In the intro some hippie kids set up camp somewhere to protest the expansion of a motorway. Somebody is watching them, then someone else kills them. The killer acts all wild and crazy as if he's zombified.
Years later a couple moves into a mansion in England. She's a famous crime novel writer, he's an even organizer. She's anxious, every sound she hears makes her nervous. She goes exploring and finds a couple having sex in the middle of her woods, the creepy guy then exposes himself to her. She sees some kid playing with a ball but when she goes after him he vanishes. Later her husband introduces the creepy guy as the new grounds-keeper.
We learn that she's had in her past a massive mental breakdown. Now she's working on her new bestseller and is being pressured by her publisher. The quiet country is supposed to give her peace to work. But she keeps seeing things, namely some rocker she saw on TV, the killings from the intro, and the same killer running around her house. Her husbands distances himself a bit from her spending more time at work. One of the events he goes to is some type of party/orgy where the rocker is in attendance and the husband has fun with some girl who has been promised more than just hook ups.
When the creepy guy cooks her dinner she faints and sees more stuff, namely all sorts of crimes in her house. As a result she kills the creepy guy by accident. Now it all unravels. She ends up in a mental institution. Her husband gets a nice royalty check and sells the mansion that will be turned into a clinic and lots of familiar characters show up that either makes things clear or raise more questions in so far as the story and the woman's madness is concerned.
Movies about the British countryside, country people and madness are almost a subgenre in horror. And they are usually weak. This one is watchable. But it lacks something. Carpenter's character isn't likable enough and I don't think it helps to present her as already a little wacky. Stories like these are usually not entirely satisfactory because they presume a level of superhuman planning and all has to go right for the plans of the villain to work. The violence isn't very good. The villain isn't clear enough, from the main character's perspective, everyone is a villain and that just doesn't work. As with many English movies we get full frontal male nudity and little female nudity. Psychosis manages to create some creepiness and tension, but not enough, and lacks the atmosphere to engage the audience entirely.
Years later a couple moves into a mansion in England. She's a famous crime novel writer, he's an even organizer. She's anxious, every sound she hears makes her nervous. She goes exploring and finds a couple having sex in the middle of her woods, the creepy guy then exposes himself to her. She sees some kid playing with a ball but when she goes after him he vanishes. Later her husband introduces the creepy guy as the new grounds-keeper.
We learn that she's had in her past a massive mental breakdown. Now she's working on her new bestseller and is being pressured by her publisher. The quiet country is supposed to give her peace to work. But she keeps seeing things, namely some rocker she saw on TV, the killings from the intro, and the same killer running around her house. Her husbands distances himself a bit from her spending more time at work. One of the events he goes to is some type of party/orgy where the rocker is in attendance and the husband has fun with some girl who has been promised more than just hook ups.
When the creepy guy cooks her dinner she faints and sees more stuff, namely all sorts of crimes in her house. As a result she kills the creepy guy by accident. Now it all unravels. She ends up in a mental institution. Her husband gets a nice royalty check and sells the mansion that will be turned into a clinic and lots of familiar characters show up that either makes things clear or raise more questions in so far as the story and the woman's madness is concerned.
Movies about the British countryside, country people and madness are almost a subgenre in horror. And they are usually weak. This one is watchable. But it lacks something. Carpenter's character isn't likable enough and I don't think it helps to present her as already a little wacky. Stories like these are usually not entirely satisfactory because they presume a level of superhuman planning and all has to go right for the plans of the villain to work. The violence isn't very good. The villain isn't clear enough, from the main character's perspective, everyone is a villain and that just doesn't work. As with many English movies we get full frontal male nudity and little female nudity. Psychosis manages to create some creepiness and tension, but not enough, and lacks the atmosphere to engage the audience entirely.