water and saying it came from the lake, but the consequences are deadly for some of the tourists there.
An old guy on a boat and his buddy are taken out by these huge fish and so are a couple of Asian guys that were apparently just there to do martial arts on the dock. Tim becomes suspicious and starts investigating himself as Willy finds out the truth and starts blackmailing Slats. Things are messy and they get worse as Tim finds out that something has happened to Dara. He should have appreciated her while he had her.
I have to admit that this movie was terribly boring for the first hour and I had a hard time getting through it, but the payoff in the end was so very well worth it. My hat is off to Douglas Kidd for his death scene. It was one of the most hilarious and awesome death scenes that I have ever seen. I will need to revisit PSYCHO SCARECROW to see if he died in that too. If he did, I’m sure he nailed it again.
I was disappointed in both Rhonda and Tim. After their best friends die, they leave with this joy because they are back together as a couple. There was no mourning at all. I can almost understand Rhonda. She found out that her man was a scumbag that was basically responsible for the deaths of many. So, maybe she hated him for that and saw his death as Karma, but not Tim. As far as I know, Dara did nothing wrong, but Tim still gets into his vehicle with a big smile on his face after the fact. Granted, he was initially upset when he figured out that she was probably killed, but keep in mind he was screaming it at Reg and Rhonda. So, he had no more options at that time. When he got the option, he was like “Dara who?” Poor Dara.
PSYCHO PIKE is far from a good movie, but it has some redeeming values. The acting is overall rather decent and the death scene at the end from Douglas Kidd needs to be watched by all and appreciated. It was amazing work by Kidd and that alone makes this movie a must see. I sort of recommend this.
Rating: 3/10
