Psycho Beach Party
| Psycho Beach Party | |
|---|---|
Film poster
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| Directed by | Robert Lee King |
| Produced by | Virginia Biddle Jon Gerrans Marcus Hu Victor Syrmis |
| Written by | Charles Busch |
| Starring |
Lauren Ambrose Thomas Gibson Amy Adams Nicholas Brendon Matt Keeslar |
| Music by | Ben Vaughn |
| Distributed by | Strand |
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Release date
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23 January 2000 (Sundance Film Festival) |
|
Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United States Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.5 million |
| Box office | $268,117 |
Psycho Beach Party is a 2000 comedy horror film based on the off-Broadway play of the same name, directed by Robert Lee King. Charles Busch wrote both the original play and the screenplay. As the title suggests, Psycho Beach Party, set in 1962 Malibu Beach, is a parody of 1950s psychodramas, 1960s beach movies and 1980s slasher films.
Florence Forrest (Lauren Ambrose) is a Gidget-like character determined to learn to surf, and earns the nickname "Chicklet" from the surfer guys. However Chicklet begins displaying multiple personalities, experiences inexplicable blackouts, and fears that she might be the one responsible for a series of mysterious murders in her beach-side town. The deaths are investigated by Captain Monica Stark (Charles Busch), who also suspects Chicklet's mother (Beth Broderick), Chicklet's best friend Berdine (Danni Wheeler), surfing guru The Great Kanaka (Thomas Gibson) and B-movie actress Bettina Barnes (Kimberley Davies).
Other characters include university drop-out (and Chicklet's love interest) Starcat (Nicholas Brendon), purported Swedish exchange student Lars (Matt Keeslar), surfers Yo-Yo (Nick Cornish) and Provoloney (Andrew Levitas), Starcat's girlfriend Marvel Ann (Amy Adams), whom he humiliates by accident when he rips off her bikini bottoms, leaving her bottomless on the beach, and the wheel-chair bound class "queen bee" Rhonda (Kathleen Robertson).
The play was originally entitled Gidget Goes Psychotic, but the title was changed due to concerns about copyright. In the original 1987 production, Charles Busch played the role of Chicklet. Deciding that he might not be believable in the role of a sixteen-year-old girl ("while I can still manage, with the aid of a sympathetic cameraman, to play a sophisticated 25, 16 would be a stretch"), he added the character of Monica Stark to the movie.
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