Watching "Psycho Beach Party," you get a feeling that the film is a few years past it's prime. I mean, this has to be aimed at late 30-somethings and older. The films and genres spoofed here are so ancient and so far out of the modern cinematic lexicon, that anyone under 30 probably won't get it.

First and foremost, you have to have seen at least one Frankie and Annette movie. Or at least a "Gidget" film. Do they even run these on TV anymore? I can't even remember the last time I was flipping through the channels on a Saturday afternoon and saw one of the old 60's "Beach" movies.

That's what this film, based on Charles Busch's stage play, references here. I'm not sure if it spoofs more than one particular film in the genre, but the genre itself became so formulaic, that the spoofs are easy to recognize if you've just seen one of the movies.

For example, there's a kind of goofy sideline character who makes wacky faces and is named "Provoloney." His buddy is named "Yo-yo." The female protagonist is nicknamed "Chicklet," when she starts to hang around the surfer dudes, by the surfing king, "The Big Kanaca."

Of course, the film is also very gay and sexually ribald, so there are characters who do homoerotic things (some of the boy's wrestling matches are particularly funny in their spoof of the underlying homosexuality of the original films). And there is also a murder mystery going on, so there are lots of horror film references as well. In fact scripter Busch, who acted in the original stage production, plays the role of a female police detective (in drag of course) in the film. And this opens up some references to some of the more "horror" related "beach" films that came out in the late 60's. Hence the "Psycho" in the name.

While one, at first glance, might think the film isn't "gay" enough, further reflection makes this thought seem an unfair initial response. The film is rife with double entendre, homoeroticism, lesbian undertones and rampant albeit subdued sexuality. There's just the perfect amount of hints at gay sex, straight sex, deviant sex, cross-dressing and sexual role playing to make it all fun and never stereotypical or jaded. It's just all done so well that it fits quite comfortably into the film's plot. It's perfect camp, which is, in itself, very difficult to attain.

"Psycho Beach Party" is amusing, cute and fluffy fun, especially if your an older Gen X'er, like myself or an older gay person. The film is equally divided, sexually, between showing the homoerotic elements between the males and the females, so lesbians will find a lot to enjoy here too. The music is awesome and the actors have fun. Several of the younger characters are actually quite attractive and the script, generally, doesn't try too hard. There are a few unfunny jokes but almost immediately thereafter something amusing or goofy happens to get the film back in the swing of things.

Watching it has got to be fun for all those gay 50-somethings out there. Grab your sugar daddy, take him to the megaplex and give him a treat!

Note:

With Lauren Ambrose, Thomas Gibson, Matt Keeslar, Nathan Bexton and Beth Broderick.

Directed by Robert Lee King. Score by Ben Vaughn.

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