"The Psychomanteum" Review - Written by TonyD

“The Psychomanteum”
200?
**** out of ****
Director: Dave Holt
Cast: Megon Kirkpatrick, Colleen O’Donnell, Helen Sanger


“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” – Edgar Allan Poe

“BALLS!” – TonyD, Hardcore Film Maniac


Dave Holt, you got BALLS!

No not, BALLZ, because the only one that has BALLZ is a person who will admit that they like a film such as “The Psychomanteum,” but this is the reason why I love movies folks.

Ever wonder what it was like to look inside of a universe that wasn’t your own? Ever wanted to be the kind of person to experiment in a world that wasn’t their own? What if you had the opportunity to do it? Would you take it?

That was always a reason to go to the movies – to experience a new world around you. There are some adventures in life that get too tiring that there may be a free moment that you hope just to loose steam and live in a world where the thing that you are running away from isn’t there. For some of us, it’s only every once in a while. For the rest of us – it’s every day. Most of us are afraid to admit it. And shucks, I’ll be the first one to admit it.

Ever wonder why I watch a lot of movies? Ever wonder I’m always the first one to say that one movie looks unrealistic, but then I’ll go see it and love it? A movie can depress you, but another movie can make you insanely happy that you are glad to make a trip to the cinema just to catch it. “Ratatouille” and “Enchanted” were two of the movies that did that for me last year, and this year alone I’ve just been happy to see “There Will Be Blood” and “Cloverfield” in theaters.

Another little short film gives me hope. Ever since viewing David Lynch’s midnight cult-classic “Eraserhead,” I’ve been looking to check out a film that was so visually accurate to a new world that looked like the way that we view our world today – a complete shithole. I think I found the film today – “The Psychomanteum,” an amateur short by director David Holt, is a film that is a spooge napkin that was given to David Lynch when he was nominated for an Oscar in “The Elephant Man.” The man much have done his homework, sat through the crying mutant baby enough times to know what making a film is really about.

Upon checking out the film, David Holt messaged me and said nothing but this – “It’s not a movie. It’s an experience.” I thought he was just being pompous like most directors would say about their films. Hell, John Chu considers his film an experience, and his film just plain sucks. But he was being serious – “The Psychomanteum” is as much of an experience as you can get from a film, and I’m not saying that to be a suckup – I’m saying that because it’s fucking true.

I’d be lucky to get through explaining the plot. Everyone has a unique view of the short film. We are looking into the world of a woman played by Megon Kirkpatrick, so it’s only right if we see things from her eyes. She is an alcoholic and druggie, but is only trying to quit. We watch her have seizures and she sees many things, but she’s only getting worse as the film goes on. This surreal experiment can go both ways – it can be considered art, or it can be considered terrible.

And in my opinion – “The Psychomanteum” is as artistic as it can get.

The direction, editing, and cinematography are done magnificently by Dave Holt. He creates some great camera angles and scares the living shit out of the viewer. Then by editing it by making it grittier and dirtier, he creates a masterpiece. There isn’t much dialogue here, but the kudo goes to Kirkpatrick for fitting in a character such as the character that she plays. I’m telling you that if I was to play a role like the one she played, it would fuck me up for life. I would never be able to watch another ordinary film again. Between her character in “The Psychomanteum” and Jack Nance from “Eraserhead,” they seem like the perfect nightmare.

But I can’t forget the wonderful and daringly haunting score by Adam Sandberg. When I say haunting, I’m not saying Jonny Greenwood. This guy creates a fucking HAUNTING score. It picks Jonny up, crumbles him into a ball, and Kobes him into a trash can.

As much as I want to say that I wanted more, I wouldn’t be able to watch it. There’s only so much that a man like me can take, and I’m dying for a film like this anymore, so imagine a regular movie-goer who pays for shit like “Meet the Spartans” and “Fool’s Gold.” They will watch “The Psychomanteum” and sit through “Jumper” twenty times to get the “bad taste” out of their mouths. But fuck them. They don’t deserve a film like “The Psychomanteum.” Hell, most of us don’t deserve a film like this, and I’ll admit that a critic like me doesn’t deserve a movie like “The Psychomanteum.” But being a critic and being a fan of dreams, I can finally say that…

I approve of Dave Holt’s “The Psychomanteum.”