The Horror of Party Beach

Believe it or not, this is NOT the worst horror movie ever made. That dishonor would have to go to either "Manos, the Hands of Fate" or perhaps "Demonwarp." At least "Party Beach" is somewhat entertaining.

Radioactive waste dumped into the ocean, just off of a popular beach party site, reanimates human skeletons and turns them into huge salamanders with cookie monster eyes and mouthfuls of hotdogs. They promptly go on a killing spree, the first victim being the obligatory slut in a bikini. After that, the monsters crash a pajama party, make off with three dimwitted broads (whose car conveniently breaks down just mere inches from the monsters hideout) and actually deign to kill a couple of drunken MEN! I mean, fully clothed men who aren't sexy or in bikinis or anything! Wow! Anyway, it's up to the towns brilliant scientist, his expressionless daughter and her hunky slab of whitebread boyfriend to stop the monsters!

Yeah, this is pretty dumb stuff, but the beach scenes are a lot of fun with some GREAT music by the Del Aires. The monsters are ridiculous, the acting is atrocious and the plot barely makes sense, but this film has an odd, innocent charm to it nevertheless.

The Horror of Party Beach has got to be one of the all time great "Z" grade movies. To a 12 year old kid these monsters were so cool. I didn't care about acting or production values back then, this was great cinema! While it featured the very first slumber party massacre on film, (quite bloody and graphic for its time), it also had some of the funniest dialog and scenes ever put on film. Some teenagers recruit the help of the local college professor to kill these radioactive sea creatures. He discovers by accident( the family maid Eullabelle spills some salt onto a severed limb left by one of the beastly denizens) that sodium can destroy them. This sequence with the maid is hilarious! The fact that the professor has to drive from Conn. to N.Y. just to get a large supply of salt is absurdly funny in and of itself. The Del-Aires are on hand for your musical pleasure, singing their smash hits Zombie Stomp and Elllllaaaiiinnneee! Where was Dick Clark when all this was happening? I rate it a Fiiiiiiiive!

All in all, this movie still holds a special place in my heart. But if you want a similar type of film, only better, check out Roger Corman's 1980 cult classic " Humanoids From the Deep".

The monster had a striking resemblance to the Creature from the Black Lagoon, which was a much better picture with great cinematography. To make a correction: the substance used to kill them was sodium, not sodium chloride. Sodium burns on contact with water. It's a soft metal, not a powder, so it would take a lot to kill them. But why not just use flame throwers or some other flame source? The music by the Del Aires was really corny. I did a search and found nothing relating to them. Did they ever put out a record? You wonder where they plugged in their amplifiers on the beach. And how were the canisters of toxic material so easily broken open? I wonder what became of the actors. I don't recognize a single name from the cast.

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.