Its cheeky, good fun is what makes Psycho Beach Party an enjoyable, if weightless, romp.
63
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Overstays its welcome until the jokes curdle and the satire becomes a blunt instrument, but not before Busch throws some priceless one-liners.
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
For all its energy and inspired moments of giddy goofiness, Psycho Beach Party gets stuck in the sand.
50
Miami HeraldCharles Savage
Miami HeraldCharles Savage
While there is archival value in permanently recording this work on celluloid, the best way to really enjoy it remains live on stage.
42
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Never maintains the spark necessary to sustain a feature film.
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This unsubtle parody probably worked better on stage; its candy-colored artifice looks more than a little strained on film, and the actors are all trying really hard to be camp.
30
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Village VoiceDennis Lim
The viewer is left to ponder the number of levels on which this counts as a pointless exercise -- a parody of parodic movies, a deconstruction of transparent genres, a self-negatingly knowing example of camp.
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
New York PostLou Lumenick
Charles Busch's spoof of beach-party movies and psychological thrillers, an off-Broadway hit 13 years ago, stubbornly refuses to entertain in this unrelentingly dull film version.