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Movies / On DVD / Psycho Beach Party
Psycho Beach Party

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Psycho Beach Party (2000)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:17

Rotten:14

Average Rating:5.5/10

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: PSYCHO BEACH PARTY was scripted by playwright Charles Busch (author of the long-running off-Broadway hit VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM), adapted from his 1987 play of the same title. Florence Forest... PSYCHO BEACH PARTY was scripted by playwright Charles Busch (author of the long-running off-Broadway hit VAMPIRE LESBIANS OF SODOM), adapted from his 1987 play of the same title. Florence Forest (Lauren Ambrose) is a perky but unfulfilled teen. After witnessing the antics of a gang of strapping young surfer dudes at the beach one day, she decides surfing's the thing for her, and asks the group leader, the "Great Kanaka" (Thomas Gibson), to give her lessons. But Kanaka won't give Florence (or rather "Chicklet," as she is soon dubbed by the boys) the time of day--until her alter ego, S/M dominatrix Ann Bowman, unexpectedly makes an appearance. Meanwhile, a mysterious killer is offing the town's teens one by one. Detective Monica Stark (played by Busch himself) is on the case, but soon her investigation is complicated by an overabundance of suspects: Could the killer be Florence's frustrated mom, who disapproves of the company her daughter's been keeping? There's also B-movie babe Bettina Barnes (Kimberley Davies), in town incognito after running away from her studio. And then, of course, there's schizophrenic Florence herself. Expertly mimicking the corny, frantically upbeat tone of 1960s teen flicks, PSYCHO BEACH PARTY is a campy (and occasionally raunchy) alternative treat. [More]

Starring: Lauren Ambrose, Nicholas Brendon, Thomas Gibson, Danni Wheeler

Starring: Lauren Ambrose, Nicholas Brendon, Thomas Gibson, Danni Wheeler, Charles Busch, Kimberley Davies, Amy Adams, Beth Broderick, Matt Keeslar, Kathleen Robertson, Andrew Levitas, Nick Cornish

Director: Robert Lee King

Director: Robert Lee King
Screenwriter: Charles Busch
Producer: Jon Gerrans, Virginia Biddle, Marcus Hu, Victor Syrmis
Composer: Ben Vaughn

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 10, 2001

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Psycho Beach Party

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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It's best to just relax and enjoy the Party.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rod Armstrong
Rod Armstrong
Reel.com

A promising recipe for comedy that goes flat in the execution.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/01/00
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

An enjoyable, if weightless, romp.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

A funny tongue-in-cheek comedy, cinematic commentary and murder mystery all rolled in to one.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
08/28/01
Janet Branagan
Janet Branagan
Apollo Guide

It may be fluff, but it's knowing, relatively enjoyable fluff.

Full Review Source: Jacksonville Film Journal | comment Comment
02/14/01
Shay Casey
Shay Casey
Jacksonville Film Journal

Technically primitive but still enjoyable raunchfest.

Full Review Source: Movieline | comment Comment
01/09/02
Stephen Farber
Stephen Farber
Movieline

Good belly laughs amid lower-key giddiness.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Saddled with both a script and direction that never comes near the wit or cleverness in Busch's own performance.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Ernest Hardy
Ernest Hardy
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It definitively skewers the false innocence of American pop culture on the eve of the countercultural deluge.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The sort of movie that even today's superstars might love to slum around in.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
01/01/00
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Awkward combination of garish set decoration and muffled humor.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dennis Lim
Dennis Lim
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Has a great look, but its broad laughs at the expense of '50s and '60s cultural naivete aren't really all that clever.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

PBP made a smooth transition from stage to screen; I suppose since the play was mocking movies, making a movie of it was a more logical use of the script.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
06/15/01
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

A guaranteed howl.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

It's all enjoyable enough, but it's played so broadly that it loses whatever impact it might have had.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
08/01/03
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Entertaining, tongue-in-cheek fun that’s real cool, daddy-o.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy

Wonderfully campy entertainment that doesn't ask anything of its viewers.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

If this wearying exercise in camp, rib-nudging double entendres, rhyming gollyspeak and groovy-daddio! set design wrapped around a wan murder mystery sounds like an Annette Funicello movie gone to hell, it at least succeeds on one level.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
11/18/02
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today

Not since Rocky Horror has the film world produced such a vibrant farce of teen angst, violence, and sexual deviance.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Robert Strohmeyer
Robert Strohmeyer
Filmcritic.com

It's too much filmed theater to come alive fully on the screen.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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