In a nutshell, television commercial director Paul Groves (Peter Fonda), whose wife Sally (Susan Strasberg) is divorcing him, decides to take an acid trip to improve his "insight." More than an hour of the film is devoted to the "journey."
At the beginning Paul is filming an April in Paris perfume commercial as the male and female actors stand in beach water fully dressed. After shooting Paul and his drug-researcher friend John (Bruce Dern) visit the "Psychedelic Temple," the abode of drug dealer Max (Dennis Hopper). A joint is smoked among friends, after which Paul and John go upstairs to John's apartment where he will supervise Paul as he takes his LSD capsule with apple juice. Paul's trip is a kaleidoscope of psychedelic imagery: bright colors, swirls, lights, flowers, the seashore. He can feel the "life" of an orange crawl along his hand and arm. Things gradually go awry. Paul thinks he is being pursued at the shoreline by two horsemen dressed in black. He sees images of a dwarf. Then he witnesses his own death scene, complete with cremation brought about by men from the Middle Ages. While John is fetching more apple juice for Paul, the latter imagines that John was shot dead with a bullet through his temple. So Paul "escapes" his apartment and wanders the streets of LA aimlessly. He gets into mischief, like strolling into a family's house at night and talking with a young girl. When the girl's father awakens and sees them, Paul vacates quickly. At a laundromat he takes a lady's wash from a dryer and throws it on the floor. She calls the police and he leaves. At a go-go club with many dancers, we observe a wildly dancing, attractive, dark-haired lady practically naked except for a bikini bottom and full body paint. The police soon show up and notice Paul, but he quickly leaves and makes it back to Max's place. Paul soon departs and meets up with brown-eyed blonde Glenn (Salli Sachse). With her he experiences drug-fueled sexual intercourse, after which he says he will solve his problems tomorrow. Arf!
This independent production (American International) was produced by Roger Corman (You know his films: "Premature Burial," "Dementia 13," "The Wild Angels," "The Student Nurses," etc.). "The Trip" is a fossil, representative of a bygone era. The psychedelic music is par for the period, and the lead actors were already well-known. Fonda and Dern had appeared in "The Wild Angels" (1966). Strasberg had the lead role in the Italian production about a WW II concentration camp, "Kapo" (1960). Her role in "Psych-Out" in 1968 with Jack Nicholson was much larger than her appearance in "The Trip." Bruce Dern also appeared in "Psych-Out." Max's blonde girlfriend LuLu is played by Katherine Walsh. In 1970 she was found dead in her Kensington, England flat. She was just 23 years old. The editing of "The Trip" is incredibly rapid-fire all the way, and there is no plot (thin, thin, thin) except for the supposed effects of acid. Considered imaginative by some, the film nevertheless runs too long. It is not really entertaining, but just a trip and a bum one at that. You can check it out as a relic, but don't blink!
At the beginning Paul is filming an April in Paris perfume commercial as the male and female actors stand in beach water fully dressed. After shooting Paul and his drug-researcher friend John (Bruce Dern) visit the "Psychedelic Temple," the abode of drug dealer Max (Dennis Hopper). A joint is smoked among friends, after which Paul and John go upstairs to John's apartment where he will supervise Paul as he takes his LSD capsule with apple juice. Paul's trip is a kaleidoscope of psychedelic imagery: bright colors, swirls, lights, flowers, the seashore. He can feel the "life" of an orange crawl along his hand and arm. Things gradually go awry. Paul thinks he is being pursued at the shoreline by two horsemen dressed in black. He sees images of a dwarf. Then he witnesses his own death scene, complete with cremation brought about by men from the Middle Ages. While John is fetching more apple juice for Paul, the latter imagines that John was shot dead with a bullet through his temple. So Paul "escapes" his apartment and wanders the streets of LA aimlessly. He gets into mischief, like strolling into a family's house at night and talking with a young girl. When the girl's father awakens and sees them, Paul vacates quickly. At a laundromat he takes a lady's wash from a dryer and throws it on the floor. She calls the police and he leaves. At a go-go club with many dancers, we observe a wildly dancing, attractive, dark-haired lady practically naked except for a bikini bottom and full body paint. The police soon show up and notice Paul, but he quickly leaves and makes it back to Max's place. Paul soon departs and meets up with brown-eyed blonde Glenn (Salli Sachse). With her he experiences drug-fueled sexual intercourse, after which he says he will solve his problems tomorrow. Arf!
This independent production (American International) was produced by Roger Corman (You know his films: "Premature Burial," "Dementia 13," "The Wild Angels," "The Student Nurses," etc.). "The Trip" is a fossil, representative of a bygone era. The psychedelic music is par for the period, and the lead actors were already well-known. Fonda and Dern had appeared in "The Wild Angels" (1966). Strasberg had the lead role in the Italian production about a WW II concentration camp, "Kapo" (1960). Her role in "Psych-Out" in 1968 with Jack Nicholson was much larger than her appearance in "The Trip." Bruce Dern also appeared in "Psych-Out." Max's blonde girlfriend LuLu is played by Katherine Walsh. In 1970 she was found dead in her Kensington, England flat. She was just 23 years old. The editing of "The Trip" is incredibly rapid-fire all the way, and there is no plot (thin, thin, thin) except for the supposed effects of acid. Considered imaginative by some, the film nevertheless runs too long. It is not really entertaining, but just a trip and a bum one at that. You can check it out as a relic, but don't blink!