San Franpsycho (2006)

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I have been patiently waiting for the new "Zodiac" to be released early next year. And I've done the other two Zodiac released films that were released direct to video. Seeing this one on the shelf made me very curious but I was expecting a big let down. With this being a lower budget film I thought for sure it would suck. It kept my interest and I thought one of the cops were going to die for sure. I actually thought the reporter was going to turn into a psycho herself and kill the boyfriend. I expected a twist like that. Even though things didn't go the way I thought or would have liked it was still a good movie. I can appreciate a low budget movie that tries and San Franpsycho worked for me. I like to see movies succeed the way this one did. Rent it if you like good acting on a low budget level or just wait for "Zodiac" if you're spoiled with big budget Hollywood stuff. I can appreciate both.

San Franpyscho: 1 out of 10: So you want to make a serial killer movie. But your budget is non-existent, your camera equipment is elderly and your stars are Joe Estevez (Martin Sheen's younger brother and a staple in really bad movies) and Todd Bridges from Different Strokes. There are probably ways to pull of at least a watchable film. The Quiroz brothers have no clue.First of all much of the cast seems to have been chosen in a desperate attempt to make Bridges and Estevez look like Oscar caliber thespians. Really how hard is it to play a priest or an overbearing mother? Certainly a city the size of San Francisco has a few professional actors willing to work for a few bucks and a screen credit. Clearly Chris Angelo and Bonnie Steiger who play these roles have other talents such as landscaper or waitress they ought to be fine tuning.Joe Rosete as the killer (yes the serial killer is simply known as "The Killer") is also pretty awful in a mentally ill method kind of way but I am almost willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as his character is written with zero style or personality. A boring almost laughable serial killer is a problem for a serial killer movie.In addition the Quiroz brothers seem to have originally planned this as an ABC Family movie of the week. There is no nudity or violence to speak of and the R rating clearly is for the adult style pacing. This move meanders like an 85 year old woman driving with wraparound sunglasses and her turn signal on. The only occasional horror comes from lighting Estevez's face with a glare that makes it look like his lower jaw was removed.I wasn't expecting a great film when I rented San Franpyscho but I wasn't expecting mind numbing boredom either.

This is one of the most laughably bad films I've ever seen. I cannot believe whoever wrote the review above was serious. Perhaps he was connected with making it. It doesn't have anything going for it. There is no suspense, the acting is dire, the direction hopeless. The music score (?) is three trite notes played ad nauseam. The plot (?) must have taken all of five minutes to write. The dialogue is what a 10-year-old would come up with if asked to do a homework project. The only (slightly) redeeming feature is the actor playing the psycho himself, who grimaces, trembles and gurns magnificently and thus is amusing at times. The only reason you would be on the edge of your seat would be if you were suffering from a weak bladder. Don't waste your time.

The title and cover instantly got my attention. I managed to find the trailer on you-tube and it looked very interesting. Off I went to Hollywood video and I found the last copy. They had two rows for it and they were all gone, I guess other people are curious about it as well. Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised. A decent score, acting, storyline and ending that catches you by surprise. These people don't take the typical Hollywood approach with this ending. The movie starts off with one of the craziest looking hulking man I have ever seen strangling a woman and suffocating her with a bag. As she slowly succumbs to her death we see the beautiful City By The Bay in the background. The story continues as two detectives and a priest try to stop the sadistic killer who is stalking a well known reporter. He sends her mysterious, religious themed letters that try and explain his madness. After a few Hitchcockian thrills and Halloweenish kills we find ourselves in the climactic end. I won't tell you who lives and who doesn't but I didn't see it coming. This isn't one of those cheesy by the dozen low budget horrors you find at most stores these days. This is a well crafted, beautifully shot bloody thriller of a movie. And that's my two cents.