It still surprises me that four years after this was made it still hasn’t been released here in the UK, considering the amount of young talent involved in the production.
Originally a stage play, Psycho Beach Party is a slasher spoof of 60’s surfer comedies focusing on Chicklet, a young girl with split personalities who may or may not be murdering the local chicks and surfer dudes that frequent the local beach and drive-in.
Whilst I knew the film probabaly wouldn’t be quite what I was expecting, it was nonetheless a fun time and there are worse horror spoofs out there.
Lauren Ambrose is absolutely phenomenal as Chicklet and Beth Broderick is also hilarious as her cookie cutter foul mouthed promiscuous mother.
Rounding out the cast are ‘Buffy”s Nicholas Brendon, ‘Scary Movie 2’ star Kathleen Robertson in a less glamourous than expected role and ‘Scream 3”s Matt Keeslar, amongst many other genre regulars.
It is clear that the material would work far better in the theatre where it originated but it still ended up being a breath of fresh air in a time when slasher movies were once again dominating the market.
OVERALL SUMMARY
It’s a shame that the film is still unreleased in this country as it has the potential to become the new ‘Rocky Horror’ or even ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, minus the songs of course. If you ever get the chance to see this it is worth watching as it’s something different, just don’t expect a lot of gory deaths and jump scenes.
