Cinema Tuesdays Review

You've heard of Blaxploitation pictures, but have you heard of Drugsploitation movies? In 1967, American International Pictures hopped on the Psychedelic Sixties bandwagon with two pictures, "The Trip," and "Psych-Out," and both are featured on a surprisingly loaded (uh, no pun intended) double-sided DVD from MGM's Midnite Movies collection.

One of the joys of watching these low-budget pictures is seeing now-established stars' and directors' early work. Here's a short list of familiar names that pop up in one or both movies: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Dean Stockwell, Peter Bogdanovich, and cinematographer László Kovacs. B-movie godfather Roger Corman directed "The Trip", and "Psych-Out" was directed by Richard Rush ("The Stunt Man") and produced by Dick Clark!

Let's start with the A-side of this DVD, "Psych-Out." Never one to pass up a chance to make some money (by his own admission in the accompanying featurette), Dick Clark saw what was happening in music and culture in the 1960s, and decided to make "Psych-Out," a film that features some groovy music and a cautionary message about drug abuse. In the movie, deaf runaway Susan Strasberg arrives in San Francisco to look for her brother, a reclusive guru. She meets up with Stoney (played by Jack Nicholson and a ponytail extension) and his fledgling band, Mumblin' Jim. With Stoney's help, the young girl does find her brother, but she also finds out about the dangers of "STP," a dangerous new psychedelic drug. "Psych-Out" is not a great movie, and works better as a time capsule. Probably the most astounding thing in the film is the fact that Mumblin' Jim's band members can play their instruments without moving a finger.

The flip side of the DVD features Roger Corman's "The Trip," starring future Easy Riders Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. Bruce Dern plays the pivotal role of Fonda's sympathetic "guide," and surprisingly, he does a good job. In fact, Dern reveals in a documentary on the DVD that he felt great disdain for the drug culture, and so he really had to act! It had been about 10 years since I first saw "The Trip," and my memories of it were not fond. I remembered something about Fonda wearing a white poet's shirt and running, and running, and running. But I was won over by the film on second viewing, partly because of its unique editing, and also because of cinematographer Allen Daviau's ("E.T.," "Bugsy") wonderful lighting effects. The psychedelic patterns he projects onto various people in the film are both beautiful and eerie. One of the features on the DVD is an interview with Daviau, and he explains how some of the effects were created. Also included on the DVD is the text of an article about the "psychedelic film effects" of "The Trip." from American Cinematographer magazine.

All in all, this Midnite Movies DVD is a lot of fun, especially for its low price (I found it online for under ten bucks). Very groovy, indeed.

3/5/04

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