Beach Blanket Bango

Beach Blanket Bango (1975)

** (out of 4)

Veronica (Rene Bond) is the hippest chick on the beach and she's in a sexually happy relationship with Tommy (Tony Mazziott). Pretty soon Lance (Ric Lutz) is trying to get Veronica and everything goes a bit crazy.

After doing a couple exploitation pictures, director James Bryan made back-to-back porno spoofs with this film and HIGH SCHOOL FANTASIES. I'm going to go out on the limb and say that Bryan wasn't overly thrilled with the genre because in both cases it appears he's more interested in the comedy and the spoof more than the actual sex. As with HIGH SCHOOL FANTASIES, the director uses this film to work in some pretty good moments dealing with the spoof of the "Beach" movies from AIP.

The problem is that the sex scenes are downright boring and there's some major issues with the screenplay. The screenplay tries to bite off more than it can chew. I say that because the film attempts to have a real story, the three-way love story, but the screenplay just doesn't do enough with it to make it more interesting. As it stands, there are a couple funny moments scattered throughout the running time but not much else.

Of course, the one thing that's going to bring people to this movie is Rene Bond. This here was made after her breast implants but she makes for a very good Veronica and she certainly had the look to where she could have been in a legit BEACH PARTY movie.

Made on a shoe string budget this film is the continuation of the story introduced in Morris Deal's prior phenomenal hit " High School Fantasies". It is the High School Fantasies crowd , now in their senior year of college, on Spring Break, sorting out their past and making arrangements for the future. I should know, I'm in it. That aside it is a hilarious spoof on the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funichello scene. The acting at times is somewhat stilted but for a good laugh at what someone could actually produce on 35mm film for $25,000.00. This is a must see. I play the part of Bumsteader the owner of the beach house that Tommy and his gang are renting for the weekend. Like most of the Beach Blanket pictures of its day there wasn't much plot but this one has everything the main stream film had.. Surfing, parties and lots of juvenile love interests including nudity and some lame hardcore sex. There are some witty if not blatant political comments, including flash backs to the the Vietnam war, LSD and recreational drugs in general as well as lots of angst over flunking out of college. Attention to historical detail with Read to the costumes, props, hair makeup and automobiles is perfect. This is truly a time capsule of the "Sexy Sixties " When made this was a first of its kind. A musical porno where the actors sang and frolicked in the sand and had a spectacular time. I know I did making it. Damon Christian