One of the last beach party movies has several points of interest – the first directed by a woman (Stephanie Rothman), appearances from the Animals (singing ‘We’ve Got to Get Out of this Place’) and the Castaways, a cast including Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, Bobby "Monster Mash" Pickett and Sid Haig.
Kirk normally played boys next doors and/or dweebs – here he’s the big stud at the local beach who makes eyes at new girl Deborah Walley. Walley doesn’t like cocky guys, preferring the intellectual type – so Kirk pretends to be his own nerdy brother. The guts of the “plot” has Walley and Kirk compete in some tournament to be the most awesome person on the beach (or something). It’s not enough story to sustain a feature – the best Beach Party movies always made sure a couple of plots were going on, but this only as the one. (There is a romance between the side kicks but not enough is made for it.)
The influence of the Beach Party series is clear elsewhere with the cast including clones of Deadhead (the Bobby Pickett character – he even has an up-turned hat) and Big Daddy (Sid Haig). There are also plenty of Beach Party-type musical numbers, hang outs and sporting events. It’s a shame there isn’t a Harvey von Zipper character, he might have given the story more conflict. Roger Corman fans might get a kick out of Kirk and Walley going to see Attack of the Crab Monsters at the movies.
Rothman did try to bring a feminist perspective to her work – Walley is a spirited, intelligent heroine who pursues nerdy Kirk and matches cool Kirk event for event –although the message is mixed at the end when Kirk throws the event so Walley can win. Walley and Kirk are very engaging, and work well together; she spends the last act of the film running around in a bikini and he in shorts – but he’s seen sucking in his gut a few times.
It’s an overcast, gloomy-looking movie – the photography isn’t bright or colourful. But the music is great. The guitar riff played throughout the film is liable to get stuck in your head afterwards. And I liked the use of title cards during the credits, too.
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