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Psycho Beach Party

Play trailer Poster for Psycho Beach Party 2000 1h 35m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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54% Tomatometer 37 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
"Psycho Beach Party" is a manic party-mix of 50's psychological thrillers, 60's beach movies, and 70's slasher films. The story focuses on Chicklet Forrest (Lauren Ambrose), a sixteen-year old tomboy who's desperate to be part of the in-crowd of Malibu beach surfers. She's the typical American girl - except for one little problem: her personality is split into more slices than a pepperoni pizza.
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Psycho Beach Party

Critics Reviews

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Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times It's too much filmed theater to come alive fully on the screen. Rated: 1.5/5 Feb 14, 2001 Full Review Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sometimes more fun to describe than to watch. Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Ernest Hardy Film.com Saddled with both a script and direction that never comes near the wit or cleverness in Busch's own performance. Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast The very game cast gives it their all, but Robert Lee King's direction saps energy from most of the scenes, leading to some detrimental (and joke-killing) pacing issues. Rated: 2.5/5 Aug 11, 2025 Full Review Joe Lipsett Horror Queers Podcast A fun, silly, slightly campy ode to beach blanket and surf movies, with a ton of queerness and an incredible cast. Rated: 3/5 Aug 6, 2025 Full Review Jae-Ha Kim Jae-Ha Kim Just when it looked like the "Scream" franchise and "Scary Movie" had pretty much had their way with spoofing the horror film genre, along comes "Psycho Beach Party" attempting to horn in on the territory. Unfortunately, it's the little movie that can't. Rated: 1.5 Jul 28, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Melissa L A horror-comedy-twisty mystery set in '60s USA. I didn't even guess the guilty culprit before they were revealed. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Michael C So ICONIC and so AMAZING!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/31/25 Full Review Colleen K It is fantastic to see a lot of these actors in their early careers. I don’t really understand the relatively low rating —as creating this parody of campy beach movies seems super successful and all the boxes are ticked off. That said I don’t often notice plotholes, & I am super able to suspend my disbelief with fiction. Perhaps it is the reaction to the portrayal of transvestivism, homosexuality, mental illness being treated in a humorous way—-Which in 1999 definitely was less seen on USA tv or movies. Not sure how I would have felt about this movie in the 2000s however I find it very funny now . Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/17/24 Full Review Julian S Star Lauren Ambrose dives headfirst into this zany horror satire that’s as absurd as it is fabulously queer. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/24/24 Full Review Audience Member It's definitely got that 50's feel to it, and Amy Adams and the whole cast did a good job. The writing was so-so, but it was interesting enough to keep me interested. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/15/24 Full Review Audience Member I love the style of this movie . It was so spot on from how I’d imagine the 50s and 50s movies being, while also keeping it nice and satirical . 3.4 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/17/20 Full Review Read all reviews
Psycho Beach Party

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Cast & Crew

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Robert Lee King

Director

Lauren Ambrose

Florence "Chicklet" Forrest

Thomas Gibson

Kanaka

Nicholas Brendon

Starcat

Kimberley Davies

Bettina Barnes

Matt Keeslar

Lars

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Psycho Beach Party

Beth Broderick, Charles Busch and Jenica Bergere in Strand's Psycho Beach Party. Lauren Ambrose as Chicklet and Charles Busch as Captain Monica Stark in Strand's Psycho Beach Party. Thomas Gibson as Kanaka and Lauren Ambrose as Chicklet in Strand's Psycho Beach Party. Nick Cornish, Andrew Levitas, Nicholas Brendon and Thomas Gibson in Strand's Psycho Beach Party. Thomas Gibson as Kanaka in Strand's Psycho Beach Party. Psycho Beach Party (2000) Psycho Beach Party (2000) Psycho Beach Party (2000) Psycho Beach Party (2000) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis "Psycho Beach Party" is a manic party-mix of 50's psychological thrillers, 60's beach movies, and 70's slasher films. The story focuses on Chicklet Forrest (Lauren Ambrose), a sixteen-year old tomboy who's desperate to be part of the in-crowd of Malibu beach surfers. She's the typical American girl - except for one little problem: her personality is split into more slices than a pepperoni pizza.
Director
Robert Lee King
Producer
Virginia Biddle, Jon Gerrans, Marcus Hu, Victor Syrmis
Screenwriter
Charles Busch, Charles Busch
Distributor
Strand Releasing
Production Co
Red Horse Films, New Oz Productions, Strand Releasing
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 23, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 18, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$268.0K
Runtime
1h 35m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Stereo, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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