Search - Psych-Out / The Trip on DVD

Rack Focus!

Stanley King | 05/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This disc is so worth getting just for the mini-documentaries included for each. If you have any interest at all in filmmaking, they're even better. Director Richard Rush discusses his technique for the film "Psych Out." If you're familiar with the concept of rack focus, he discusses how he shot his film built entirely around that concept. Using it in lieu of cuts and fades. Fascinating! There's also technical stuff about "The Trip" and how they achieved the special effects. Even funnier is the fact that Roger Corman dropped acid for research purposes! (What people will do for their art!) Bruce Dern is highly amusing as he discusses how drugs ruined people's work ethic and habits back in the day (hmm, he wouldn't be including Jack in that, would he?). Bruce also does quite a fine Nicholson impersonation. Overall, both films are worth seeing. I love the look of both, with beautiful saturated colors -- they don't make film stocks like that anymore. The films are pristine, too, with little evidence of scratches and whatnot as so often you get when older movies are transferred to DVD. "Psycho Out" is extremely funny. There's a wonderful love scene that looks like one of those old black light posters brought to life. Lots of bad acid trips. And a gay couple is presented very matter-of-factly, like, hey, this is set in San Francisco, no big deal. I never even realized that the two characters were a gay couple when I first saw the film years ago on television. The things you learn from DVD viewing! Anyways, this is a must-have DVD, a real bargain, and a potential learning experience for film students. Get it! It's a trip!"