Lesbian Psycho

There are few titles that set out a film's exploitative wares as shamelessly as Lesbian Psycho, which has to be up there with Snakes On A Plane and Alien Vs. Ninja for its what-you-see-is-what-you-get approach to advertising. With its blend of girl-on-girl lovin' and sensational slice-n-dice, Sharon Ferranti's Sapphic slasher does pretty much what it says on the tin – except that it was originally released under the altogether less lurid, more oblique and, frankly, better title of Make A Wish.

Sure enough, beneath the surface of its genre-bound clichés and salacious packaging, there lurks something a little more subtle. For as birthday girl Susan (Moynan King) and her circle of lesbian exes find their numbers rapidly diminishing while out camping in the woods in Texas, the film may offer a series of hoary old slash-and-dash tropes, but also thematises the wish fulfillment both in the gloved killer and in the viewer. Lesbian Psycho may appear to be a “straight” giallo-esque whodunnit, but it is also a nightmare in a damaged brain, whichuses an imagination no more nor less disturbed than our own, as the stage for murder and mayhem.

But let's not overstate. The film's twist may be neat, but by any other measure, Lesbian Psycho is poor. Lots of horror films are cheaply made but a low budget is never an excuse for dull, witless scripting, and none of the acting is good enough to disguise the poverty of the dialogue nor to enliven any of the characters. The kills are entirely fright-free and rather unspectacular. It is, however, to the film's credit that the portrayal of lesbianism is surprisingly respectful and sensitive, feeling more like a community insider's perspective (actually in more ways than one) than an attempt to objectify women for the titillation of male viewers.

"No men allowed," someone says near the end - and we are shown the high price paid by those who dare to spy or intrude on an outing that is strictly between women. It is The L Word – only more in tents.