“Cringe culture is dead”—that’s what people say when defending what seems to be questionable, cheesy tastes. Fanfiction, role playing, you name it. Like it or not, cringe culture really is dead. With so many types of entertainment and art to go around, there’s no harm in liking what you like, even if it’s cheesy. That goes double for PG: Psycho Goreman.

Seriously, just look at the title.

The movie was produced by a Canadian indie film company called Astron-6, notoriously known for making over-the-top horror-comedy movies layered with an 80's aesthetic. A few of them have reached cult status, such as 2011’s Father’s Day or the more serious The Void from 2016. While still fresh out of the oven, Psycho Goreman definitely emulates the same feel with low-budget special effects, rubber suits and gore while paying homage to the 80’s theme of family and sci-fi. The caption literally says “Little girl. Big psycho”. It doesn’t get much cornier than that.

The film opens with two siblings accidentally uncovering an ancient evil known only as the Archduke of Nightmares. Mimi, the more psychotic of the two, was lucky enough to find a gem allowing her to control the Archduke - not before he killed a bunch of people though (whoops).

After some frustrating exchanges, Mimi and her brother Luke decided to settle on a new name, which is (you guessed it) Psycho Goreman. The dynamic continues to work in Mimi’s favour, as she gives PG a makeover, mutates boys into brain monsters and zombifies cops. Other B-plot details include the kids’ parents Susan and Greg sharing a growing animosity caused by Greg’s laziness and your typical intergalactic space council sending down a zealous robot angel warrior named Pandora to destroy Psycho Goreman once and for all.

From afar, Psycho Goreman clearly provides anyone that remembers Power Rangers that sweet, sweet feeling of nostalgia—much to its credit as well. Instead of capitalizing on it like some movies (see The Lion King 2019), Psycho Goreman oozes with an obsessive passion for sci-fi and horror fantasy. Each time we see PG using his powers, there’s absolutely no cutting corners as we see him murder people in an utterly horrendous fashion to the point of being ritualistic or transforming beings into a state of torturous limbo. Fans of gore will delight in just how creative PG is in making his victims suffer.

On the other hand, inhuman characters are given corny-looking outfits. However, they are intricately designed to be unique and expressive, contributing to the movie’s manic energy. Director Steven Kostanski explicitly described them to be inspired by Japanese Tokukatsu like Kamen Rider and the aforementioned Power Rangers, and it shows in each monster’s unique design. One of them literally speaks Japanese, while another is basically a brain in a tube.

While it’s unlikely to find such grounded designs in mainstream movies today, the movie’s set-piece ensures that these practical effects fit like a glove. As an audience member, I felt as if nothing was out of place merely because the lore of the universe seems to take itself seriously to an immersive degree. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Psycho Goreman does an excellent job at immersing you in its attractive aesthetic choice. Since the movie takes its worldbuilding seriously enough, so does the audience. Each character, though temporary, creates a strong impression in the watcher’s mind purely because of their larger-than-life personalities.

There’s also much to be said about the titular character itself. PG’s not just evil, he’s incorrigibly evil, revelling in any misdeed he’s able to do without concern for anyone else. While formulaic movies tend to give a redemption arc to a protagonist, PG barely changes throughout the whole movie, leading to humorous moments when he proceeds with his Evil Overlord dialogue while being restricted to Mimi’s orders.

Overall, the movie’s a good mix of humour and horror with a fancy 80’s aesthetic style. Cool, right? Except there’s a problem: it’s MOSTLY style, and less substance.

On closer inspection, Psycho Goreman (the movie, not the character) does not subvert the formulaic storyline that we’ve come to expect from typical kid adventure movies. There’s not a lot of heart beneath the comedy. Mimi as a character has no unique qualities besides being ‘the crazy one’. In fact, every human character seems overly cliché, or worse, dislikeable. Greg is a lazy dad, Luke never stops being meek, and Mimi remains stubbornly childish. While their dynamic plays off well with PG, the theme of family doesn’t come through at all. Instead, we feel bad for Luke watching him get bullied by Mimi, or Susan when she’s neglected by Greg. There’s a forced reconciliation between the family at the end of the movie, but it doesn’t really mean anything since none of the family members seemed to have learnt their lesson. Rather, they just overlooked each other’s toxic flaws for the sake of poorly wrapping up the movie.

I enjoyed Psycho Goreman for its gratuitous violence and endearing humour. The problem lies in tonal consistency. Scenes can suddenly shift between Mimi’s hijinks with Psycho Goreman and sympathizing with Mimi, who tries to reconcile with her brother even though she abused him just a few minutes ago. Kostanski’s vision was to mix an ancient-evil gorefest with tropes seen in kid adventure movies, and while that juxtaposition spells out a lot of humor, it fails in resolving conflicts of characterization that naturally come when genres are at odds with each other.

Ultimately though, Psycho Goreman succeeds as a junk food movie through and through. If you’re in the mood for cheese, action and humour, it’s still worth your time, if only to witness the artistic passion that goes into recreating a classic B-movie sensation. Just don’t expect too much narrative depth. Still, there’s no harm in supporting creators of the indie movie scene.

PG: Psycho Goreman is currently streaming on American streaming service Shudder.