Psych-Out

Psych-Out is a 1968 counterculture-era psychedelic film about hippies, psychedelic music, and recreational drugs starring Susan Strasberg, Jack Nicholson (the movie's leading man despite being billed under supporting player Dean Stockwell), and Bruce Dern, and produced and released by American International Pictures. Originally scripted as The Love Children, the title when tested caused people to think it was about bastards, so Samuel Z. Arkoff came up with the ultimate title based on a recent successful reissue of Psycho. The cinematographer was László Kovács. Director Richard Rush's cut came in at 101 minutes and was edited to 82 minutes by the producers. This version is the one released on DVD. For some reason, when HBO Video released the film on VHS, they used a 98-minute version. On February 17, 2015 a 101-minute Director's cut was released on DVD and Blu-Ray. The majority of the songs in the movie and on the original soundtrack album were performed by the Storybook. This credit is never mentioned on movie posters and articles. They were a local band from the San Fernando Valley.