The Trip (lsd) [ classic Roger Corman 1967 ] torrent

Trip, The

Year : 1967

Director: Roger Corman

Stars : Peter Fonda, Susan Strasberg, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper,

Salli Sachse, Barboura Morris, Judy Lang, Beach Dickerson,

Luana Anders, Dick Miller, Michael Nader, Michael Blodgett,

Angelo Rossitto

Genre : Weirdo

Review : Paul (Peter Fonda) is a director of television commercials

who feels the need to go on a journey of self-discovery now

that his marriage is over. He meets up with John (Bruce Dern)

and they go to a party so that Paul can try LSD for the first

time, with John as his guide. Paul relaxes as the drug takes

hold, but is unprepared for the barrage of images that he

sees, and ends up wandering the streets, stoned...

This famous attempt to put the full LSD experience onto film

was written by Jack Nicholson (yes, that Jack Nicholson). As

Roger Corman and American International Pictures moved

further into the sixties, they realised they had to cash in

on the growing counterculture - sending up the beatniks in a

Bucket of Blood style wasn\'t going to work with the hippies.

So we are offered this testament to dropping acid, complete

with sober disclaimer at the start warning us of this problem

- they couldn\'t be seen to be endorsing it, after all.

The Trip looks like a quaint relic of the times now, which is

why it\'s strangely appealling to see Fonda undergo his

consciousness expansion. We know when he\'s hallucinating

because he is no longer wearing slacks and a V-neck jumper,

now he is wearing a shirt with puffy sleeves, sandals and a

medallion instead. The visions range from Tolkien-esque black

riders and a hobbit to Edgar Allen Poe Gothic castles, with

some sex romps in between. The projection of abstract images

works quite well, especially on faces, and may remind you of

the Stargate sequence of 2001 on a low budget.

As a guide, John proves to be largely unhelpful, because

after he has talked Paul through the first half of the trip,

he proceeds to menace him with a chair and then accidentally

let him escape into the night. Once outside, Paul breaks into

a house to watch Vietnam news on TV, visits a launderette to

gaze lovingly at the washing machines and tumble dryers, then

ends up at a club where much dancing, body-painted naked

women and bongo playing is going on.

Although Paul has to stand trial in his own mind (with Dennis

Hopper as the judge!) as to the merits of his commercials,

the apparent accusations of being part of selfish consumer

culture ring hollow, considering he\'s the one who\'s being

self-centred enough to seek his own inner truth. And the

music is undistinguished, vaguely psychedelic rock played by

Electric Flag, when what you would rather hear is Piper at

the Gates of Dawn or whatever. Watching The Trip is a bit

like being told someone else\'s dreams for over an hour -

interesting for them, but you feel a little excluded. Still,

it\'s experimental cinema by Roger Corman, and on that basis,

entertaining enough. Also with: a cheeky monkey.

Reviewer: Graeme Clark

Roger Corman (1926 - )

Legendary American B-Movie producer and director who, from the fifties

onwards, offered low budget thrills with economy and flair. Early films

include It Conquered the World, Not of This Earth, Attack of the Crab

Monsters, A Bucket of Blood, The Little Shop of Horrors and X. The

Intruder was a rare attempt at social comment.

Come the sixties, Corman found unexpected respectability when he

adapted Edgar Allan Poe stories for the screen: House of Usher, The Pit

and The Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia

among them, usually starring Vincent Price. He even tried his hand at

counterculture films such as The Wild Angels, The Trip and Gas!, before

turning to producing full time in the seventies.

Many notable talents have been given their break by Corman, such as

Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese, Monte Hellman, Jonathan Demme,

Joe Dante, James Cameron and Peter Bogdanovich. Corman returned to

directing in 1990 with the disappointing Frankenstein Unbound.

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