Psycho Beach Party Movie Review

Not since Rocky Horror has the film world produced such a vibrant farce of teen angst, violence, and sexual deviance. And here comes Rocky's comeuppance, as off-Broadway cult icon Charles Busch has scripted a work of sheer demented brilliance in the gleefully absurd Psycho Beach Party.

Originally performed on the stage, Psycho Beach Party is the story of a teenage girl who wants desperately to surf. It's also the story of a female cop who used to be a man. And some homoerotic surfers. And a beautiful movie star who's hiding from Hollywood. And an alcoholic mother with no grasp of the present. And a psychotic killer who hacks people up for their imperfections. And it all takes place at Malibu Beach in 1962.

Visually resplendent and constantly hilarious, this film has all the makings of a teen cult favorite. Combining the setting concepts of production designer Franco-Giacomo Carbone and the costuming of Camille Jumelle with the romping weirdness of an absolutely bizarre cast, Psycho Beach Party is a hilarious revelation of the pervasive neuroses welling up within the generation it represents.

Deftly acted to a sprightly, refined camp under the direction of Robert Lee King (Boys Life, The Disco Years), the entire cast deserves kudos. Particularly noteworthy is Lauren Ambrose (In & Out, Can't Hardly Wait) as Chicklet, the 16-year-old tomboy around whom the film's drama revolves. Through Ambrose's performance, Chicklet comes off like a psychotropic Gidget, the sort of girl the word "spunk" might seem to have been invented for. Her sudden, schizophrenic shifts from one personality to another are refreshingly ridiculous, riding a thin wire of sincerity and self-mockery one seldom sees in celluloid.

Thomas Gibson (ABC's Dharma & Greg) is funny in his role as surf-guru Kanaka, but often appears to be left out of the joke. Fortunately, the rest of the cast appears to get it and keeps the story rolling through a cavalcade of dorky music, lame plot twists, and insanely bad special effects. This is a movie you can laugh both with and at.

Charles Busch's role as Captain Monica Stark is funny and self-effacing. Australian beauty Kimberly Davies (The Next Best Thing) gives a performance evoking Gilligan's Island's Ginger as B-movie starlet-in-hiding Bettina. And keep and eye out for Splendor's Kathleen Robertson as Rhonda the wheelchair-bound psychobitch.

This movie is everything it sets out to be. Go for the cheap thrills; stay for the surprise ending.

Psycho killers.