Saturday, April 30, 2011

Movie review – “The Beach Girls and the Monster” (1964) *1/2

It didn’t take long for the success of Beach Party to spawn a number of imitators, of which this was one of the most weird. It belongs to an unusual Beach Party sub-genre – "Beach Party Horror", which also includes The Horror of Party Beach

This has the attraction of a Hollywood semi-legend in the cast – former Maria Montez co-star Jon Hall, who also directs (and offered up his house as a location). He's not much of a director to be honest - although he's not helped by the film being in black and white.

The plot involves a hilariously bad rubber suited monster going on a killing rampage along a beach - although to be fair the killer turns out to be a person in a rubber monster suit. There's a bit of Eugene O'Neil drama at the Jon Hall house - he plays a scientist whose younger wife is a tramp who hits on her step son (to Hall's first marriage) who just wants to go surfing, and there's some crippled sculptor there as well. So much drama!

There are some attractive girls and some surprisingly good songs apart from an atrocious ballad. There's also a lion puppet. Frank Sinatra Jnr helped provide some of the music. A lot of fun despite being appalling - there are plenty of beach girls and surfing and monster stuff.

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