| PSYCHO BEACH PARTY July 21, 2000 By Margi Blash Screenplay by Charles Busch based on his stage play. Directed by Lee King Released in New York and Los Angeles on August 4, 2000 Lauren Ambrose, who plays Chicklet in the film sat down and told us what it was like working on the film. "I really enjoyed making this film. It's so funny and it takes risks. This genre is great  for a parody. My character is so different from what I've played before and this allows me the opportunity to play characters like Tracy Ulman does, that I've been doing in the mirror for a long time. I watched a lot of Gidget with Sandra Dee and watched for her specific facial movements. But what makes the film is the casting. We all worked so well together and they are each so talented. We really enjoyed working on Malibu which made it really nice to go to work, even though we shot this film in only 21 days. It was intense and it took a lot of focus and hard work but I loved it. There was so much freedom and opportunity to be original. People should see this film for something new"Lauren Ambrose is currently working on another independent film called SWIMMING, Directed by Robert Seagull and also on a pilot for HBO. PSYCHO BEACH PARTY - SYNOPSIS A film flickers on a movie screen. We see a handsome young man enter a diner. He approaches the woman he loves. She's beautiful, blond…and she has three heads!!! Turns out we're really at the drive-in watching "The Pizza Waitress with the Three Heads" starring favorite B-movie actress, Bettina Barnes (Kimberly Davies). Watching the film is Florence Forest (Lauren Ambrose) who is sweet sixteen and never been kissed. She lives with her mother, Mrs. Forest (Beth Broderick) and a Swedish exchange student named Lars (Matt Keeslar). As Florence and her geeky friend Berdine (Danni Wheeler) discuss the acting prowess of Betina, they're obviously the only ones watching the film. All the other kids at the drive-in have paired off. In fact, the couple in the next car are into a heavy make-out session. Florence goes to get snacks, passing by Starcat (Nicholas Brendon), heartthrob of the surfer set, flirting with perky babe Marvel Ann (Amy Adams). While at the concession stand, wheelchair-bound meanie Rhonda (Kathleen Robertson) torments Florence intil screams interrupts their nasty exchange.
But this grisly event does not keep the gang from the beach! Marvel Ann drags Florence and Berdine to Malibu. While Marvel Ann shows off her assets to Starcat's benefit, Berdine protects herself from sunburn and Florence meets a group of teenage boy surfers who are disciplines of the great Kanaka (Thomas Gibson), a beach bum with a mysterious past who speaks in verse. Florence is fascinated with surfing but the boys, Starcat, Junior (Buddy Quaid), T.J. (Nathan Bexton), Yo-Yo (Nick Cornish) and Provoloney (Andrew Levitas), refuse to teach her. So she goes to Kanaka's beach shack to enlist his help. At first, Kanaka resists her pleas, until Ann Bowman, Florence's S & M dominatrix alter ego, changes his mind. Of course, Florence doesn't know that there are other "sides" to her persona, which also include a tough urban chick named Tylene, and the accounting firm of Adleman and Adleman. The gang dubs her "Chicklet," and she's excited about her new adventures. She learns to surf, hangs out with new friends, and meets Bettina Barnes who's "hiding" from the studios in a rented beach house where a kid named Larry Elkins killed his entire family a few years back. As Kanaka finds the key to unlock Ann Bowman, Chicklet develops a massive crush on Starcat, who can't seem to be able to stand her! Or is that just a cover for his deeper affection? The gang quickly discovers that the murder at the drive-in was only the beginning. They find the bodies of the killer's next victims, one by one. Junior, Rhonda…then T.J. Captain Monica appears on the beach to break up the fun and interrogate the gang. She is somewhat distracted by Kanaka, an old flame, but has made a startling connection: The serial killer is so obsessed with perfection, he or she targets teen with physical deformities. Yet the gang decides that the big end-of-summer luau will still take place, despite the fact that Marvel Ann is mad at Starcat, Starcat and Kanaka are fighting, Kanaka still has the hots for Ann Bowman but can't seem to locate her in Chicklet who still has the hots for Starcat! To top things off, Captain Monica pegs Mrs. Forest as the number one suspect! But is she really the murderer? Could it be Chicklet, or Bettina, or Kanaka, or maybe even Starcat? And what part, if any, does the legend of Larry Elkins play in this mystery? Everyone is in for a shocking surprise. |
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