Horror Movie Review: Psychophonia (2016)

From director Brianne Davis, and writers Lony Ruhmann and Barbara Stepansky, comes Psychophony. A psychological horror/thriller that is the epitome of a ‘slow-burn’ experience. One that does a decent job of building up mystery and intrigue, but doesn’t quite have enough interesting things going on to hold the attention.

Starring Vedette Lim, Andrew W. Walker, Daneil Quinn, Mark Gantt, and Kellee Stewart. The story of Psychophony surrounds a woman whose husband is murdered. If that wasn’t bad enough, his penis is also savagely removed, and the police have no leads.

She makes a valiant attempt to carry on, but starts to receive phone calls that lead her to believe that her dead husband is trying to get in contact with her. Why though? That’s what she needs to find out, so she starts to dig around and discovers that he had secrets. In particular, spending time with a group of swingers. Who welcome her with open arms, eager to show her that their way of life is freeing.

After embracing that way of life, the phone calls don’t stop though, and she starts to realise that her dead husband might be actually trying to warn her about something.

Oddly, it’s this aspect that really lets Psychophony down. Not just because it is so predictable, but because the supernatural elements just don’t fit the rest of the film’s tone. A tone that is more focused on the ‘taboo’ nature of swinging, giving it a cultish feel, and how the lead character opens her mind, while also discovering the strength to move forward with her life. All of this, warped by the murder-mystery, is more than enough to sustain Psychophony. We simply don’t need a supernatural angle, especially one so humdrum as this.

Thankfully, it’s not enough of a problem to derail the overall experience, and Psychophony is a satisfying watch overall. It isn’t always the most interesting, and there are several points where it drags its heels, but the positives do outweigh the negatives. Positives like a decent set of characters, portrayed believably by solid actors. Positives like some clever uses of surrealism, and positives like the lack of graphic nudity. Something you might expect to see considering the subject matter, but something that isn’t needed because Psychophony is all about the psychological.

There’s nothing ground-breaking here, or even anything that means this will be remembered years after viewing, but it’s a solid enough watch.