Psycho Girls is a 1986 Canadian slasher film directed and co-written by Jerry Ciccoritti and starring John Haslett Cuff, Darlene Mignacco, and Rose Graham. It was shot in Toronto and is Ciccoritti's first feature film.
Plot
A woman escapes from an insane asylum along with two of her fellow inmates, to revenge herself upon her sister.
Production
Psycho Girls was shot over a period of eleven days in 1984 in Toronto. Locations included the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. The budget was $18,000. Of the completed film, the director stated, "It was strictly a means to an end, to
establish a name for ourselves. In many ways it's just another run of the mill horror film, made by the numbers."
[1]
Release
The film was picked up for distribution by The Cannon Group, Inc. and was part of a large slate of projects written off as a massive loss for the company. The film was released on MGM Home Video in 1986.[2]
A Region A Blu-ray was released in 2023 by Vinegar Syndrome, newly scanned and restored. The disc featured a commentary track with co-writer/director Jerry Ciccoritti and director of photography/editor Robert Bergman, as well as several interview features.[3]
Reception
Writing in Psychotronic Video, Michael J. Waldon noted that the film had "a surprising, bizarre edge," adding "PSYCHO GIRLS is the most warped. It's narrated by a would be scriptwriter, typing lines like "What is money anyway, but paper with germs on it?". His story is about a woman in an asylum since she was a child, for killing her parents by putting rat poison in pancakes(!). She escapes to terrorize her sister, and in a shocking sequence, she and two sadistic, laughing maniacs kill people during a dinner party. The sex and violence is off screen, but still intense. The director shows up as a pizza delivery boy. A character is shown reading The Gore Gazette."[4]
References
^Kimber, Gary (June 1987), "Young Horror Film Stylist Gerard Ciccoritti Makes a Name for Himself With Low-budget Vampire Shocker", Cinefantastique, 17 (3/4)
^Fabrikant, Geraldine (26 January 1987), "Cannon Loses Some Luster", The New York Times
