"The first '60s drug movie, and possibly Corman's most personal film, The Trip features Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern and Susan Strasberg in a story about a TV commercial director (Fonda) whose marriage and career are falling apart. In a desperate attempt to re-order his life, Fonda takes LSD under the ministrations of an experienced acid 'guide' (Dern). The trip begins serenely, but soon turns into a threatening fantasy of sexual encounters, medieval rites and paranoic visions. In the end, Fonda is reborn, ready to begin a new life - when the image on the screen shatters.

"Corman took LSD in preparation for the film; legend has it that he lay in Griffith Park and said, 'It's a good thing I didn't do this before I made my millions.' (But of course he went on to make many more millions, so one never knows.) Jack Nicholson wrote the screenplay, Dennis Jakob did the psychedelic montages (which alone are worth the price of admission), and the editing is quite impressive, with recurring shots that set up a powerful resonance. The negative ending - the image that shatters - was apparently put on at AIP's insistence; Corman also notes that AIP cut a lot of material showing the positive side of LSD, and stuck on a prologue warning against LSD.

"In a scene that some of Corman's associates find revealing, Hopper asks Fonda (who has given up 'serious' cinema) what he thinks of TV commercials. 'Lies!' says Fonda.

"'Then why do you make this garbage?' asks Hopper.

"'It's a living,' says Fonda. 'It's all I can do.'

"Later, we see him at work, and the camera pans hurriedly past a slate; the director's name is Namroc - Corman spelled backwards."