Line #4 Film/PsychOut


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/psych_out_1968_poster.jpeg]]
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3	''Psych-Out'' is a 1968 psychedelic film directed by Richard Rush.
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5	Deaf, underage runaway Jenny Davis (Susan Strasberg) travels to UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in search of her missing brother Steve (Creator/BruceDern), whom she hasn't seen since he ran away years ago. Her only lead is a postcard that says "Jess Saes: God is alive and well and living in a sugar cube." She befriends the band Mumblin' Jim, consisting of Stoney (Creator/JackNicholson), Ben (Adam Roarke), and Elwood (Max Julien). The band members hide Jenny from the police in their hippie commune, and--along with ex-member Dave (Creator/DeanStockwell)--help her search for Steve.
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8	!!''Psych-Out'' contains examples of:
9	* SixtiesHair: From the long, flowing hair many of the male characters have, to Warren's massive sideburns, to the big afros seen on white men.
10	* AbusiveParents: Jenny and Steve's mother was a cruel, hate-filled woman who delighted in coming up with creative punishments.
11	* AttemptedRape: A group of thugs with a grudge against Steve try to rape Jenny to see if she really believes in free love. The band members fight them off.
12	* BatterUp: Elwood uses a baseball bat to fight the thugs.
13	* BrokenTreasure: [[spoiler:Jenny could hear as a child, but one day her mother threw her box of her personal treasures into the furnace. This traumatized her so badly that she never heard again.]]
14	* BulletTime: Used during [[spoiler:Dave's HeroicSacrifice]].
15	* CostumeTestMontage: The band members take Jenny to a clothing drop -- the [[https://diggers.org/ Diggers Free Store]] -- where she can get changed out of her "square" clothes. She tries on a succession of outfits, most of which are vetoed by the band, before settling on a short white dress.
16	* DownInTheDumps: The protagonists' search leads them to a junkyard full of abandoned cars.
17	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Music/StrawberryAlarmClock song that plays over some scenes is officially called "The Pretty Song from ''Psych-Out''."
18	* ForgotTheDisability: The other characters often forget that Jenny is deaf.
19	-->'''Ben''' (yelling from a car): Hey, Jenny!\
20	'''Stoney''': Hey, it's not gonna do you any good to yell, you know.\
21	'''Ben''': Oh yeah, that's right.
22	* FreakOut: Warren (Henry Jaglom), who designs Mumblin' Jim's posters, has a bad trip that causes him to try to kill the band members with power tools, then cut his arm off.
23	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:During her STP trip, Jenny stands in the middle of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Dave pushes her to safety and gets hit by a car in the process, atoning for his mistake in giving her the drug in the first place.]]
24	* HippieVan: Mumblin' Jim drive a psychedelically painted van with an ankh made of flowers tied to the roof.
25	* LooksLikeJesus: [[spoiler:When Steve finally shows up, he has long, tangled brown hair, a short beard, and a wild expression, and wears white robes.]] The church father who comments on the hippies' idealism compares them to the early Christians.
26	* MatchCut: From a furry yellow blanket to a field of wheat and back again.
27	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Dean Stockwell as Dave is doing an amazing impression of Music/NeilYoung as he was at that time (the two were good friends). Dave's having quit the band over artistic integrity vs. commercial success reflects Neil's disagreements with his bandmates, especially in Music/BuffaloSpringfield, over same.
28	* ThePowerOfLove: The point of the theatrical group's pantomime is that death is merely a passage to eternal life, and that people should be sustained by love, mutual caring and a conscious decision to refrain from violence.
29	* ReadingLips: How Jenny communicates. As usual in fiction, she's unrealistically good at it and never makes a mistake as long as she can see someone's mouth.
30	* SignsOfDisrepair: [[spoiler:Jenny is baffled by Steve's postcard until she learns that he used to live near a sign that said "JESUS SAVES," where the U and the V had gone dark.]]
31	* SingleMaltVision: A frequently used effect, especially when a character is on drugs, shows an image in the middle of the screen with smaller copies circling around it.
32	* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: The only place for Jenny to sleep is Stoney's tiny room. Jenny finds sleeping next to him very uncomfortable, especially when he brings other women in. [[spoiler:Although they have sex eventually.]]
33	* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness:
34	** During Warren's bad trip, he sees other people as zombies, and his own arm as rotten and infested with maggots.
35	** When Elwood fights off Jenny's attempted rapists, he sees himself as a swordsman fighting off knights and a dragon.
36	** When Jenny takes STP, she sees everything around her burst into flame.
37	* TimeShiftedActor: Jenny and Steve are played in a {{flashback}} by child actors Susan Bushman and William Gerrity.
38	* ToplessnessFromTheBack: Used while Jenny changes in Stoney's room.
39	* WeNeedADistraction: When the police arrive at the pad looking for Jenny, Ben distracts them by starting a brawl.
40	* WesternZodiac: Warren hits on almost every woman he meets, including Jenny, by asking them if they're Geminis.
41	-->'''Warren''': I'm a Leo, baby! And we are in phase! I mean, that is if you ''really'' are a Gemini.
42	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Was Steve the Seeker rescued from the fire or did he perish]]?

Context Film / PsychOut