''Psychopaths'' is a 2017 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

written and directed by Mickey Keating. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Ashley Bell, James Landry Hébert,

Mark Kassen Mark Kassen (born 1971) is an American actor, director and producer. He has appeared in the films ''Growing Up Brady'' (2000), '' The Good Student'' (2006), ''Puncture'' (2011), and ''Jobs'' (2013). In July 2020, he and Chris Evans launched A Sta ...

Angela Trimbur Angela Denise Trimbur (born July 19, 1981) is an American actress, writer, dancer, choreographer, and former reality television participant. Personal life Trimbur was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on July 19, 1981. She attended Neshaminy H ...

, Ivana Shein, Jeremy Gardner and Samuel D. Zimmerman. It had its world premiere at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

on April 20, 2017. It was released on December 1, 2017, by

Samuel Goldwyn Films Samuel Goldwyn Films is an American film company that licenses, releases and distributes art-house, independent and foreign films. It was founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the Hollywood business magnate/mogul, Samuel Goldwyn. The curre ...

Premise

A recently executed murderer's soul possesses and inspires an ensemble of psychopathic killers to attack the city of Los Angeles over the course of one night, crossing each others' paths along the way.

Cast

* Ashley Bell as an escaped mental patient *

as a torturer who targets men *

* Ivana Shein * James Landry Hébert as a strangler * Jeremy Gardner as a psychopathic cop * Helen Rogers as a housewife *

Larry Fessenden Laurence T. Fessenden (born March 23, 1963) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits inclu ...

* Sam Zimmerman as a contract killer

Production

Shooting began on February 15, 2016 and concluded by March 2016. In April, Keating reported that he was editing the film.

Release

''Psychopaths'' premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 20, 2017. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film. It is scheduled to be released on December 1, 2017.

Reception

Although praising Keating's ability to avoid retreading previous films,

Brad Miska Brad Miska is an American film producer and founder of Bloody Disgusting, a horror genre website known for covering horror films, video games, comics, and music. His films include the ''V/H/S'' trilogy of anthology film, anthology horror films, '' ...

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

criticized the lack of characterization and called ''Psychopaths'' "a beautiful work of art that's void of any real meaning". Miska highlighted Trimbur's character and said she should have been the focus of the film.

Michael Gingold Michael Gingold is an American journalist, screenwriter, and former editor-in-chief of '' Fangoria'' magazine. Career In his teen years, young horror fan Michael Gingold wrote and self-published the photocopied horror-review fanzine ''Scareapha ...

of '' Rue Morgue'' described the film as a homage to Keating's directorial influences. Commenting on the acting, Gingold wrote, "More than just a technical exercise, ''Psychopaths'' is also a showcase for several different styles of unhinged acting, which is what truly holds the attention." Gingold concluded with the hope that Bell and Keating will continue collaborating.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 5472896 2017 films 2017 horror films American horror films American serial killer films Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Samuel Goldwyn Films films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films