Pre-dating the similarly themed Australian cult film Patrick by a few years, Psychic Killer has only one major black character (a not-quite-angelic Della Reese has a throwaway scene), and he dies within the first 15 minutes, but there wouldn’t be a movie without him. And if there was, it would’ve been called Inept Wannabe Killer Seeks Revenge But Isn’t Quite Sure How to Pull It Off.
Lead character Arnold (Jim “Father of Timothy” Hutton) is locked up in the loony bin for a crime he didn’t commit, where he meets Emilio (Stack Pierce), the epitome of the “mystical darkie”. For no particular reason, Emilio — sort of a mix between Shawshank Redemption‘s Red and The Green Mile‘s John Coffey — takes pity on Arnold’s plight and decides to give him a magical amulet that allows him to leave his body and get revenge on those who put him away (My first stop would’ve been the girl’s locker room, but that’s just me.)…but not before Emilio decides to leap off the roof to his death.
A series of vengeful and sometimes (unintentionally?) Road Runner-like deaths follows, as Arnold puts his newfound power to good — or bad — use. Damn mystical darkies always stirring up shit!
