Delirium - 1979

Reviewed by Sammi and Belial



Year: 1979

Director: Peter Maris

Starring: Turk Cekovsky, Nick Panouzis, Debi Chaney

Synopsis: A vietnam vet is hired as a vigilante assassin, by an elite group of conservatives, who feel that criminals need to truly be punished for what they did and then they make the murder look like a suicide. Unfortunately, Charlie is just a tad bit unhinged, and decides to just start killing everyone he meets. Now, he has the cops and the right-wingers looking for him!

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Review: Okay, now, this film has a bit of a legacy behind it. It's one of the infamous "Video Nasties" of the UK. As with most of the Nasties, this film never truly deserved to be banned. It's relatively bloodless in comparison to other films, and the claims of misogyny, I feel, are unfounded. Delirium (aka Psycho Puppet), is more crime-drama than horror film. Charlie, our dear maniac, is pretty much a pawn in all of this. He's a tool, used by a group of rich, conservative vigilantes who use Vietnam vets to "take care of business". What they didn't realize is that Charlie is a loose cannon, and just starts killing everyone who crosses his path. So, now they have to take care of their "problem".
This film surprised me considerably. I've seen most of the Nasties at this point, and whilst some are classics (The Evil Dead, The Burning, Driller Killer, I Spit on Your Grave)...some are just pathetic (Human Experiments, Frozen Scream, I Love You Hugs and Kisses). This one found the middle ground of "Your Basic 70's Exploitation Film". It didn't drag, the acting wasn't wretched, there was a decent body count, and the film kind of descends into madness towards the end (which I always secretly hope for).
All in all, it's a watchable film. Not great, certainly not sleazy enough to get banned, and not worthy of being a Nasty. It's a fun idea, executed well enough, and paced perfectly. The film never drags, it trots along and serves up a good time. Recommended to fans of exploitation cinema.

Score: 6.0/11

Trivia: As stated above, this is one of the "Video Nasties". It was banned, along with 73 other films, on what was known as the DPP list. In 1987, it was allowed to be released, with 16 secs worth of cuts, under the title 'Psycho Puppet".

Availability: Available, used on VHS, on Amazon starting at $5.99.