PSYCHO BEACH PARTY (review)

Review by Elizabeth Weitz

15 years ago, Psycho Beach Party was released; a campy little film was made based on Charles Busch’s off-Broadway play, that blended the overwrought thrillers of the 50s, the surfer movies of the 60s and the slasher films of the 70s and 80s.

It is everything you’d want from a film with that kind of title.

And now it’s being released on Blu-ray.

I won’t even attempt to summarize the film due to the vast amount of cinematic iconic themes that it throws in there, but I will say that if you ever wanted to see a flick that featured surfing, feminism, BDSM, homoeroticism, murder, cross dressing and hell, luaus, then you’re going to want to sit down and watch this one.

Also, it has Amy Adams in it.

Before she became famous.  And she’s bottomless in it.

Not full frontal but I wasn’t prepared to see her so aggressively sans pants. Seriously, it came out of nowhere and now I’m haunted by her shapely rear end…and then BAM! the next thing you know, she’s in a dance-off with a B movie actress (Kimberly Davies); it’s just that kind of movie.

Is it ridiculous? Sure, but in a fun and crafty way, and thanks to writer/director/actor Charles Busch (Die, Mommie, Die!) who turned his 1987 play of the same name into the psychotically dreamy world of Hitchcock-Gone-Bat-Shit that you see on the screen, it is worth it.

And, better yet, he jammed this gem chock full of actors whose credentials are almost as impressive as the scene where Busch’s character, Capt. Monica Stuart, gets screwed in a police car by Thomas Gibson (Dharma and Greg).

Beside Gibson and Adams lending some gravitas there’s: Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) who stars as Florence “Chicklet” Forrest, a girl who wants to learn how to surf and suffers from a multiple personality disorder, Beth Broderick (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) as Florence’s mother who needs to get laid and has a dark side of her own and Nicholas Brendon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Starcat, a university dropout and surfer who is somewhat attracted to Chicklet and spouts psychobabble gleaned from three semesters of college.

To be honest with you the film shouldn’t work. It’s a parody of parody of a parody. The humor is broad, the acting is intentionally over-the-top and the subject matter is clichéd, but work it does and if you’re in a goofy state of mind, the movie is fun,weird fun, but fun nonetheless.

So pour yourself a Pina Colada, turn the lights down low and cozy on up to Psycho Beach Party with a few close friends who have a sick sense of humor.

It’s worth the hour and half.