Chicklet is a sixteen-year old tomboy who's desperate to be part of the in-crowd of Malibu beach surfers. She's the typical American girl - except for one little problem: her personality is split into more slices than a pepperoni pizza.
Spoof of 1960s Beach Party/Gidget surfing movies mixed with slasher horror films. Florence Forrest, a not-so-innocent girl in 1960s Malibu, becomes "Chicklet", the first girl surfer at Malibu Beach. Only Florence suffers from dissociative identity disorder and, occasionally, her alter ego "Ann Bowman", a sexually aggressive, foul-speaking girl, comes out, during which time several beach goers are found murdered. The suspects include Chicklet herself, surfer Kanaka, exchange student Lars, and even Chicklet's own mother.—Matthew Patay
Chicklet, a wannabe surf-girl with a split personality, becomes the primary suspect after a string of humorously gruesome murders terrifies the teen set. When the clues take her to the beach, the fun and suspense begin. At the beach, Chicklet crosses paths with burnt-out surf guru Kanaka, dreamy surfboy Starcat, and stylish homicide detective Monica Stark.
Psycho Beach Party comes from screenwriter and dragtress extraordinaire Charles Busch. It's an audaciously funny whodunit and psycho thriller parody set on the sun-drenched beaches of '60s Malibu. When pouty-lipped misfit Chicklet, (Lauren Ambrose) finally makes her way into the cool crowd, she begins having insanely bizarre blackouts. At precisely the same time, all of her beefcake surfer pals mysteriously drop like flies and she quickly becomes the chief suspect. A madcap romp filled with shirtless hunks, a wannabe surf babe with a split personality, oh, and a few severed body parts.
Robert Lee King directs this wacky, campy fusion of teenage surfer flicks and slasher sagas. Impossibly perky Florence (Lauren Ambrose) doesn't quite fit in at her thoroughly square high school in her seaside Southern California town -- that is, until she happens upon a band of ultra-hip surfer dudes. Renaming herself "Chicklet," she tries her gosh-darnedest to be the sole girl riding the waves with the group led by suave Kanaka (Thomas Gibson). While adopting her surfer alter ego, Florence soon discovers that other less pleasant personalities emerge when confronted with the sight of polka dots. One called Anne Bowman is a tough, "experienced" older lady, while the other, Tylene, is a stereotypical sassy black woman. Blacking out whenever these other personalities take over, Florence becomes increasingly worried that she is responsible for a series of grisly murders. Of course, she is far from the only suspicious character in her oceanside community -- there's B-movie star Bettina Barnes (Kimberley Davies), Swedish exchange student Lars (Matt Keeslar), and Florence's own unnervingly-perfect mom (Beth Broderick). This film was adapted from a popular off-Broadway play written by Charles Busch.
