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Ep. 34: Psycho Beach Party
Take the seminal surf movie Gidget from 1959, add in a bunch of slasher elements from the 80's, and use it all to deconstruct gender norms - that's Psycho Beach Party in a nutshell! This crazy stage-to-screen should-be-cult-classic is a must-see offbeat comedy for fans of incredibly strange cinema.
Chicklet Forrest is a sixteen year old tomboy who wants nothing to do with chasing boys and everything to do with chasing waves. It's not long before she joins up with a gang of local surfer guys in Malibu, and not long after that when some of them start washing up on the beach cut into pieces - and Chicklet and her split personalities are the prime suspects.
In our first episode of the new year, we dig into how this film parodies Gidget and in doing so takes for a lark the idea of "normalcy" that Hollywood so often tried to peddle to teens rolling up to the drive-in back in the 60's. It purports that under the surface of every Frankie Avalon movie, there was a repressed bubble of sexual deviancy and homosexuality just waiting to explode. And, so, this film lets it explode.
We also honor our dearly departed podcast cat, Trip, and welcome to the show our new podcast dog, Jiffy. Cassie proposes that many elements of Psycho Beach Party remind her of Akira Kurosawa's Ran. Ryan proposes everyone in Gidget was gay. We both embrace the new trend of being #cigfluencers and enjoy some nice, mild cigarettes during the show. Cassie explains the history of surfing. Ryan shares a spicy take on The Beach Boys explores how Gen Z has escaped 'The Royal Hays Code'. The line between Gidget and Psycho Beach Party becomes increasingly blurred as things progress.
Psycho Beach Party
Directed by Robert Lee King
2000, United States
Incredibly Strange Video is produced and edited by Ryan Quinn and Cassie Kay. Follow us on Bluesky @isvpodcast.bsky.social for updates on the newest episodes!
Theme music:
The End by EVA
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.
No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.
View all episodes
By Ryan Quinn & Cassie KayTake the seminal surf movie Gidget from 1959, add in a bunch of slasher elements from the 80's, and use it all to deconstruct gender norms - that's Psycho Beach Party in a nutshell! This crazy stage-to-screen should-be-cult-classic is a must-see offbeat comedy for fans of incredibly strange cinema.
Chicklet Forrest is a sixteen year old tomboy who wants nothing to do with chasing boys and everything to do with chasing waves. It's not long before she joins up with a gang of local surfer guys in Malibu, and not long after that when some of them start washing up on the beach cut into pieces - and Chicklet and her split personalities are the prime suspects.
In our first episode of the new year, we dig into how this film parodies Gidget and in doing so takes for a lark the idea of "normalcy" that Hollywood so often tried to peddle to teens rolling up to the drive-in back in the 60's. It purports that under the surface of every Frankie Avalon movie, there was a repressed bubble of sexual deviancy and homosexuality just waiting to explode. And, so, this film lets it explode.
We also honor our dearly departed podcast cat, Trip, and welcome to the show our new podcast dog, Jiffy. Cassie proposes that many elements of Psycho Beach Party remind her of Akira Kurosawa's Ran. Ryan proposes everyone in Gidget was gay. We both embrace the new trend of being #cigfluencers and enjoy some nice, mild cigarettes during the show. Cassie explains the history of surfing. Ryan shares a spicy take on The Beach Boys explores how Gen Z has escaped 'The Royal Hays Code'. The line between Gidget and Psycho Beach Party becomes increasingly blurred as things progress.
Psycho Beach Party
Directed by Robert Lee King
2000, United States
Incredibly Strange Video is produced and edited by Ryan Quinn and Cassie Kay. Follow us on Bluesky @isvpodcast.bsky.social for updates on the newest episodes!
Theme music:
The End by EVA
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.
No generative AI is used in the production of this show. Keep the world human.