Is Psycho Killer Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot
Yes, 5 out of 10. It's a serial-killer chase with a lot of violence and a killer who leaves satanic symbols.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
5 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Medium
Expect it to hang around for an evening, and then it goes away.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, no dog dies.
Ruling: It is a grim chase with a violent killer, so watch it in the evening with the lights on.
Psycho Killer runs 91 minutes and follows a road trip across the Midwest. Jane Archer, a Kansas highway patrol officer, spends it chasing the man the media calls the Satanic Slasher, who leaves occult symbols at his crime scenes.
The premise, briefly
After a serial killer murders her husband, Kansas highway patrol officer Jane Archer follows him across the Midwest and learns that his plan is bigger than anyone thought.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Jane tracks the killer to a nuclear power plant in Harrisburg, where he plans to blow himself up to open the gates of Hell. She breaks into the control room and shoots him. He turns out to be Reeves, and he ends up in prison in Death Valley.
The scene you're dreading
Partway through the chase, after the killer has already murdered a pharmacist and two stranded motorists, he violently kills a Catholic priest and then drinks his blood.
The dog
No dog dies in Psycho Killer.
Psycho Killer is a grim chase with a lot of violence, and knowing that Jane survives takes some of the tension out.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A road trip with a pharmacy in the middle
Jane Archer, a Kansas highway patrol officer, watches her husband Mike get murdered by a serial killer the media calls the Satanic Slasher, because he leaves occult symbols at his crime scenes. She becomes obsessed with finding him. The movie hints strongly that he is Richard Joshua Reeves, a satanic preacher who held his congregation hostage, killed them, and was reported to have died in prison. He murders a pharmacist in a small town and takes a large amount of antidepressants and other drugs, which he swallows in quantity. Later he kills two stranded motorists on a country road. The scene people dread most comes after that: he kills a Catholic priest and drinks his blood. Jane follows his trail from the west coast across the Midwest, and along the way she learns that she is pregnant with Mike's child.
Jane gets a motel room, the Slasher gets a mansion
In Nebraska, Jane finds the Slasher at a motel. He attacks her and then gets away. He turns up next at a mansion run by Mr. Pendleton, a satanist with a household of followers. One of them, an assistant named Marvin, helps the Slasher find Leonard Wilkes, who manages a nuclear power plant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Once he has what he wants, the Slasher kills Pendleton and every one of his followers except Marvin. Jane is on his trail the whole way.
The gates of Hell turn out to have a guard shack
The Slasher's actual goal is to wreck the Harrisburg plant by blowing himself up inside it, which he believes will open the gates of Hell and please Satan. Jane catches up with him there and warns the other guards. The Slasher forces Leonard to get him into the control room, where he sets off explosives. Jane breaks through the control room window and shoots him, which stops him. She is left traumatized afterward. The Slasher turns out to be Reeves, and he is taken to a Death Valley prison, in the place his spree started.
The ending, explained
Jane catches up to the Slasher at the Harrisburg plant, where he is using Leonard to get past security and into the control room. She warns the guards, and he sets off explosives anyway. Jane breaks through the control room window and shoots him, which incapacitates him. Jane survives, though she is traumatized by what she went through. The Slasher turns out to be Reeves, the preacher who was supposed to have died in prison. He ends up in a prison in Death Valley, California, the place where his killing spree started.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Psycho Killer scary?
Yes, a 5 out of 10 with medium dread. Psycho Killer is a violent serial-killer chase with a satanic theme, and it leans on grim killings and a long pursuit.
How does Psycho Killer end?
Jane Archer stops the killer in the control room of a nuclear power plant by shooting him after he sets off explosives. He turns out to be Reeves and ends up in prison in Death Valley.
Does the dog die in Psycho Killer?
No dog dies in Psycho Killer.
Is there a post-credits scene in Psycho Killer?
No. Psycho Killer has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who is the killer in Psycho Killer?
The movie hints that the killer is Richard Joshua Reeves, a satanic preacher who killed his congregation and was reported to have died in prison. By the end he is revealed to be Reeves, and he ends up in prison in Death Valley.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of Psycho Killer is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't need to follow the Satanic Slasher across the Midwest to learn how Psycho Killer ends. Install Scaredy Cat and the internet's horror gets blurred before you see it.
