Psycho Beach Party is a 2000 comedy horror film directed by Robert Lee King. The movie stars Lauren Ambrose as Florence "Chicklet" Forrest, a young woman who dreams of becoming a surfer at Malibu Beach, despite her mother's objections. One day, Chicklet finds herself caught up in a series of murders that take place on the beach, and she must use her wits to figure out who is behind them.
The movie is a parody of 1960s beach party films and slasher horror movies, and features a cast of colorful characters, including the hunky surfer Kanaka (played by Thomas Gibson), the sexually frustrated B-movie actress Bettina Barnes (played by Allison Janney), and the drag queen lounge singer Annette (played by Charles Busch, who also wrote the play on which the film is based).
The story is set against the backdrop of Malibu Beach, where Chicklet and her friends hang out and surf. Chicklet is enamored with a local surfer named Starcat (played by Nicholas Brendon), but her mother is concerned about her hanging out with "the wrong crowd." Meanwhile, a series of grisly murders rock the beach community, and Chicklet begins to suspect that her alter ego, Ann Bowman, may be the killer.
As the body count rises, Chicklet must confront her inner demons and find a way to stop the killer before it's too late. Along the way, she encounters a host of quirky characters and gets caught up in a dizzying array of subplots, including a love triangle between her, Starcat, and the flamboyant B-movie actor/producer Bettina Barnes.
The film features a mix of campy humor, over-the-top performances, and suspenseful horror scenes, making it a unique hybrid of genres that is sure to entertain fans of both. Overall, Psycho Beach Party is a fun and irreverent tribute to the beach party movies of the 1960s, with a macabre twist that adds an extra layer of excitement to the proceedings.
