It isn't easy to make a movie "so bad it's good" on purpose. More often than not, the pretense of being bad on purpose translates into a lack of effort. Earnestness is a big part of what makes a bad movie fun to watch. The absurdity of The Room is endearing because the cast performs it with a straight face. When hacks try to capture the same lightning, too often they do it with a proverbial smirk, just to make sure the audience knows it's all a joke. Trust me, we know. Winking at us doesn't make a half-assed joke land any better. You still need to have the courage of your convictions.

On that note, Lady Psycho Killer is bad, but at least it's bad in funny ways. Director Nathan Oliver calls it a send-up of teen dramas. Sure enough, the story plays like an episode of Dawson's Creek reimagined as an erotic thriller. It works to a small degree, mostly because everyone had the temerity to deadpan it.

Kate Daly plays Ella, a college student with a serious mental short-circuit. When she thinks about sex, she doesn't get horny. She gets stabby.

Michael Madsen plays Ella's professor. On the first day of class, he instructs his students to "break a sexual norm." Then he clarifies that he doesn't mean they should engage in cross-dressing or prostitution...which doesn't really clarify anything at all. Ella's best interpretation of this odd assignment is to audition at a strip club. Ron Jeremy, appropriately playing the club's sleazy owner, becomes her first victim.

Then she's off to the races. Her creepy neighbor (Malcolm McDowell) gets a pair of hedge clippers in the gut. Any guy who makes a pass at her gets stabbed. If they don't make the first move, she does, with the same results. The only exception is her classmate Daniel (Dennis Andres), whose genteelness manages to calm her blood lust. She likes him so much, she kills his father as a favor to him. Daniel Baldwin plays the father in a cameo so short, he probably left his engine running.

Daly isn't a great actress, but she gets an A for effort. Credit where it's due, she knows how to play sexy.

Bad news for the grindhouse crowd: no nudity.

3 out of 10.

Seen on Amazon Prime.