Psych-Out

Had a druggie movie weekend. First I watched AIP's Psych-Out and then today I watched Mr. Nice.

Psych-Out is from 1968. Dick Clark produced it, American International Pictures released it, and Jack Nicholson starred in it.

And importantly, Laszlo Kovacs was the DP. (He was famous for Easy Rider and highly revered by cinema nerds the world over.) I just learned that when Jean Paul Belmondo used the alias "Laszlo Kovacs" in Breathless, he wasn't referring to the Laszlo Kovacs. It was just a weird coincidence. Godard dropped Breathless in 1960 and Kovacs wasn't on the scene til later that decade. Interesting.

Anyway, this was an AIP picture from the late 60's starring Nicholson and Bruce Dern...so you know exactly what you're in for. It's drugged-out. It's got a good soundtrack. It's sensational. It has a paper-thin plot. It's crap. But it's good.

Psych-Out is about a deaf girl who goes to SF in search of her brother. She's leaving her troubled life behind and finding solace in weed and LSD, love-in's and jive talk.

Freak out the squares, maaaaaan.

Psych-Out makes it look like everyone in their 20's or 30's in SF was a jobless, stoned, bum. The chicks were all hot and ready to bone ya at the drop of a hat. Drugs were aplenty, and booty was too. Looked like a fun time.

Oh yeah, and everyone talked a lot of psycho-babble and sounded like pretentious fucking retards.

Did I mention Jack Nicholson's character was named, "Stoney?" Yeah.

This is streaming on Netflix. It's not bad to check out. But it's not a "good" movie. It's...interesting.