Terror on the Beach

Dennis Weaver has decided to take the family on camping/beach vacation on the Pacific coast. Some of the relationships are getting a little frayed and he thinks this might be a chance to mend. Especially with son Kristoffer Tabori who has announced that he is leaving college.

So it's Weaver, Tabori, and wife Estelle Parsons and daughter Susan Dey off in the camper. They run afoul of Scott Hyland and his gang of drugged out dune buggy buddies who proceed to terrorize the Glynn family on their vacation.

The theme is a familiar one, the civilized man who can't quite comprehend pure evil when confronted. Fortunately for Weaver he catches on in time to save himself and his family.

Besides the chase and action sequences the best ones are the scenes between father and son. Weaver and Tabori put some real bite into them.

Familiar theme, low budget, but nicely acted by the ensemble cast.

A family experiences 'Terror on the Beach' when a group of youngsters attacks them on their vacation. Basically we are introduced to the Gwynn family who are your typical American family. They have their arguments, but overall love each other greatly. They begin to be targeted by a group of young people. The gang runs them off the road at one point, tricks them into thinking their car is broken down, goes to their camp and takes some of their stuff, etc. It escalates quickly and it's obvious that the family are in real danger of being physically hurt. That's when they must come together and fight back against the gang who believe they own the beach.

'Terror on the Beach' feels a bit like 'National Lampoon's Vacation' meets 'The Hill Have Eyes' meets 'Duel'. We have the family who are in the family van going on a trip. When they get to the beach area, they are stalked and watched by members of the gang. The gang also tries to drive them off the road at times... so it has the feel of a bunch of different films. The acting was good enough, especially from Parsons and Weaver, But 'Terror on the Beach' failed to do what a lot of the other ABC movie of the week films did. It lacked great suspense or high drama. This one had it's moments, but at the end of the day is your pretty average made for TV movie.

It has some good moments, particularly towards the end when the family finally fights back against the gang. There are some great beach location shots to go with it. I'd probably recommend catching this online if you are interested in 70's television movies, but it is one of the more slower moving one's from that time.

5/10

I remember this one from when it played on TV when I was about five, but I saw it again recently on the Fox Channel. Dennis Weaver is the main star playing basically the same role he played in "Duel"--a mild-mannered, middle-aged guy whose manhood is tested when he suddenly finds himself in an escalating, completely irrational conflict--except that instead of facing a psychotic truckdriver, Weaver this time is menaced by a bunch of annoying hippies. He also has his whole family with him, so the movie is also similar to both the earlier "Hot Rod to Hell" and the later "The Hills Have Eyes", except that instead of JD hotrodders or crazed cannibals the villains are, uh, a bunch of annoying hippies. And that's the problem. These guys are not exactly the Manson family--all they do is eat the family's food, shake their camper, make strange sound effects with stereo equipment, and do weird things with mannequins. Basically, they "freak the squares." But since the movie is told entirely from the point of view of the "squares" who are being "freaked", it's all ridiculously melodramatic and reactionary. There is no real violence and no sex (although it does feature a young Susan Dey in a bikini). Oh well, what do you expect from a crappy 70's TV movie?

Neil and Arlene Glynn (Dennis Weaver and Estelle Parsons) and the kids, Deedee and Steve (Susan Dey and Kristoffer Tabori) are en route to the beach for a camping weekend.

Oh no!

A group of hellish hippies runs them off the road! It doesn't end there, as these hairy hellions are persistent. Neil is a bit of a milquetoast, wanting to just let it go, while his son seems to see trouble brewing. We also learn that the Glynn family is under some strain of their own. They're busy trying to come to grips with growing up / older.

Once at the beach, all seems well, but the hipsters are nearby! Soon, the true mayhem begins. How will the Glynns cope with this danger?

TERROR ON THE BEACH is a made-for-TV movie that plays on the fear of young, crazed, cult-types, in the wake of such things as the Manson Family murders. It tackles the generation gap as well, with the discourse between the parents and offspring representing what was happening then (1973).

As for the ne'er do wells, they're fairly intimidating, though their eeevil hijinks seem mostly sophomoric and absurd. Still, they have their moments. It's almost like watching a strange hybrid of THE HILLS HAVE EYES and any juvenile delinquent film from the 1950's-early 60's, with the addition of dune buggies!

A fun, silly romp through the sand...

for the time as other reviews have mentioned, the idea has its moments, Dennis Weaver (of Spielberg's "Duel" fame) has believability as always playing the victimized average American 70's dad getting abused by some kind of horrific reality. Beyond his control, the world and its people take on sinister tendrils and horrors.

Susan Dey and Kristoffer Tabori are the siblings, off at college but not happy, accompanying Weaver and their mom to a day trip on Pismo Beach. The mom is well-played by the understated Estelle Parsons.

While the psychological undertones are there, the action is not delineated, it starts with a good suspense premise, but sort of tapers to a slow end. Look for veteran actor Henry Olek as disenfranchised hippie, Jerry the leader ostensibly is a Charles Manson-like cult figure. Although other than their garb, aimlessness and need for a "family" there is fist-fighting and wrestling, no murder. The theme of "survival of the fittest" is intimated and could have been more explored.

I did not grow up in the 70's but have studied the films and actors prevalent at that time. Also the political and economic climate as well as gas lines, recessions layoffs and a popular book my Dad had, "The screwing of the average man". It seems that history repeats itself. We are now in a similar recession, people are getting desperate, the fallout is happening now from another war, disenfranchised people and the poor in America....it goes on. But back to the film. Younger generations including my own have interest in the 70s because like it or not we have to learn from history.

Recommended. 8/10.