Zombie Beach Party

I bought this on eBay after being lured in by that Kirbyesque cover, only to actually receive one with a much crummier Photoshopped cover of scenes in the movie. It may sound lame, but it dampened my enthusiasm for the movie and I didn't end up watching it for two weeks.

Anyway, it was decent fun. The first ten minutes or so were boring and I nearly cut the DVD off until the hot goth gas pump attendant appeared. Then more boring for another ten minutes or so, and the movie finally started kicking into gear. Some decent wrestling, lots of excessive blood, nice looking but still fake body parts for the zombies to nibble on, topless yacht captains. Part of the movie takes place in an abandoned amusement park, and they try to do one of those Scooby-Doo things where A runs in one door while B runs out the other trying to catch A. So there's that.

Did I mention how hot that tattooed goth chick is? Pretty hot. I would have been mad if the zombies got her, fortunately she ends up with a somewhat happy ending.

After hearing his potential nemesis has returned, a masked wrestler decides to check out his activities and finds that a series of domesticated zombies are running loose in the community being brought about by the returning madman for a special show and must try to stop the nefarious plans.

Overall, this was an immensely fun cheesy genre throwback. Among its better features here is the highly effective setup that provides this one with a great look and feel reminiscent of the luchador films of the past. Featuring rather obvious nods and homages in the appearance and presence of the main luchador wrestlers as leads in the film who follow pretty much the entire role of the characters from the past films inherently well, the use of colorful presentation screens for each of the characters, and a series of silly storylines coming together to create a wild scenario, this one is quite fun overall. Those series of storylines here are rather fun as the wildly over-the-top storyline involving the use of a mad scientist trying to create a human/zombie hybrid to create an army of super-zombie soldiers in a ploy to overtake the world while operating on the outskirts of a storyline featuring the main hero looking into an old rivals' use of zombies in his show simply completes the picture with this one incredibly well. That allows for a spectacular series of cheesy and silly action scenes involving the luchadores fighting not just each other but also the hordes of zombies. As the first half goes for the idea of the rival being reckless with the domesticated zombies in his shows and finding them getting loose to commit the murders, this focuses more on the fighters going after each other while we see the zombie swarming scenes taking place to provide some solid gore scenes. That leads nicely into the series of confrontations that take place in the finale where the action takes place at the abandoned theme park hideout where the encounters featuring various henchmen and zombies are shown to take place throughout the locations with all sorts of lucha libre-styled fighting against the opponents in some fun battles. This might be way too cheesy and silly for some as the whole idea for this one comes off so wild that it's hard to take seriously, especially with so many characters trying to make sense of what's going on here, which is enough to hold it back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Nudity, and mild drug use.

This movie was made to watch and laugh at. It was on afternoon TV, and thats the category it should be judged in. It's cheesy, the acting is dubious, and make up is terrible. All of that comes together in a way that makes it campy fun. Don't watch it expecting Titanic or Dawn of the Dead; think Lost Skeleton of Cadavera, and you'll be on the right track. Just turn off the higher functions, crack a beer, and relax. Its a movie where Luchador heroes battle outrageous villains that would be at home in any Saban live action show, with over the top everything and a decent soundtrack to boot. I can only hope that more equally cheesy movies come out to balance the epic films that seem to be in vogue right now. Viva los Luchadors!

I bought this on DVD for my roommate as a joke gift, but after watching it the joke was on me. If you are a fan of comic books, this flick deserves a look. The main characters are larger-than-life celebrity heroes and who eat, drink, and sleep with their wrestling masks on and have to fend off autograph-hounds when they go for smokes. The story is minimal (Zombie King wants to take over the world) but each of the heroes has a past with at least one of the antagonists, adding a feeling of depth to the story world. The fight scenes are fun, if you go along with the idea that pro-wrestling moves are the best way to subdue an opponent. The music, mostly surf music by the Tijuana Bibles, carries the action very well. All-in-all, surprisingly entertaining. Just goes to show that low-budget movies can work, if done right. Also props for a cameo by Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart of WWF fame as the butt-kicking local sheriff.

Okay, I don't know anything about wrestling or luchadores but I'm a devout zombie fanatic and I like my share of comic book heroes... so... I got this promo DVD of "Zombie Beach Party." It wasn't easy to find at the time. I guess it went straight-to-video and it's Canadian and it's not properly distributed yet (it should be!). I just watched it and I was very entertained for an hour plus.

There's a palatable plot. There are a variety of personalities to like and to dislike. Visually, it's reminiscent of something like Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses" (comic book colors and tattoo art mixed with a spooky atmosphere). There's Gore Galore though not the most convincing I've seen... a valiant effort nonetheless... they even managed a "Zombie Feast," something we gore-hounds don't get to see in today's R-rated films. There's an "artsy" narration by Ulysses (the hero), similar to that in "Bubba Ho-Tep."

There's gratuitous nudity, lesbians, drugs and condom purchasing. Finally, the music/soundtrack reminds me of BOTH

"House of 1000 Corpses" and "Bubba Ho-Tep" (what a coincidence). I rate it 8 stars. Fun and Fresh!

The plot reads: When a string of zombie killings hits the coast, it's up to the heroic Ulysses and his wildcard band of luchadores to find out whose behind it and to destroy the murderous undead.