Review of PSI Factor: Series 3 Vol. 3.5

Introduction

Psi Factor details various case files from the fictional Office of Scientific Investigation and Research dealing with all things paranormal and, dare I say it, all things X-Files`ish. Call me a cynic but it can`t be any coincidence that the team is headed up by a male/female pairing (Matt Praeger and Lindsay Donner rather than Fox Mulder and Dana Scully).

This disc contains 3 episode from the latter half of of season 3.

`Valentine` - a Vampire tale with a twist. After being called in to investigate a strange murder involving a body drained of blood all signs point to a Vampire killing but just who can Lindsay trust?

`Old Wounds` - a Virtual Reality training system goes horribly wrong when someone is physically injured whilst engaged in a VR reconstruction. Something sinister is going on and it`s up the the OSIR to get to the bottom of it.

`The Observer Effect` - after reports of UFO sightings the OSIR are asked to collect witness statements but soon realise that things are not what they seem in the secluded community where the sightings took place.

Video

The picture quality is pretty much what you might expect from a low budget TV show of questionable popularity. It`s a full frame 4:3 transfer and suffers from lack of detail and weak colour representation.

The fact that it`s a TV series isn`t really an excuse, just look at the excellent Farscape releases, however I found it hard to be too disappointed by a completely average transfer.

Audio

Again pretty much what I expected. A totally bog standard Pro Logic soundtrack with nothing memorable about it. The sounds is clear and unmuffled however it`s totally unexciting and an archetypal TV to DVD sound transfer.

Features

Nothing much on offer here, just a few one minute cast interviews and a one minute trailer. Even less interesting as they are actually Sci-fi Channel promo spots.

Conclusion

It`s impossible to avoid comparisons with The X-Files as the 2 series cover the same subject matter and indeed the makers of Psi Factor seem to have done little to distinguish their series. There are slight differences, for example each episode is presented by Dan Ackroyd who gives us a brief bit of case info at the start and a summary at the end. This adds nothing to the series it has to be said and, call me cynical once again, is merely an attempt to lure people in with a known bankable name.

What Psi Factor really lacks is chemistry between the 2 main characters, portrayed by Matt Frewer (best known for Max Headroom) and Nancy Anne Sakovich. I like Matt Frewer, I find his performance quite endearing, but his character is missing any real get up and go. The female character seems largely all over the place emotionally with some truly bizarre events taking place in Valentine.

I think that the main problem is that there is also no real confilct or any hint of scepticism. Every one believes everything without any supporting evidence. This just doesn`t work for me.

Of the actual stories on this disc none stand out although the first one, `Valentine`, is by far and away the worst of the 3. It might be unfair of me to mention this after only having watched just 3 episodes but unlike The X-Files there doesn`t seem to be any ongoing story thread running through the series so each episode would seem to live or die on it`s own merits. This is a shame as larger story arcs have proven very successful in other sci-fi series and would definitely help Psi Factor.

I will admit to getting slightly more interested in the characters and I might get more involved as I watch further episodes but for now there`s nothing that would make me recommend this disk.