Psych-Out [Blu-ray]

Director: Richard Rush Richard Rush

Overview

Dick Clark produced this late-1960s saga of a deaf runaway who comes to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury in search of her missing brother. Appearances by the Seeds and Strawberry Alarm Clock are featured.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/17/2015
UPC:	0887090090605
Original Release:	1968
Rating:	NR
Source:	Olive
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:41:00
Sales rank:	15,100

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Susan Strasberg	Jenny Davis
Jack Nicholson	Stoney
Dean Stockwell	Dave
Bruce Dern	Steve Davis
Adam Roarke	Ben
Max Julien	Elwood
Henry Jaglom	Warren
Linda Gaye Scott	Lynn,Preacher,Lynn
I.J. Jefferson	Pandora
Tommy Flanders	Wesley
Gary K. Marshall	Plainclothesman,Plainclothesman
Geoffrey Stevens	Greg
Susan Bushman	Little Girl
John Cardos	Thug
Madgel Dean	Mother
William Gerrity	Little Boy
Robert Kelljan	Arthur,Arthur
Gary Kent	Thugs' Leader
Beatriz Monteil	Landlady
Dave Morick	Stuntman
Barbara London	Sadie
Ronald Stein	Composer

Technical Credits

E. Hunter Willett

Betty Ulius

Betty Tusher

Dick Clark	Producer
Gary Kent	Special Effects
Richard Rush	Director
E. Hunter Willett	Screenwriter
Betty Ulius	Screenwriter
Betty Tusher	Screenwriter
LeRoy Robbins	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

This early entry from future Stunt Man auteur Richard Rush is a colorful, exciting time capsule from the flower-power era. Psych-Out remains fresher today than many of the other "hippie lifestyle" films of the late '60s, mainly due to the sheer amount of talent involved. Rush directs the proceedings with economic skill, utilizing plenty of real San Francisco locations to atmospheric effect and combining Laszlo Kovacs' kinetic photography with a punchy editing style to create plenty of exciting set pieces that keep the film's tempo moving ever forward. Psych-Out also benefits from a gaggle of future stars in its cast. Susan Strasberg makes a likable enough heroine, but the show is stolen from her outright by three backup characters: Jack Nicholson shows off the charm that he'd soon parlay into stardom as her romantic interest, Dean Stockwell provides charismatic support as the sarcastic yin to Nicholson's yang, and future blaxploitation icon Max Julien steals a few scenes as a good-time compatriot with a taste for psychedelics (his hallucinatory fight scene with a group of junkyard thugs is a highlight). There is also a brief, but memorable, turn from Bruce Dern as the lost brother that sets the template for the many lunatics he'd play in the years to come. All in all, Psych-Out is the kind of quickie exploitation item you'd expect from the title and plot summary but it's so exuberant and stylish that its charm is tough to deny. Any cult movie fan with a yen for 1960s-set films should add this one to their list.