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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Psycho Beach Party

EMAILPRINTStrand Releasing

Psycho Beach Party reviews
42
8.7 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 12 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Charles Busch (also play)

Directed by: Robert Lee King

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 4, 2000
DVD: April 10, 2001

Running Time: 95 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not rated

Starring Lauren Ambrose, Thomas Gibson, Nicholas Brendon, and Kimberley Davies

Described as a cross between a 1960's beach movie and an Alfred Hitchcock psychological thriller, this film focuses on a girl who joins the Malibu beach surfing scene and who is suspected as the perpetrator of a rash of homicides of the girl's friends.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

The New York Times Stephen Holden

It is surprisingly timely.

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75

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A little Hitchcock and some good Psycho fun at the beach.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

If it doesn't always come off, enough headlong energy develops to carry it through.

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67

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Its cheeky, good fun is what makes Psycho Beach Party an enjoyable, if weightless, romp.

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63

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Smart, fun and mildly subversive, but it rides the wave of its joke a little too long.

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63

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Overstays its welcome until the jokes curdle and the satire becomes a blunt instrument, but not before Busch throws some priceless one-liners.

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58

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

For all its energy and inspired moments of giddy goofiness, Psycho Beach Party gets stuck in the sand.

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50

Chicago Tribune Marc Caro

There's nothing here that's outrageous, startling or daring enough to give your funny bone a jolt.

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50

Miami Herald Charles Savage

While there is archival value in permanently recording this work on celluloid, the best way to really enjoy it remains live on stage.

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42

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Never maintains the spark necessary to sustain a feature film.

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40

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This unsubtle parody probably worked better on stage; its candy-colored artifice looks more than a little strained on film, and the actors are all trying really hard to be camp.

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40

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

Ultimately, Psycho...can't overcome the redundancy of parodying a genre that long ago sank into its own satiric muck.

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40

Film.com Ernest Hardy

The problem is, director Robert Lee King has a hard time sustaining the aimed-for camp tone, and while there are a few well-spaced giggles to be had, the movie sputters more than it soars for most of its 95 minutes.

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30

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Psycho Beach Party is, from the start, in dire need of the electroshock therapy that Florence ultimately undergoes.

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30

Village Voice Dennis Lim

The viewer is left to ponder the number of levels on which this counts as a pointless exercise -- a parody of parodic movies, a deconstruction of transparent genres, a self-negatingly knowing example of camp.

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25

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Charles Busch's spoof of beach-party movies and psychological thrillers, an off-Broadway hit 13 years ago, stubbornly refuses to entertain in this unrelentingly dull film version.

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20

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

This multigenre parody is excruciatingly slow and unamusing; a go-go dancer in the opening and closing credits does as much in a few minutes to shake up our perspective on a bygone aesthetic as the entire narrative in between.

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13

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

Struggles like a fat kid on the gym rope to conjure up even a single decent laugh.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Nicholas A. gave it an8:
It's not a "parody" type of comedy. The emphasis is what would have been happening on the periphary of those old movies, had they been real. It strikes a good balance of respecting the original style and adding a modern viewpoint.

Monekka McB gave it a9:
Most of the critics just didn't get this movie... It is very hilarious!

Amber gave it a 10:
I give this movie a 10 cause man i love this movie sure i am a bit juvanile and i am a bit rambuncious but this movie rocks.

Zachamariah F. gave it a 10:
Oh my holy jesus. This movie had be laughing so friggin hard!

Sarah F. gave it a 9:
Holy sh.t was this movie funny.

Lauren S. gave it a 10:
I absolutely love it. It is a great film that takes you back to the 50's for fun and laughter.

William M. gave it a 6:
Lots of incredibly campy fun, but basically a one joke movie that goes on too long.

Read more user comments >

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