THE BEACH GIRLS AND THE MONSTER (1965)
Directed by Jon Hall
Image Entertainment DVD
Reviewed 02.27.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba

THE FILM
Take the blueprint for Del Tenney’s infamous Horror Of Party Beach, add some higher production values, lean heavily on the “comedy,” and what have you got? Why, The Beach Girls And The Monster, of course. With its taut 66 minute run time and great title, Beach Girls comes across as cheesy, dumb fun.

Richard is a just out-of-college lab technician that works with his father. After a car accident that paralyzes his friend’s foot, Rich decides to live the frivolous life. That includes surfing, hanging out with his girlfriend, and singing songs on the beach. His father Otto (Jon Hall) doesn’t approve of his lifestyle and calls the kids down on the beach “tramps.” Richard’s hotsie-totsie stepmother is a thorn in his side and two-times on his father. During all of this, a rubber masked monster is terrorizing the beach behind Rich’s house, killing nubile young females and lurking in its cave. Cue the go-go dancing padding.

Judging from the film’s trailer, Beach Girls wasn’t marketed as a straight horror film. Obviously. It’s got the look and feel of a 50s sitcom and a genuine carefree goofiness that could only be produced in the mid-60s. Sure, it’s pretty stupid and has its share of fast forward moments. I’ll be the first to admit it. But I can’t help enjoying the guy-in-a-rubber-suit monster, the melancholy surf score by Frank Sinatra, Jr., and the quick, off the cuff feel of the whole production. Oh, and the strange cameo by puppet “Kingsley the Lion” didn’t hurt either.

AUDIO AND VIDEO
Beach Girls is presented in anamorphic widescreen, which is pretty rare for films on this level. It’s nice to see some care was put into the DVD release. The black and white print is crisp, but suffers from numerous lines and scratches. The audio is in mono and very clear.

EXTRAS
We’ve got a trailer, excellent and informative liner notes by Tom Weaver, an extensive behind the scenes photo gallery (many in color), and trailers for several other Image releases. There’s also a script excerpt for those of you with DVD-ROM drives on your computer. Seeing as how most films of this caliber are treated poorly on DVD, it’s nice to see some high quality extras.

FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s an easy gamble. I found The Beach Girls And The Monster to be harmless, cheesy fun and the DVD presentation is surprising. If you end up hating this one...hey, it’s only 66 minutes long.

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