Psych-Out

At the same time you had blaxploitation movies you also had hipsploitation films too ... actors who understood NOTHING of what was going on ( Nicholson is a great actor but NOT a hippie him and his mates here look like jocks going to a costumed ball ) acted in movies written by studios trying to cash in on the latest in their eyes fad ... most of these 60's films used "straights" in hippie drag and that is never going to be convincing; it is literally a travesty...

Also it must be strange they felt they had to sample scenes from West Side Story in effect .... the final message was do not do drugz kidz they will fork u up ... fine by me but not done this way ... watch The Strawberry Statement instead or Zabriskie Point or More 1969 by Barbet Schroeder more honest films about the period & simply better films ...

It's a rock band - hippie gang trying to protect a deaf runaway girl while on the search for her missing brother, but instead, they're taking The Trip to nowhere. Director Rush, who gave pony-tailed Nicholson some star treatment in HELL'S ANGELS ON WHEELS, delivers this pretty good view of offbeat, sublime hysteria pertaining to the drug frenzy that popularized late 60s culture. One troubling factor, though: it was made to immoralize society as we once knew it. Just say "wicked", and you'll enjoy this cinematic acid trip that isn't half-bad. RATING: * * 1/2

If you try and take 'Psych-Out' seriously you're making a big mistake. This is Haight-Ashbury presented by Dick Clark after all! But as 60s camp it's great fun, and dare I say it worth watching more than "real" head movies from the period like 'Chappaqua' and Antonioni's 'Zabriskie Point'. This mightn't be what the 60s were really like, but after watching Mumblin' Jim and fans at the Ballroom, or the happiest funeral ever, music courtesy of garage Gods The Seeds, you'll wish that it was, and that you were there!

Jack Nicholson stars as Stoney, the leader of small time psych rock band Mumblin Jim'. His band mates include Adam Roarke ('Dirty Mary Crazy Larry') and Max Julien ('The Mack'). Deaf beauty Jenny (Susan Strasberg, 'The Trip') is a runaway looking for estranged brother Steve (Bruce Dern, 'Silent Running'), now known locally as "The Seeker". Dean Stockwell ('Paris, Texas') returned to the screen after a few years absence as tripped out oracle Dave ("It's all just one big plastic hassle", "reality is a dangerous place",etc.). Also look out for future directors Gary Marshall (an uptight cop) and Henry Jaglom (a classic zombie-hallucinating freak out scene!), and performances by Strawberry Alarm Clock.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all just as long as you stay away from the rednecks at the rubbish dump, avoid playing in the traffic on STP, and nobody doing the dirty dishes. Grooovy baby!

My name is George Cox and I was the lead singer for the Storybook who recorded the majority of songs for this movie. We were a local San Fernando Valley band who were brought into the production by Ronald Stein and Dick Clark to help produce the music for this movie. It seems that the Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Seeds got most of credit for the music in this movie. My group and I really enjoyed all the recording sessions to produce the music for this soundtrack album. We also enjoyed watching the film once it was produced as it showed the life in San Francisco and Haight-Ashbury as it was in the 60s.

Most everything people have already said about this movie is how I think about it, too. However, I would like to say for the Seeds fans out there that might try to see the film so they can see the Seeds footage that it's way too brief. I love the Seeds and I wanted desperately to see some closeups of the guys in action. Maybe see some good dancing by Sky or even get a good group shot. I was pretty disappointed to see Sky rocking out to some bad synchronizing on part of the audio engineers. It makes him look like he has no sense of rhythm! And you only get to see him for half seconds at a time. And Daryl Hooper (organist) isn't even shown when the band plays! It spends more time showing Jan Savage's fingers playing guitar than it spends on the any other Seeds shot. Quite a disappointment, especially since there is hardly any footage of this amazing band anywhere. Aside from that, the Strawberry Alarm Clock get great coverage, which is nice.

The plot of the movie is really entertaining as well. But I wonder, why didn't Jenny talk like a deaf person? I guess it's because you're led to believe she really isn't deaf.

Either way, it's a good movie with some good tripping scenes and cool clothes and lines: "Why are you dancing alone?" "I'm not, I'm dancing with everybody!" yikes! that's heavy! haha