Plot: What’s it about?
Virginia was supposed to go on a safari with her brother in Africa, but a last second mental meltdown canceled those plans. But just because she’s going insane, that doesn’t mean Virginia won’t find a way to still hunt down the big game, by hook or by crook. She decides to hold her hunt right in New York, amid the cluttered streets, as opposed to the plains of Africa or some other exotic location. But what will she be able to hunt in such an urban setting, right? Well, armed with $100,000, Virginia invites three men to her place for a business proposition. One man is an actor, another is a drug addict, and the final man is a wrestler (Jake La Motta), so she has a wide selection of prey to stalk, to be sure. Each of the men have been involved in a murder, but gotten away with their crime, so Virginia offers them the stack of cash to let her be the executioner, but of course, they’ll have a fighting chance. If any of the men can survive twenty-fours in Manhattan, they’ll be given the purse money, but with Virgina in hot pursuit, it won’t be an easy task to stay alive. Can any of these men manage to elude death, or will Virginia score a hat trick on her safari?
This is one wild ride to be sure, with outrageous moments, gratuitous sex scenes, and of course, “Raging Bull” Jake La Motta himself. It starts off on the strange side, but quickly moves into a full The Most Dangerous Game theme, with tons of cool twists, of course. The lead character of Virginia is hilarious and she has some fantastic lines, delivered in fine form by Eileen Lord. It’s also a blast to see Jake La Motta in this kind of movie, especially in one classic sequence, which I will leave up to you to see, but trust me, it is terrific. As expected from a movie with the human hunting theme, there’s chases & violence throughout, but you’ll also see a lot of naked flesh, even right from the start the breasts are on showcase here. But for me, the main draw is the sheer outrageous nature of the events & characters, as Confessions of a Psycho Cat is so much fun to watch, especially with a group of friends. As usual, Something Weird (via Image Ent.) has delivered a top notch disc for a lower profile flick, complete with a bonus feature film and other supplements. As such, I highly recommend this release, as either a purchase or rental.
Video: How does it look?
Confessions of a Psycho Cat is presented in a full frame transfer, which seems to be an open matte version. The image looks much better than expected, with a pretty clean source print and a sharp overall visual presence. I saw minimal grain, marks, and debris, which caught me off guard, as I wasn’t expecting the image to be this clean. The black & white image is sharp, as I mentioned, so the detail remains high at all times, thanks to the absence of softness. I saw no errors with the contrast either, as black levels are well balanced and never falter in the least. You can still see some age signs here, but on the whole, this is a superb visual effort, given the circumstances.
Audio: How does it sound?
The mono track here isn’t as impressive as the visual transfer, but it ain’t half bad either. I did detect some muffled dialogue at times, but usually toward the start and it was very infrequent after the first few sequences. The track has little in the way of harshness or hiss otherwise, which is notable, as this was a low budget movie from the 1960s, not a brand new blockbuster. No, you won’t be dazzled here, but it handles the material and aside from a couple flawed instances, no real complaints should be made. The dialogue is clean on the whole and at a proper volume, while sound effects are well presented, as far as mono goes. In the end, this is a clean, well mixed effort and in this case, that’s about all you can ask for.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As usual, Something Weird has packed on the extras, including a complete bonus feature film, Hot Blooded Woman! This is another offbeat movie with plenty of exploitation elements, so it makes a perfection inclusion on this release. It might not be as much fun as Confessions of a Psycho Cat, but it is still cool to watch and in terms of supplements, it makes an excellent one. You’ll also find Confessions of a Psycho Cat’s theatrical trailer, as well as a number of bonus sexploitation trailers, some of which look like loads of fun. This disc also includes a bonus mental illness short film titled Preface to a Life, some sexploitation radio spots, and of course, a selection of sexploitation artwork, filled with cool images and designs.
