Review of Psycho Beach Party (2000) by Wk J — 24 Sep 2008

Original title: Gidget Goes Psycho. The existing title is just as good. I have eccentric taste - a euphemism usually employed to politely evoke "bad" without coming off as judgmental. Psycho Beach is overflowing with pop culture aspects frequently characterized as in bad taste: Polynesian Pop; B-Movies; Drive-Ins; gratuitously creepy, duplicitous foreigners (OK, this element is just politically incorrect); sexual deviance (anything taboo is commonly discredited and discarded as in bad taste); psychological disturbance (deviance from the "medical model" - which only exists in theory...); a male cross-dressing as a female cop - which, in itself wouldn't be exceptional were it not for the nude, female body double used in the film's only sex scene involving the character and "her" estranged former lover...

I could go on - why spoil it? The greatest joy in this film is allowing it to converse with your Id - suggesting possibilities and, against better judgement, flying in the face of polite convention and "going there." It's difficult to find storytelling this delightfully rude; consequently, Psycho Beach Party sits in a place of prominent reverence on my shelf.