...

Ah, remember the good 'ol days when kids respected their parental units, didn't walk the streets fully loaded, and to be gay meant you were happy?

Nah, me neither, that was decades ago for pete's sakes!   However, in light of this fact, one can always resorts to watching re-runs of those Annette and Frankie 60's beach movies for a gay-'ol groovy swell time. 
Doesn't take your fancy either?  Well then, how about Annette & Frankie meet the texas chainsaw massacre? 

Yes i thought you'd like that idea you sick mutha-fu...oh never mind

After an very successful off-broadshow run during the 80's.   P.B.P Creator Charles Busch wanted to translate his baby to the big screen.
And some 18 years later, Psycho Beach Party - the movie was born.

PBP is a mix of the 60's beach movies with a 70's-80's touch of the slasher flicks (unlike the Stageplay which had a Zero Body count)

Florence (Lauren Ambrose)"appears" to be your typical insecure 1960's 16 year old.  She likes to pal around with her best friend Berdine (Danni Wheeler), drink sodas at the local cafe' and hang out at the beach during the summers.

This summer, Florence also meets a few surfer dudes and wants in on the action.  Starcat (Nicholas Brandon) is the leader of the group and is at first resistent to Florence joining, but when the town's surfing legend Kanaka (Thomas Gibson) takes her under his wing, Florence is soon part of the gang and even earns herself a new name.... Chicklet.
So now chicklet is hanging with the guys, surfing the waves and having mysteriously unexplained blackouts....around the same time as these "blackouts" several people have been murdered.... could she be the psycho killer? 

Hot on the trail of these murders is Police Captain Monica Stark (Charles Busch the film's creator...yes, a fella in dress here :).  With the evidence The captain has gathered so far, things are starting to point to Chicklet!!!!

....

VIDEO
It may be a very low budget film, but it's a pretty new movie release and so I really did expect a much cleaner print than was used as a source for this Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer.
There is a considerably high amount of dirt flecking on this print and it can at times be quite distracting.
Sharpness is somewhat inconsistent, and more often than not falls short of a nicely defined level of detail, but it ain't all that bad really, and does offer some good looking shots throughout. (Edge enhnancement was also never a problem)

Colour Saturation isn't bad, but tends to fall short of that psycho-delic lushness attributed to these types of films ('ala the Austin Powers colour palette) and in all honesty i was expecting more for the DVD, given the rather stunning array of colours one saw at the theatre.  Fleshtones come across quite nicely, but do tend to change a little from scene to scene .... (just a side effect of the low budget i guess :(

The Movie has actually been nicely encoded to DVD, with no serious MPEG artifacts to be seen.

...

AUDIO
Though mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1, this is primarily a front sound stage mix.  There's nothing spectacular about the mix here, but it does the job. 
Dialogue is clean and clear, if not a little ADR sounding for the most part, and music is used subtily for the most part with a few stingers thrown in for good measure.
Surround usage is pretty much none existent, but does get used for some light ambience now and then, as well as the very infrequently occurring sound FX. 
LFE is used for the music score and is integrated nicely into the mix, especially during the Luau.

...

EXTRAS
Given the nature of this film it simply SCREAMS for a running commentary..Hell, it really needs TWO of them to do it justice.  Writer/Actor Charles Busch & Director Robert Lee King on One track and the actors on another.  Pity no such commentaries exist :(

It would appear that Magna Pacific are the first to Release PBP to DVD anywhere, so material would be rather limited at this point.  (one can only hope for a re-release later on..hint hint :)

okay, so what IS actually on the DVD includes

• Theatrical Trailer
• Cast and Crew Bios
• Production Notes

If you know what you're in for BEFORE watching this movie, you'll probably enjoy this twisted little romp for the campy good fun that is on offer...otherwise, you'll most likely think it's the biggest pile of crap you've every seen.  Unlike Showgirls, Psycho Beach Party is INTENTIONALLY campy, kitch and just plain nuts!

With a semi-decent transfer, This is the sorta movie that makes for a great friday night moofy-athon.

Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717  (using RGB outputs)
Receiver : Denon AVC-A1SE THX Ultra (Dolby Surround EX, DTS-ES Discrete)
Speakers:-
     Mains: Quadral Amun
     Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
     Surrounds Left/Right: M&K SS500 (Dipole)
     Surrounds Back : Polk RT/fx (Diplole)
     Subby: M&K V125 

- Reviewed 25th September 2001

*  jpeg files for internet promotion use only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by Magna Pacific