The 1960s psychedelic acid-trip movie is something to be approached with considerable trepidation. The potential for truly embarrassing disaster is just so enormous. In fact Roger Corman’s 1967 entry in this sub-genre, The Trip, is not too bad. It has no plot whatsoever – it’s just an acid trip taken by a guy who directs TV commercials, played by Peter Fonda. It still manages to remain entertaining for an hour-and-a-half, and despite the customary Corman low budget it’s visually reasonably impressive. Peter Fonda is, well he’s Peter Fonda and of course he can’t act at all (Jane obviously got all the acting talent in that particular generation of Fondas), but it doesn’t really matter. Bruce Dern and Dennis Hopper are both amusing in supporting roles. Although Corman couldn’t escape the necessity of having an anti-drugs scare intro to the film, the movie is actually very non-judgmental on the subject. He gets into a few scrapes, and has some bad moments, but he doesn’t turn into an axe-murderer or end up in a psych ward. I don’t think Roger Corman was capable of making a boring movie and he seemingly had the ability to come up with something interesting in just about any genre he attempted (and he attempted most of them). It’s a movie to watch purely for fun of course, and if you approach it that way it’s rather enjoyable.
Friday, 18 May 2007
The Trip (1967)
The 1960s psychedelic acid-trip movie is something to be approached with considerable trepidation. The potential for truly embarrassing disaster is just so enormous. In fact Roger Corman’s 1967 entry in this sub-genre, The Trip, is not too bad. It has no plot whatsoever – it’s just an acid trip taken by a guy who directs TV commercials, played by Peter Fonda. It still manages to remain entertaining for an hour-and-a-half, and despite the customary Corman low budget it’s visually reasonably impressive. Peter Fonda is, well he’s Peter Fonda and of course he can’t act at all (Jane obviously got all the acting talent in that particular generation of Fondas), but it doesn’t really matter. Bruce Dern and Dennis Hopper are both amusing in supporting roles. Although Corman couldn’t escape the necessity of having an anti-drugs scare intro to the film, the movie is actually very non-judgmental on the subject. He gets into a few scrapes, and has some bad moments, but he doesn’t turn into an axe-murderer or end up in a psych ward. I don’t think Roger Corman was capable of making a boring movie and he seemingly had the ability to come up with something interesting in just about any genre he attempted (and he attempted most of them). It’s a movie to watch purely for fun of course, and if you approach it that way it’s rather enjoyable.
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