Director Steven Kostanski Talks Ultra-violence & Otherworldly Effects Of PG: PSYCHO GOREMAN
Rated R graphic violence in a G-rated kids movie all about an evil alien named PG. Where do I sign up? Read our review of Psycho Goreman to get an idea of just how brutal and bonkers this intergalactic F’d up kids movie really is. And tonight, if you want to watch it with a crowd (so to speak), check out the Alamo Drafthouse Virtual Hangout, Watch Party and Q&A! Live in LA? Dread is co-hosting a drive-in screening of Psycho Goreman in Hollywood tomorrow!
In the interview below, writer and director Steven Kostanksi (The Void, Manborg) talks to Dread Central about the far out practical effects in Psycho Goreman, his inspirations that helped bring this wild story to life, and his desire to see movie tie-in merch make a comeback along with ’90s style movie rap songs.
Synopsis: Siblings Mimi and Luke unwittingly resurrect an ancient alien overlord who was entombed on Earth millions of years ago after a failed attempt to destroy the universe. They nickname the evil creature Psycho Goreman (or PG for short) and use the magical amulet they discovered to force him to obey their childish whims. It isn’t long before PG’s reappearance draws the attention of intergalactic friends and foes from across the cosmos and a rogues’ gallery of alien combatants converges in small-town suburbia to battle for the fate of the galaxy.
Dread Central: Was it hard to convince people and investors that a children’s story with graphic violence was a great idea?
Steve Kostanksi: No, I was very lucky on this film. The financiers, they had never made a movie before. They were basically invested in me making whatever I wanted to make. On top of that, they just loved the idea of subverting kid movie tropes by mashing it with an ultra-violent sci-fi action fantasy story.
DC: I guess it’s kind of like what the Ragemaster game in the film says, it was “medium difficulty” but it wasn’t impossible.
SK: (laughs) Yes, that’s a good comparison! I mean I’ve got the best effects artists and the best show making crew I could ever hope for on this movie. The guys over at MastersFX in Toronto helped out with all the creature effects. They really threw everything they had at this project. It’s easy for me to convince people to jump on board and help out because they know they’re going to be getting into something pretty bonkers. This movie definitely delivered on that.
DC: What was your favorite effect or what was the hardest one to pull off? Or are they one in the same?
SK: I have a favorite but I don’t want to spoil it for people because it’s a bit of a reveal when it happens. But it’s a pretty big gag that PG does at one point to another character. We actually shot it twice. It needed to be crazier and that was the mentality for everything on this movie. Just make it as crazy as possible. I actually went back and rebuilt the whole effect and shot it a second time. So that one is my number one.
DC: I’m guessing it has something to do with the character Darkscream.
SK: Yes, it’s PG giving a certain character a “warriors death” and when you see the movie, you’ll know what that means.
DC: Absolutely. Well, I know it’s PG for short which is clever because this really feels like a PG movie even though it’s a hard R. There’s the decision to have no cussing but tons of gore and I think it’s a smart one. It makes it all feel like gross out gags instead of being truly disturbing.
SK: I set out to make a movie that was fun. I feel like that word is kind of frowned upon which pisses me off. I think it should be okay to make movies that are positive and upbeat. I feel like we’re in an age of everything needing to be cynical and depressing. It was way more trolling of me to make a movie that’s upbeat that ends with a fun rap song as opposed to trying to make some gritty, dark horror movie. All the gore and violence is more for spectacle and more as a punchline more than anything.
I wanted to have the fun energy of the Evil Dead movies or The Guyver films. It’s obviously very influenced by Super Sentai shows and movies or like Kamen Rider type stuff. I feel like there’s a brand of Japanese entertainment that I really gravitate towards that’s all creatures and martial artists and action and pyrotechnics. I feel like there’s nothing in North America really emulating that right now.
DC: I think Pandora and the Paladins are very mecha-anime inspired, for sure.
SK: Oh yeah, there’s definitely a lot of anime in there as well. I was in the thick of the end of season one of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures when I was writing it.
DC: You mentioned the rap song. And there’s the eighties rock song at the end that I think is by a band called Pleasure Chamber. “PG for short” is Lil Caesar. So who are Pleasure Chamber and Lil Caesar?
SK: Not to spoil the illusion but they’re all the composers of Blitz//Berlin who dived into this score so completely. I’m really amazed at what they pulled off in such a short period of time. I wanted something that’s anthemic. We very much wanted the music to be a character in this movie in the way that it used to be in these types of films in the ’80s and ’90s. They came up with what I miss in movies of having a rap song that’s just recapping the movie you just watched.
We have a merchandise company called Plastic Meatball and they’re making all kinds of crazy merch for the film. I do feel like that’s a super crucial component to these types of movies is merchandising tie-ins. I want a movie to have that vibe again. In the streaming era, things kind of come and go quickly. That’s half the fun of it for me.
DC: Out of all the films you’ve made, is Psycho Goreman the one you’d most like to make a sequel to?
SK: I could make a sequel to any one of my movies, for sure, but I’d really like to do followups to PG and it seems like it’s within the realm of possibility. It’s certainly a big enough universe…
RLJE Films will release the Horror/Comedy PG: Psycho Goreman in Theaters,On Demand and Digital on January 22, 2021.
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