Basictek

A friend of mine sent an email - can anyone help:

"Sometime between the years 1976-1983, my parents, brother and I watched a movie in Maine (on television).
It was a cult horror/psychological thriller that featured a bunch of hippies and maybe a van, at least one of them committed suicide by tying a stone around his ankle and walking into a lake, another hippie was upset by this but let him do it, some other stuff happened and a bunch of the hippie kids were turned into fuzzy stone statues in a field, the sculptures may have been orange in color. I remember my parents saying; "these guys must have been on an acid trip" yet my parents claim to have never done acid. This movie might be British, the lead guy looks alot like Malcolm McDowell. I believe he was wearing striped, bell bottom pants.
I have tried google and wikipedia many, many times. I have tried no small number of cult film fansites and the encyclopedic former jerry's video guy. NOBODY knows what this movie is and it has haunted my brain for at least 29 years. Enough is enough. I do not believe I imagined the whole thing but it is, sadly, possible."

I can confirm that it was an actual movie.

A British movie from the 60's; I remember it from the Superhost show that used to be on Saturdays here years and years ago.

It involved members of a motorcycle gang that were trying to become immortal.Their belief was that by dying via suicide was the key to immortality. This is where it grows fuzzy in remembering...I think one of the gang member's mother was a witch and it was from her that they got the idea. When she realized what they were doing, she cast a spell or called upon the goddess or did something to stop them...and they turned into standing stones in a field; all save the girlfriend of the gang leader.

As for the movie's name?

I think it had 'Psycho' as a part of it but don't hold me to that.

WOW!

One quick google search of 'british movie cycle gang turns to stone' coughed up the answer.

Psychomania.

AKA The Death Wheelers.

From 1973.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067630/

Masque wrote:I can confirm that it was an actual movie.

A British movie from the 60's; I remember it from the Superhost show that used to be on Saturdays here years and years ago.

It involved members of a motorcycle gang that were trying to become immortal.Their belief was that by dying via suicide was the key to immortality. This is where it grows fuzzy in remembering...I think one of the gang member's mother was a witch and it was from her that they got the idea. When she realized what they were doing, she cast a spell or called upon the goddess or did something to stop them...and they turned into standing stones in a field; all save the girlfriend of the gang leader.

As for the movie's name?

I think it had 'Psycho' as a part of it but don't hold me to that.

Thanks. Not too long after I posted that I too figured out that it was PSYCHOMANIA. Felt kinda dopey for that.

Superhost, eh? What, did The Ghoul have better trashy movies to run?

(could be worse...could be Big Chuck and Houlihan...)

Oh, there was Ghoulardi, Hoolihan and Big Chuck then Big Chuck and Little John as the baton was passed from one to another on Friday nights on Channel 8 in Cleveland.

The Ghoul was on Channel 61, at first on Saturday night then on the afternoons.

Superhost was on Saturday afternoons on Channel 43.

Yeah, I probably watched him more than the others simply because it was afternoon. I could usually make the first half an hour to an hour on the others, midnight or a bit past...but I was never much of a night owl.

Overall, though, definitley a lot of fun on the saturday afternoon and friday/saturday nighttime monster movie circuits.