Psych-Out
Psych-Out
R | 06 March 1968 (USA)
Psych-Out Trailers

Jenny, a deaf runaway who has just arrived in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district to find her long-lost brother, a mysterious bearded sculptor known around town as The Seeker. She falls in with a psychedelic band, Mumblin' Jim, whose members include Stoney, Ben, and Elwood. They hide her from the fuzz in their crash pad, a Victorian house crowded with love beads and necking couples. Mumblin' Jim's truth-seeking friend Dave considers the band's pursuit of success "playing games," but he agrees to help Jennie anyway.

Reviews
ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
GazerRise Fantastic!
mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
TheBlueHairedLawyer Psych-Out is certainly appealing if you like those nostalgic movies about the hippie subculture and that catchy Incense and Peppermints song. But it's much more than that, in fact it's almost scary, some of the scenes. Unlike the loads of movies that glamorize the hippie lifestyle, Psych-Out shows the drug abuse, the casual sex, and the broken homes that some of these hippies were coming from to get away.If there's one thing I can say about Psych-Out, it's made me realize that times were actually better back then. Sure, there was drugs and sex and madness abound, but through it all, the characters still cared for each other in the end. In today's world, people are so immersed in their damned cell phones, texting and taking pictures of themselves like narcissists and sharing every detail of their dumb lives as if the world revolves around them, that they no longer care much about those around them. Sad how we've come so far and yet we're so badly far gone. I'm glad I don't own a cell phone.It's certainly a trippy movie, well-filmed with some excellent scenes. The acting was great and I loved the soundtrack. I can only hope that this film continues to be as powerful as it was for me, for future generations to come.
gregkero If you look very closely, during the opening main-title sequence, you can spot local Haight-Ashbury residents, including Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, hanging out on Haight Street. It's too bad that Jack Nicholson's contribution to the script, and those of the screenwriters, didn't keep the story moving along at a better pace in a way that would have made the film an interesting, honest look at what the Haight was all about: people searching for peaceful, more spiritually rewarding lives, seeking media attention (to promote their message), while simultaneously shunning the commercialized "straight" world and the materialism of mainstream society. Dean Stockwell's characterization of Dave alludes to that, but the film is so rambling that it never quite gels into what should have been a really good time capsule in the way that Saturday Night Fever was and still remains.
tfrizzell A sickening style and a bland story with poorly executed elements make "Psych-Out" spin out of control very fast. A young deaf woman (Susan Strasberg) who can read lips goes to San Francisco looking for her brother (Bruce Dern) who has disappeared and seemingly left society all together. She falls in with a bunch of hippies (led by Jack Nicholson and Dean Stockwell, both way too old even in 1968 to be believable as flower children) and they all decide to look for Dern. Of course Nicholson falls in love with Strasberg and vice versa, but naturally Nicholson believes in free love man and sleeping with many beautiful women that might catch his fancy (real eye rolling material). Stockwell makes himself out to be a medicine man while Nicholson is a would-be rock'n'roll superstar who refuses to conform or follow. Director Richard Rush (a film-maker whose work has always been over-rated in my mind) tries to make a movie to reflect its time period, but really the whole thing is a dud. Nicholson is wasted with the sorry material (as he was throughout the 1960s until his career break with "Easy Rider") and the other people (Dern and Stockwell in particular) are not even around enough to become noteworthy. A forgettable piece from the 1960s. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).
fun_guy20 This movie rocks for 2 reasons: The Seeds and Strawberry Alarm Clock This is pretty much the only time we ever get to see these two 60's bands in action. The plot is good too although the end is pretty far out. I definitly recommend this to anyone who likes to stimulate their mind and watch a good movie. Jack Nicolson is even in it, I mean how cool is that? And this takes place in Haight Ashbury back in the day! Most privately owned video stores still rent this. I have gotten really inspired by this movie because I'm in a psychedelic band.