One of my new year’s resolutions here at Gay Daily Hot is to include as much gay culture as I can. People really responded well to my first “gay movies that don’t suck” post about “Shelter” and people also liked seeing stuff about gay musicians, artists and photographers. Considering how much reading I do, you’ll be seeing me write about the gay-themed books I’ve been reading and I’m planning on including more art, photography and even gay inclusion in mainstream culture.

Oh, don’t worry… the porn isn’t going anywhere.

First up… Damien Sage’s visually stunning “no budget” feature film Psychotropica. I’ve mentioned this movie before but after second watching, I really wanted to talk about it some more. Damien Sage has taken tools available to just about everyone and created a film that’s provocative, engaging and considering it’s budget, visually stunning. As much as I love high-budget scifi, seeing a film like this depend on the actor’s performances and its writing, directing and sheer imagination is exciting, especially when the story is gay-themed.

The computer generated reality, digitally altered visuals aren’t just a gimmick, they’re a natural part of the narrative. As promising as “Through A Scanner Darkly” looked, Pshychotropica blows it out of the water.

Think a combination of “Cube,” “Saw,” “Altered States,” The Wall” and maybe “Memento.” With a gay theme. No, it really is that good.

Trust me on this one, you’re going to want to watch this a couple times to grasp everything. There’s a lot going on and with imagery as rich as this, it’s easy to get distracted.

The story follows a sort of mad scientist, twisted doctor who tests a drug called, well, “Psychotropica” on an un-named patient, forcing him to relive dreams, nightmares and real memories. Sorting out which is which becomes the challenge.  Told in a sort of serialized collection of drug trips, the viewer becomes drawn in, trying to sort out reality from illusion, just like the patient.

I’m expecting Damien Sage to become a serious film maker… you’re going to want to say you were on top of it before he walked away with all the Outfest Awards.

I won’t give away too much, you really need to check this out for yourself. You can order a copy on DVD from his site here.

Popularity: 1% [?]