Insane 80s Sci-Fi Thriller You Never Heard Of Was Filmed Illegally, The Danger Is Real

By Robert Scucci
| Published 8 seconds ago

1980’s The Psychotronic Man is one of those films that should go on your watch list if you’re a creative type who deals with crippling amounts of self-doubt. It’s not a great movie. It’s grainy, rough around the edges, and acted just well enough to pass as a forgotten B-movie with a $175,000 budget. Not only was it personally financed by Peter G. Spelson, who wrote, produced, and starred in it, it was also shot illegally, completely outside of the studio system.

At the time of its production, Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley discouraged filmmaking in the city because many movies coming out were cynical, and he didn’t want Chicago portrayed in a negative light. Instead of giving up on his project, Spelson went ahead and made the movie anyway. All of the downtown scenes with shootouts and car chases were done without permission, without notice, and without apology, perfectly illustrating what you can accomplish through guerilla filmmaking.

And we’re not talking about Bowfinger-level trickery either. People could have seriously gotten killed if they found themselves caught in the middle of an unsanctioned chase involving fake police cars barreling through city streets at reckless speeds unannounced.

The Movie Isn’t That Great

What’s unfortunate about The Psychotronic Man is that its production values leave a lot to be desired. The chase scenes are actually solid, all things considered, but the rest of the film plays out like a scrapped episode of The X-Files. While this is a common trap when a single person is running the show (see also: Neil Breen, Tommy Wiseau), there’s still something to appreciate here on a molecular level. Some guy wanted to make a movie, didn’t necessarily know how to, and did it anyway.

The final product, as you would expect, is a total punisher, and you generally have to be a fan of B-movies to even get your foot in the door. You have to squint a little, read between the lines, and imagine the film it could have been with proper studio backing to truly enjoy it.

The film revolves around a troubled man named Rocky Foscoe (Peter G. Spelson), a barber on the verge of a mental break. He drinks heavily, then drives around, blacks out, and loses track of long stretches of time. During these blackout periods, he insists that his car starts flying, but nobody believes him, not even his wife (Lindsey Novak), because he’s the worst kind of alcoholic. When Rocky complains about his issues to Dr. Stenberg (Paul Marvel), his concerns are brushed off because there’s no tangible way to prove his claims.

Desperate to retrace his steps and prove he’s not going crazy, Rocky goes back to the road where he first experienced the phenomenon and has a run-in with an old man who believes him. When Rocky has another episode, the old man attacks him, but Rocky kills him with his mind. No special effects are used for these sequences, so again, you have to use your imagination.

There’s Really Not Much Else To It

As Rocky’s behavior escalates in The Psychotronic Man, everybody eventually catches on, confirming he’s not just some looney drunk trying to justify his blackouts. Once it becomes clear that he’s incredibly dangerous, and that his latent subconscious powers pose a threat to the physical world for real, the chase is on, and everything goes off the rails.

The chase sequences are the best parts of The Psychotronic Man because they’re basically real. Real cars on real Chicago streets. These shots were all stolen and done completely on the sneak. It’s a miracle some random pedestrian didn’t get picked off while these scenes were filmed, and even crazier to think that at any moment the production could have been shut down, with Peter G. Spelson getting thrown in jail for reckless endangerment and breaking God knows how many other laws in the process.

I don’t care whether you like this movie, love it, hate it, or never plan to watch it. It takes a massive amount of balls to just say “screw it” and do the thing you want with no regard for the consequences. For that reason alone, I admire this film because it proves that sometimes all you need to do is take a risk and believe in yourself if you want to see your vision realized. Nobody else is going to do it for you. 

But I’d be lying if I said it was even a good B-movie. It’s okay. I don’t regret watching it, and I’m glad it exists. Part of me wishes it had a bigger budget because the concept is cool, but there just weren’t enough resources to hold it together.

As of this writing, you can stream The Psychotronic Man for free on Tubi.