The Horror of Party Beach

Classic camp drive-in horror of the 60's is a gem for those who love these kind of flicks.

Toxic chemicals dumped into the ocean result in some Sesame Street sea monsters that terrorize a Conneticut community!

As its title implies, Horror of Party Beach is one cheesy piece of horror schlock complete with all those wonderful old drive-in elements! You've got it all - silly looking monsters, lots of dumb teens, lots of old rock songs, plenty of big-haired bimbos, and enough hokey dialog to crush a small city! It's a nostalgic riot for those who love old monster flicks. Despite all of its flaws Horror of Party Beach does have some nicely spooky scenes and some surprising goriness!

The cast is pretty much as good as one would expect for a movie like this. The late Eulabelle Moore is a big stand out though as the paranoid house maid. She thinks the monsters are a result of voodoo and she doesn't mind voicing her opinion! Eulabelle, you are golden.

A totally enjoyable B monster romp that's thankfully coming to DVD soon. Those who love the genre must see it!

*** out of ****

Schlockmeister Del Tenney shot most of this Grade Z monster romp on a beach in Stamford, Conn., although the story apparently is set in southern California. Sun worshippers of varying ages are being done in by some mysterious creature from the sea (in this case, Long Island Sound). The monster was created by radioactive waste. In short order, there are two monsters and eventually many. A kindly old scientist races against time to figure out how to kill the critters, which are you basic men in rubber suits. The monsters are so slow-moving, it's amazing they manage to catch anybody. In one scene, a woman runs directly into the arms of one of them, and it still has trouble holding her. Badly acted by what appears to be some New York-based actors and lots of extras, and it's not the least bit scary. The fun part is to observe the early '60s hairdos and outfits. Some of the guys sport tiny, tight bathing shorts and wiggle and gyrate like they are participating in a gay parade. The girls' bikinis for the most part appear to be bra tops and diapers. A Beach Boys-type group wails its way through a half-dozen terrible songs throughout. As for the monsters, they have googly eyes and what appears to be a bunch of Hummel hot dogs wedged in their large, perpetually open moths, the better to drink human blood, I guess. Watch it for its camp value.

It's hard to hate a film that creeped me out for years! made me leery of dark forests and deep water forever. I know it is drekk but it's definitely good drekk.What startled me at the time was how fast it got to the point. Beach scenes, spilled radiation barrels,the monster created,and gets its first victim a few minutes later with blood gushing everywhere.Then a few dull minutes of talk,then the classic slumber party scene!20 girls laughing,singing,and having pillow fight not knowing the things from hell are creeping outside!The attack is surprisingly gory,with shots of bloodied bodies all over the room.definitely get the 79 minute version,not the edited tv version.

Spawned by nuclear waste which has been dumped into the sea, these hideous creatures rise up from the ocean depths to prey on innocent teens!

Actually the creatures aren't that hideous and the teens aren't that innocent, so there isn't really much horror at Party Beach.

But there's still some fun to be had if you're into the mood for a so-bad-it's-good movie. The monster suits are perfect comic caricatures of all those `Black Lagoon' imitators, so you have to laugh WITH the movie as well as AT it. The creatures have cartoonish fish heads atop slim bodies with oversized scales that look more like floppy feathers. The suits must have been reasonably light and maneuverable, because the spry creatures invade several beach parties and dash off with armloads of bikini-clad beauties.

Musical guest stars: The Del-Aires. Filmed during the height of Frankie and Annette's `Beach Party' craze, `The Horror of Party Beach' was a pure natural for the thousands of drive-in theaters that flourished during those by-gone days.

Horror of Party Beach, The (1964)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Insane cult classic from director Del Tenney who also made the infamous I Drink Your Blood. Dumb scientists are dumping toxic waste into the ocean, which in turn creates half fish, half zombie monsters that start attacking the locals and drinking their blood. This is one of those infamous bad films that has gained a huge cult following over the years and it's easy to see why since this film has pretty much everything. This is certaily a very poor movie but there's just a certain charm that keeps it entertaining throughout. We've got jocks, bikers, sluts, sea monsters, bad rock 'n roll, insane dialogue and everything else. The sea monsters are some of the dumbest looking monsters ever created but that adds to the charm. The dialogue is also very silly but this here gets plenty of laughs as well. If you're into these 'so bad they're good" films then this here is a must see. The original rock 'n roll songs in the film are also terrible, especially "Zombie stomp".