Free LSD is far out. Acting as the final sendoff for OFF!, the film stars Keith Morris, Dimitri Coats (also the director) and Autry Fulbright, along with the sadly departed D.H. Peligro, standing in as the band’s drummer. It would probably be unfair to disclose too much of the twisting, turning, interwoven plot, but the basis of the film is that it asks, “what if Keith never got the chance to be in a band?” Instead, he winds up as an aging, lonely clerk at a porno store… until an attractive young woman comes into the shop and is extremely turned on by bearded, potbellied, unkempt Keith. From there, Keith gets a vision of what he could have become and two universes collide as Keith and others warp through dimensions between boring keith world and Keith-singer-of-OFF!-world. There’s also a lot more to it, including aliens, time travel, and drugs. Also, the ability of the human race to think for itself is on the line- sadly, this could not be more timely, even if the political overtones might not be intended.

Perhaps similarly to the classic brutalist films of the ‘70s, not everything in Free LSD is spelled out (as opposed to say, a marvel movie where EVERYTHING is explained multiple times). But moreover, Coats takes a few slight cues from Jodorowsky or Verhoeven and goes somewhat abstract at points, which perfectly gels into the film’s far out plot. Free LSD is Coats’ first full-length, but he directs it with confidence and his own trademark in tone and visual appeal. While the film is mostly serious on the sci-fi angle, a few well placed jokes are dropped in here or there… you;d think boner jokes would be regulated to frat movies but Coats somehow works them in to something very serious. Along those lines, it would be tempting, in a movie about an older guy falling for a younger vixen, who also wants to be punk star… that also has aliens… to go the full on B-route. To the contrary, Coats plays it seriously and intensely, and in doing so, cuts a movie that has layers upon layers that also speaks to a number of important cosmic questions. Also, in the age of marvel and popcorn sci-fi (which I do like), it’s refreshing to see a movie look back to the age of mean and scary and far out sci-fi, along the lines of Clockwork Orange, THX-1138, and Scanner Darkly.

Morris fits naturally into his more depressing alter-ego- he’s not very bright, meek, sad, but in his core, he knows he can do more. Similarly, Fulbright shows his range as he switches from a sort of Hare Krisha devotee to a Terminator-style shotgun blaster. David Yow is in a large chunk of the film as a sort of spiritual guide, but he;s not exactly what he seems and Yow plays the off-kilter personality with an understated calm. It’s also a lot of fun to see people like Jack Black, Don Bolles, Zander Schloss, and others pop up. In his final acting role before passing away, DH Peligro turns in an excellent performance of a man trapped in a coma that can still navigate the waves of reality. The fact that Peligro actually WAS fatally sick during this shoot makes the meaning of both the role and the movie’s fundamental thread that much more poignant.

Of course, the movie acts as the end cap for the sadly disbanding OFF!. But, the bandmembers wherein don’t seem sad… they seemed thrilled to look back on what they did accomplish. In fact, at a Q A for the film, Keith Morris said something along the lines of “I’ve done a lot of cool stuff in my life, but I am most proud of this.” In fact, at times when Coats was ready to throw int he towel for the monumental film, it was Morris who gave Coats the go-get-em to make this massive undertaking a reality. It was worth it. At its core, the movie asks, “why not be the best version of yourself?” As OFF! ends, and as Free LSD is born, it becomes clear that Keith and Dimitri and Autry and Mario and Steve and Justin really did prove that you can manifest your best self.