Rating: 
Summary: Campy Sexy Teen Horror Surf City
Review: Loved seeing Nicholas Brendon of Buffy The Vampire Slayer fame talking about his private parts. I guess he wanted to keep up with Alyson Hannigan and her famous line in American Pie. Well, this isn't American Pie, but it is a sorta lame-o try at lambasting the old beach party movies as well as some old TV sitcoms (Mel's Diner) and others that go by too fast to put a finger on. But you will find yourself laughing and gasping at the audacity of a frankly funny film. Lauren Ambrose who plays the lead (Gidget/Chiclet/Sybil) does a great send up of Sally Field. I guess the only criticism would be that they did too good a job. If it was worse, you could laugh at it, but it is just good enough that you watch it and scratch your head and say, why did I watch that? But I am glad I did! Weird fun! And the guy who plays the policewoman was too perfect! Sick-o. Can't forget to mention the Ann-Margret look-a-like go-go girl during the opening and closing credits, jeepers, it was uncanny. This movie poked fun at just about everything and if we watched it enough, we could name them all, from old Joan Crawford movies to old Boston Blackie chase scenes. I gave it three stars, because I would watch it again!
Rating: 
Summary: She looks "Killer" in that Bikini
Review: Lauren Ambrose plays the Psychotic Chicklett in this Back To The Beach homage that seems to want to be a funky Slasher flick meets Annette Funicello in a head-on Collision. There's one neat head decapitation scene, but it's a mostly blood-free affair that achieves what it sets out to achieve. The humor is laid back. There's no fear of busting a gut in here, but it's fun like a Hawaiian pool party being thrown by the parents of the girl you've had a crush on since the 4th grade. A little painful in parts, but that kiss behind the swingset while the parents swap keys more than makes up for it.The performances are key, especially Tom (Darma & Greg) Gibson's role as Kanaka, The Big Woo of Surf Hobos who has a mean crush on young Chicklet's Serial Killer alter-ego Florence Forrest. Nick Brendon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) also does a nice turn as one of the Boys Chicklet has hooked up with for some big wave lessons. It's Kitsch, but it's cool. And if you want to impress your friends when they come over for a movie, show them this gem. They wont be disappointed. It plays better on TV then at the Theater. Added Bonus: The Los Straight Jackets turn in a nice live performance during the Beach Party Finale. If you haven't seen these guys in action, don't miss this chance.
Rating:
Summary: Good for some laughs.
Review: This mixture of (...) , camp, and beach parties pays semi-homage to the cheesy monster genre of the '50s and '60s, but really isn't sincere in doing so, nor is it all too clever. The story is simple enough. Tomboy Chicklet (Lauren Ambrose) can't seem to please her overprotective mother (Beth Broderick), her possessive best friend Berdine (Danni Wheeler), the "popular" girls, led by Marvel-Ann (Amy Adams), or the hunky surfers, including guru Kanaka (Thomas Gibson), and the (...) confused Yo Yo and Provoloney (Nick Cornish and Andrew Levitas, respectively). An emotionally strained Chicklet develops alter egos, new people come to town, including B-movie starlet Bettina Barnes (Kimberley Davies) and foreign exchange student Lars (Matt Keeslar), and to add to the mess, a serial killer is on the loose. Charles Busch's hit stage play probably should have stayed on the stage. For the most part, what should have been camp comes across as pure pretension, and more often than not, the modern-day humor and (...) innuendo thrown into a film of this genre is funny, but seems too out of place and sometimes a bit stale. However, some good performances are delivered, notably by Ambrose, Daives, and also Busch himself, who plays a woman police officer heading the investigation of the serial killings. (He played Chicklet on the stage, but I suppose age has gotten the best of him...?) The utter craziness of the goings-on will keep one laughing throughout, but the film lacks something or, more appropriately, has too much of something which will keep its audiences from really wanting to see it a second time.
Rating:
Summary: Twisted, silly, and clever
Review: This is a good one for when you are in one of THOSE moods. The plot is cheesy serial killer whodunnit mixed with b-movie melodrama and the results are really funny. Lauren Ambrose is a riot as the outsider beachy Gidget character - with multiple personalities no less. The voices she does combined with the over-the-top dialogue make her "crazy" scenes those stop-and-go-back moments becaue you don't want to miss a line. Charles Busch is a hoot as the "female" detective with a past and the other supporting actors/characters round out the insanity. Good, silly fun. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: It's the 1960's All Over Again
Review: When "Psycho Beach Party" debuted off Broadway in 1987, half the fun was watching sometime drag actor Charles Busch play the part of a psycho surfer girl as if he was Joan Crawford, Annette Funicello and Sandra Dee all rolled into one. That plus the actor/playwright's keen and perverse observations of beatniks, alternate sexual lifestyles and Hollwood B-movies kept you howling madly for nearly two hours. On film, most of the original story remains intact. It's fun but the off-Broadway show was better. Florence/Chicklet, the mad surfer beach girl, still suffers from multiple split personalities. Bettina, the queen of the B-horror movies, longs for something greater. And surfer hunks Yo-Yo and Provoloney finally admit their undying love for one another. The biggest difference between the play and the movie is that Busch no longer plays Florence/Chicklett. The part is played by Lauren Ambrose, a dead ringer for "Gidget." Busch does show up as Captain Mona Stark, a police investigator who thinks somethings afoot on the Malibu beaches, which it is. It's a pretty campy turn, but it's fun nonetheless. Director Robert Lee King superbly captures the look, feel and sound of the 1960's while borrowing heavily from all those dopey "Beach Party" movies, "Gidget," "Marnie," "Mildred Pierce" and "Scream." Add to the mix: funky surf music, picture perfect '60s costuming, settings, lingo, cars and actors riding the surf in typical low budget fashion backed by outdoor footage of some pretty incredible waves.
Rating: 
Summary: Pure Campy Trash! Loved It!
Review: The Beach Blanket movies, the 50's 60's horror flicks, with a dash of Russ Meyers, adds up to one hilarious scene after another. Every campy situation is covered, the characters are a compliation of Gidget, Eve Arden, Annette and the whole gang with a wicked, funny twist. The drag Busch fits the role of the whole "Psycho Gang!" Sure to be a cult classic ala John Waters genre. If you want to to "Take a Walk on the Wild Side, " put on those Hawaiian shirts, leopard capri pants, stiletto heels, rat and tease that hair, or slick it back and hold on for a campy, rollicking fun spoof on the B movies! Trash! Pure Campy Trash! You'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Twisted, silly, and clever
Review: This is a good one for when you are in one of THOSE moods. The plot is cheesy serial killer whodunnit mixed with b-movie melodrama and the results are really funny. Lauren Ambrose is a riot as the outsider beachy Gidget character - with multiple personalities no less. The voices she does combined with the over-the-top dialogue make her "crazy" scenes those stop-and-go-back moments becaue you don't want to miss a line. Charles Busch is a hoot as the "female" detective with a past and the other supporting actors/characters round out the insanity. Good, silly fun. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: "Sorry kid, go back to Mom and Papa square."
Review: Surf's up all you hep cats and hep kitties! Psycho Beach Party is a crazy movie that parodies and celebrates those kitschy beach party movies of the'60s and sci-fi films of the'50s. Like John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China before it, Psycho Beach Party is a clever satire of genre films because it faithfully presents all the important characteristics of the beach party movie, the psychological thriller and the slasher film and then turns them on their head. One of the movie's strengths is the wonderful casting against type. Nicholas Brendon, known for playing the geeky Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is cast as a confident surfer with issues. Thomas Gibson, whose claim to fame was playing a straight-laced office worker on the popular T.V. series, Dharma and Greg, is the Great Kanaka, the suave king of the local surfers. The extras are slim at best, however, the engaging audio commentary by director Robert Lee King and screenwriter Charles Busch is excellent. They talk about the constraints they faced with a tight shooting schedule and a low budget. The DVD also features a music video for the song Los Straitjackets performs during the climatic luau in the movie. The video features footage of the band with the go-go dancer from the opening and closing credits cut together with clips from the movie. Finally, there is the theatrical trailer for the movie. Psycho Beach Party is a fun movie that features an diverse cast, a killer soundtrack of contemporary surf music (from the likes of Man or Astro-Man and The Hillbilly Soul Surfers) and some truly memorable dialogue. This is a movie that slipped through the cracks of theatrical distribution only to find new life on Cable T.V. and video.
Rating:
Summary: Damn Funny!
Review: I could watch this over and over and over and over...
Rating:
Summary: Screwball Genius
Review: This movie was recommended after the imfamous oil wrestling scene was played at a club in San Francisco, and I had to find out who these boys were. What I found was a hysterical comedy played to perfection by EVERYONE! Lauren Ambrose has a fan in me for life, all the guys looked like they were having a ball. Highly recommended for everyone, especially the alternative set. ANN BOWMAN LIVES!!!
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