Psycho Beach Party (2000)
Last Watch Date - March 22, 2025
Total Times Watched - SO MANY
Comments
Ever think "there should really be a Gidget spoof that's kind of horror and kind of comedy?" Someone did! The premise of this is basically the same as Gidget if you know that story. Instead of girl+midget (GIDGET), this is chick+..chiclet! The idea is similar: a young-ish girl wants to learn to surf with the boys. But then people start mysteriously dying...
The cast in this is WAY too good for how goofy the whole idea is. Amy Adams is in this! She plays a snotty popular girl who is the object of affection for Nicholas Brendan who in turn is the object of affection for Lauren Ambrose who in turn is the object of affection for Thomas Gibson. Matt Keeslar is also in this. Oh and Beth Broderick (the hot aunt from Sabrina the Teenage Witch). OH and Kathleen Robertson plays a cunty wheelchair-ridden girl. Charles Busch is by far my favorite part, though. Even if you don't know some of those names off hand, you definitely know these people. Kimberley Davies is so pretty it's kind of crazy.
I'm not going to go into the story too much, but this whole movie is the sweet spot of humor and goofiness for me. One guy suffers "the heartbreak of psoriasis" while another has had a man's hairy ball since he was 8. Another guy hasn't taken a dump in months. Chicklet has multiple personalities. This leads to a lot of great lines, but my favorites come from Chicklet's ghetto personality Tylene Carmichael Carmel. "Boy whachu doin' dressed like a ho?!" Ann Bowman also has some good ones like "I'm no mere chick, I'm a goddess. And the first thing I'm going to sacrifice are your balls, sonny!" "I thought you were the man with the big cigar, what are you packing? A tiparillo?" I'm also a big fan of how the Great Kanaka rhymes his lines all the time.
This was the first role I saw Lauren Ambrose in where I realized how good she is. I had seen her in Can't Hardly Wait before this, which isn't really bad but she doesn't show how versatile she is in it. I also saw her in Six Feet Under, but I don't remember if I saw this before or after that. That was 25 years ago! I'm surprised she wasn't in more comedies, she has great timing.
Look, this movie is cheesy as hell and if you don't like satire and spoofs, you're not going to like this. But if you like that old 50s/60s beach vibe with a splash of 80s slashers, it's a really fun movie.
Recommended?
Yes, every time I've seen this I laugh a bunch. I even showed this to some buds who had never seen it a few years back and they both wanted a copy of it after. I think that says a lot about it!
