The Trip (lsd) [ classic Roger Corman 1967 ]

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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