The Beach Girls and the Monster

For years I've had the TV version (Monster From The Surf) on VHS off of TV. Despite it's shortcomings, I watch it once in a while. Maybe it's the surfish soundtrack (nice minor key whammy-bar during the monster scenes); I've added the opening credits theme to my surf guitar repetoire. I also enjoyed the character Mark, the sculptor,(Walker Edmiston's finest moment?) who really digs the surf crowd (rather vacuous and dull in this movie) but can't seem to connect with them. I wonder if Frank Sinatra Jr. really composed the music. I also wonder if Jon Hall actually got in the monster suit. I doubt it. For his sake I hope not as the performance of the monster was awful. Note how after 'brutally murdering' the 1st victim he makes sure not to drop her on the ground hard. Anyhow I was surprised to see this on DVD but didn't think it deserved the price it was selling for. Later I found it used and happily picked it up. No outtakes or commentary (I doubt there's a huge public outcry) but some good liner notes about the cast & movie. *1/2 out of *****

Pretty cheesy. John Hall directs and stars in this movie also known as MONSTER FROM THE SURF. Pretty girls are slashed to death by a sea monster. Right! I have always liked Jon Hall, but this movie is as interesting as sea weed. Stock footage of surfing and no "real" monster at all. Acting is about as lame as the script. Also in the cast are Sue Casey, Elaine DuPont and Walker Edmiston.

Beach Girls and the Monster, The (1965)

* (out of 4)

A bunch of teens just wanna dance to some good music and surf but a sea monster shows up to ruin their day. This is a rather infamous film that tries to mix with horror genre with any of the Beach Party movies but the film is a flat out disaster but I must admit that it kept me entertained throughout its 65-minute running time. If you can't stand bad movies then there's no need for you to see this one but if you believe that some bad movies can be entertaining then this here is a must see. The performances are all incredibly bad but this does lead to some nice laughs as does the really bad direction. The monster has a cute rubber face and I admit that I enjoyed the few scenes that it's in but the twist in the plot can easily be spotted. The film is best remembered today for its Frank Sinatra, Jr. soundtrack and it's actually pretty good even though it's third-rate Beach Boys stuff.

This movie is clearly not for everyone, as it was made during a more innocent time when surfing and beach movies were all the rage. While it obviously didn't win any Academy Awards, it was still a cute movie nonetheless. Essentially, the film begins with a pretty beach girl who playfully runs away from the campfire her friends are having on the beach. A monster then appears and kills her. After that, the scene shifts to one of the beach houses where a young surfer named "Richard Lindsey" (Arnold Lessing) lives with his overly demanding father, "Dr. Otto Lindsey" (John Hall), and his sexy but two-timing stepmother, "Vicky Lindsey" (Sue Casey). Meanwhile, amidst the drama within the beach house, the monster continues to kill Richard's friends. While I found this movie a bit amusing, it's really hard to overlook the faults. The acting wasn't very good, some of the scenes were laughable, and the "monster" looked completely ridiculous. Even so, it featured attractive ladies like Elaine DuPont (as "Janie") and the aforementioned Sue Casey to brighten up the scenery, along with a little mystery thrown in as well. So, all things considered, I suppose it wasn't a total waste of time. However, this film isn't for everyone, and even then, those who remember this particular era will still have to make allowances.

I remember watching this movie as a kid and I thought it was pretty scary, so when I saw it on DVD I decided to get it and now I see why a lot of people think this movie is a stinker. The film is part beach party flick, part whodunnit, part melodrama and part horror. John Hall, who showed a lot of promise with his role in The Hurricane, really showed how far his career had fallen when he became involved in this throwaway and Sue Casey showed why she was nothing more than a minor league actress. The other actors, if you can call them that, are so bad that you wonder why this film was ever made. However, I do like looking at bad movies and this is definitely one of them.