Psychotronic
Encyclopedia
Psychotronic is a film genre made up of horror films, spaghetti western
s, low-budget independent features, exploitation film
s that was coined by author Michael J. Weldon, best known for his books, Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and Psychotronic Video Guide.
Weldon also published the magazine
Psychotronic Video
, with 41 issues starting in 1989. He has since ended publication due to financial restrictions.
The genre takes its name from the movie The Psychotronic Man
. After seeing this movie, Weldon created an extensive list of reviews of obscure quirky films that he felt were underappreciated by the mainstream and then marketed it as the Psychotronic Encyclopedia, which has become known as a reference work for film buffs as far away as Hungary
. The existence of the Psychotronic Encyclopedia prompted the creation of the Psychotronic Film Society at which point the term “psychotronic” fell into generic use for this type of movie.
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s, low-budget independent features, exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
s that was coined by author Michael J. Weldon, best known for his books, Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and Psychotronic Video Guide.
Weldon also published the magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
Psychotronic Video
Psychotronic Video
Psychotronic Video was a film magazine originally started by publisher/editor Michael J. Weldon in 1980 in New York City as a hand-written and photocopied weekly fanzine entitled Psychotronic TV. It was then relaunched by Weldon under its more commonly known name as an offset quarterly in 1989...
, with 41 issues starting in 1989. He has since ended publication due to financial restrictions.
The genre takes its name from the movie The Psychotronic Man
The Psychotronic Man
The Psychotronic Man is a low budget science fiction cult film that opened in Chicago April 23, 1980 at the Carnegie Theatre. It was directed by Jack M. Sell and written, produced and starred Peter G. Spelson. This film is considered noteworthy for three distinct reasons. The first is that the...
. After seeing this movie, Weldon created an extensive list of reviews of obscure quirky films that he felt were underappreciated by the mainstream and then marketed it as the Psychotronic Encyclopedia, which has become known as a reference work for film buffs as far away as Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. The existence of the Psychotronic Encyclopedia prompted the creation of the Psychotronic Film Society at which point the term “psychotronic” fell into generic use for this type of movie.