It's a Bikini World

So much fun weirdness going on here...the plot is pure '60s cornball but the actors are game and there are a lot of strange subtleties to appreciate: The Pop Art feel of the film, from the comic book opening titles (this was made at the height of the Batman craze, after all) to the Warhol/Lichtenstein style artwork hanging on the walls (pretty ahead of its time...I want a pad just like Mike's!) -- Veteran horror actor Sid Haig as an Ed "Big Daddy" Roth type -- The Crispin Gloveresque "McSnigg" character -- Bobby "Boris" Pickett of Monster Mash fame playing the goofy sidekick Woody (?!?!) -- Nice musical performances, more imaginatively photographed than in most films of this sort. The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" is a highlight -- Not to mention beautiful sunny locales and lots of bright, 1960s colors. If you enjoy beach party films, give this one a shot!

I enjoyed this one, but not as much as the Frankie and Annette beach movies. This one has The Animals singing one of their hits, so that made it worth watching to go back to a different era. Lots of bikinis and Tommy Kirk just seemed older than I expected...lol. I guess it's my memories of him from the Disney movies. Anyway, this movie delves into how women can do whatever men can do...Deborah Walley, whom I always thought was so cute, trying to successfully complete and beat Tommy Kirk's character...and of course doesn't because at the time women were still considered "the weaker sex". However, she did manage to outsmart him, proving women are smarter than men...lol.

I just found this cheesy film enjoyable to watch, as I had never seen it before. I wouldn't rank this as one of my favorites. It simply cannot compare to the earlier, more carefree and fun loving beach movies. IMO it's worth watching....once. If you enjoy beach movies, stick to the earlier ones and Elvis movies.

I caught this movie on cable one day and actually really enjoyed it. I even looked for the movie to buy but I'm assuming it's not out on DVD.

Mike is your stereotypical male chauvinist. He has to be the best at everything and when a girl comes along and challenges him at different events, he feels he must beat her. He also ends up falling for her and pretends to have a dweeby twin brother named Herbert. The girl falls for Herbert and Mike has to figure out how to tell her who he actually is.

There is also a cameo by The Animals and a groovy skateboard race scene.

This is a different kind of flick because it doesn't have Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Also, the score is probably more different than the ones used in the Avalon/Funicello epics. However, this film is not on the same league with those films. The only thing that I really enjoyed was watching the Castaways perform their garage/punk anthem "Liar, Liar". You pretty much can tell that this film was done on even more of a shoestring budget than the AIP films. Tommy and Deborah are sure no Frankie and Annette.

First, the positives - this movie contains some decent musical performances. Sure, they appear to be just lip syncing to the actual recording, but it's still nice to see The Animals and especially one-hit wonders The Castaways in color. We also get to see Sid Haig in one of his first bigger roles.

Overall, though, this film feels more like the last gasp of the beach movie genre than anything else. I hadn't realized they were still making these films as late as 1967, and judging by the lack of enthusiasm from the cast, they can't believe it either. There are some attempts to bring a looser, avant garde approach to the film. Or maybe it's just bad film-making. There are several seemingly random montages with overdubbed voices moving the plot forward. I'm willing to give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt and assume this is intentional, but for all I know, it could be sloppy editing to cover scenes that should have been shot or bad writing.

The film has a downbeat feel to it, nothing like the bright, perky style we're used to with beach movies. The skies over the beach seem gray and the cast seems to be struggling with depression. I'm left with the impression that by this point, pot had clearly taken over as the drug of choice on film sets, making a Frankie and Annette style of film an uphill struggle at this point.