"Psychomania" was one of those movies you could always find cheaply on VHS and you may have bought it for that very reason. The same companies that put out cheapo tapes of "Night of the Living Dead" also seemed to have a print of "Psychomania" floating around their vaults as well. I remember buying the film as a teenager, and upon viewing the film I was amazed at just how enjoyable it turned out to be.

Now Dark Sky films has released "Psychomania" on dvd under an alternate (and more compelling) title, "Violent Midnight", and this monster couldn't be more pleased with the product.

The film opens with a hunting mishadventure. To call it an accident would be just plain wrong, since it's fairly obvious there's intent to kill on the part of the shooter, but the incident is filed away as an accident, and sets off the start of childhood traumas for our protagonist Freeman, a tormented artist who seems to have a bad history with women.

At least that's what the nude model that also shares his bed seems to remind him of. Apparently death is a frequent fate for the women who make the mistake of getting involved with Freeman, which makes one wonder why this model seems to think he's such a great catch. Freeman is prickly, a little arrogant, and not entirely sympathetic.

With such a spotty track record with the ladies, it's unfortunate that Freeman's life should cross paths with an all-women's academy crawling with nubile young things with names like Lolita. There's also a thug named Charlie in town (played with the swagger of the period by a very young James Farentino, whom some of you monsters may remember from Dead & Buried and The Final Countdown) who very quickly develops a chip on his shoulder with regard to all matters involving Freeman.

Before too long, the mysterious deaths that seem to follow Freeman around begin occuring again, and we get (in an American film from 1962!) some pretty cool giallo-type sequences with black-gloved killings among the coeds.

Writer/producer Del Tenney and director Richard Hilliard bring a great deal of style to the proceedings, and the stylish black and white photography is every bit on a par with the eerie atmospherics of Carnival of Souls and Night of the Living Dead. It may not be as great as those two classic chillers, particularly because the ending, which may have been novel in 1962 is pretty old hat now (and may be somewhat amusing to fans of the comedian Mike Myers) and while it does offer up a bit more psychology and characterization than a typical slasher, said psychology is a bit ham-fisted at times.

Still, it's an enjoyable little chunk of b-movie, and what more do we really need out of life, fellow monsters?

Dark Sky (the newish genre arm of MPI home video) has stepped up to the plate with an amazing transfer. Remember, when I first saw this film it was on a crappy five dollar VHS tape, so the amount of detail and fine resolution present was an eye-popper for me. They also provide a commentary track by Del Tenney (who also made the infamous Horror of Party Beach around this same time) which is pretty energetic and free of long gaps. The fellow is well into his seventies by now, so I was surprised at how spry a presence he was on the yack track. The trailers for this film and The Horror of Party Beach round out the extras.

It's nice to see a lesser known gem in the horror crown get an appropriately respectful treatment.