Movie review - “The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini” (1966) ** (rewatching)

I’m glad the Beach Party series ended on this and not How to Stuff a Wild Bikini. This isn’t a good movie, not really, but it’s full of fun stuff. So was How to Stuff, but that film had a hollow core as there was no decent central romance. This one has, however tentatively, Tommy Kirk and Deborah Walley.

It also has a script heavily influenced by Pajama Party - like that this is a mash up, in this case beach party and haunted house stories. Patsy Kelly plays, basically, Else Lanchester, Aron Kincaid plays the nephew role essayed by Jody McCrea, Bobbi Shaw is back with Benny Rubin stepping in for Buster Keaton. Quinn O’Hara is fun as the short sighted femme fatale, constantly trying to seduce statues, Francis X Bushman plays an old butler, Basil Rathbone has a decent sized role as a villain, Piccola Pupa is this random singer stepping in for Donna Loren, Nancy Sinatra is the second female lead. Kirk and Kincaid spend a lot of time being spooked, Walley doesn’t have that much to do, Harvey Lembeck and co are on hand.

The device of Boris Karloff and Susan Hart was added after the original cut - it suits the jokey nature of the film. Bobby Fuller Four is in this.

The whole notion of a busload of teens travelling to a house and breaking out into impromptu dance numbers with a band playing a long is just so silly it’s very endearing.

As finales to series go, this was fine.