Peter Spelson's "The Psychotronic Man" is a tour de force of naive post-intelligentsia film noire. Jack M. Sell directs seemingly endless, artlessly blocked scenes that draw the audience into a twilight mood of almost painful ennui. Truly, even before the opening title graphics crawled across the screen some seven minutes (significant?) into the first reel this reviewer craved the blissful relief of an untimely death before the next zoom-in close-up of Peter Spelson's heavily lidded psychotronic stare! Spelson turns in an idiosyncratic performance as Rocky Foscoe, the barber who prefers his hair tonic to Segrams Seven. Spelson's Rocky is a tortured soul who has trouble putting together a simple sentence, much unlike the real-life erstwhile insurance agent turned one-time film actor who frankly has never been known to shut up! "The Psychotronic Man" can be favorably compared to the seminal works of Kurisawa or a young Hitchcock only if one suspends all rational thought and gives over to a delusional view of a world where a film such as this can be considered anything more than bong water worthy.<br /><br />The great news is that for the first time an exclusively authorized, digitally enhanced 2 DVD set of "Psychotronic Man" is now available. This new set features production stills, the handwritten screenplay and the original music score, as well as a commentary track by the Psychotronic Man Himself: Writer/Producer/Star, Peter Spelson. Also included is a short documentary on the making of "Psychotronic Man". Caught on tape during the shooting of this documentary is the discovery of the actual original copies of the 35mm theatrical film that were used in this digital reproduction.<br /><br />What is finally revealed in this new production is the story of Peter Spelson, a frustrated would-be film actor producing hokey late-night commercials for his own insurance agency. Peter finally concludes that if he ever wants to star in a feature film he would have to write and produce it himself. What Spelson found was a nascent Chicago film community eager to show off it's chops in anticipation of John Landis and "The Blues Brothers" production army who came to town a year later.<br /><br />On the commentary track Spelson also tells how he begged, borrowed and sometimes appropriated with out proper authorization what he needed to complete his opus. Shooting of "The Psychotronic Man" went on despite the lack of any official local permits to stage car chases, fiery explosions and even late night shoot outs on Chicago's Michigan Avenue!<br /><br />Featuring an insurance agent-turned-actor, a guerrilla film making style, authentic retro '70's soundtrack and a back-story that just won't die, the experience of "The Psychotronic Man" is truly a total greater than the sum of it's parts.