Psycho a Go-Go Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Psycho a Go-Go Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 20, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection.

Disc Two of The Masterpiece Collection offers three versions of the same basic source material, and as such may be of interest to "film archaelogists" who like digging into how Adamson and his team refashioned material in order to get ticket buyers into seats (at theaters or cars in drive-ins, as the case may be). This film, The Fiend With the Electronic Brain, and Blood of Ghastly Horror all share at least some of the same footage, so those interested might begin their "research" by looking at some of the screenshots in all three reviews.

There's some kind of funny background information available in both Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson and some of the other supplements in this set about how even Psycho a Go-Go wasn't the first version of this material, and how go-go dancers were added to make it more "exploitable". As such, some musical interludes (evidently added in part to help Adamson protege Tracey Robbins' singing career) are tangential at best, but the main story here (which refracts at least occasionally into the two other films) involves a jewel heist and a plot point involving a doll with a secret cache that is at least somewhat reminiscent of a similar conceit in Wait Until Dark.

Psycho a Go-Go Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Psycho a Go-Go is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. This transfer exhibits pretty recurrent damage in the form of flecks and speckling, along with some density variations. Clarity is also pretty variable, with some scenes looking reasonably sharp, and then several sequences, like a "bathing beauty" (like, in a bathtub) scene, looking pretty soft and fuzzy (there are also some pretty significant scratches). The palette's warmth ebbs and flows, and some scenes have a blue undertone. When the film starts getting outside starting at around the 45 minute mark, quality improves substantially, if there are still occasional rough looking moments. Kind of incredibly given his later reputation, this (as well as at least sections of the two films culled from it) was lensed by Vilmos Zsigmond, working under his Americanized name William.

Psycho a Go-Go Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Psycho a Go-Go features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that occasionally exhibits signs of age related wear and tear. There's noticeable hiss at quieter moments, and occasional crackling and popping. Occasional music, as in a brief piano solo early in the film, sound a bit distorted. The actual score, including the opening "go-go" number, sound reasonably full bodied. Dialogue is cleanly presented for the most part, but there are occasional skips and pops that can take out a phoneme or two. English subtitles are available via the button on your remote.

Psycho a Go-Go Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Psycho a Go-Go Trailer (1080p; 2:13)

Psycho a Go-Go Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a decent heist plot in Psycho a Go-Go, and some of Adamson's directorial touches are actually surprisingly effective, but the film still has a kind of undeniably smarmy, low rent ambience. Technical merits are iffy, but my hunch is fans of the film will be generally pleased if not blown away by the presentation.