THE
BEAST THAT KILLED WOMEN (1965)
THE MONSTER OF CAMP SUNSHINE (1964)
Directed by Barry Mahon/Ferenc Leroget
Something Weird DVD
Reviewed 07.20.05
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILMS
In his book Crackpot, John
Waters sets the aura of 60s nudist
camp pictures: "Happy, healthy
idiots on pogo sticks with air-brushed
crotches..." That about sums
it up. So what happens when monsters
are added to the mix? Travelogue
trash verite supreme, that's what.
In the mid-60s, guys like Barry
Mahon, Dale Berry, and producer
Harry Novak quirked up the nudie-cutie
palette that was standardized by
Russ Meyer and Dave Friedman a few
years earlier. To be exact, they
took the boobs 'n' butts routine
and added a horror element, which
was consequently exploding in the
pop culture landscape at the time.
In place of seething cheesecake
in horror films like Playgirls
and the Vampire and Horrors
Of Spider Island, now stood
hundreds of bare breasts and carefully
shrouded nether regions. The base
interests of pubescent boys (nekkid
girls, cheap monsters) were now
combined into bizarro drive-in entertainment...for
"Adults Only"! Naturally,
the results were hilarious, innocent,
strangely un-sexy, and always dirt
cheap. What better way to test the
pool water than with two early examples?
The Beast That Killed Women,
a Florida sight-seeing trip courtesy
Barry Mahon, and The Monster
Of Camp Sunshine, a one-shot
mind rot of pure NYC weirdness,
are hitting the shuffleboard court
as we speak. Grab your innertube
and run, don't walk!
For the next 60 minutes, everything
you witness will happen in real
time. So while you're in Miami Beach,
Florida, watch the back of an ambulance
pull up; help extinguish that camp
fire; marvel at the lovely, vibrant
scenery. Just remember to "stay
outta the clubhouse!" 'Cause
that's where The Beast That
Killed Women lurks! Follow
the story as it's told to us in
flashback: an innocent nudist colony
is suddenly plagued by that murderous
"sex maniac," a rubber-suited
gorilla. 15 minutes of plot reign
in 45 minutes of nudist line dancing,
nudist volleyball, nudist swimming,
nudist bunk-bedding, and yes, nudist
shuffleboard. We're hanging out
around Miami Beach, but the subhuman
acting suggests Sweden, Chicago,
Brooklyn, and Germany. Hmm. Ten
minutes before the end, our gorilla
is shot dead, leaving ten more minutes
of unexplained nonsense to roll
things out. Barry Mahon has yet
to let me down.
Little more than a quaint travelogue
of Miami Beach circa 1964 (ala Mahon's
New Orleans-based Blood
Of The Zombie), Beast
is mindlessly relaxing. Mahon adopts
his usual point and shoot expertise,
this time letting the "actors"
flub lines and stare into the camera,
as a parade of jiggly flesh leads
the march. When the jungle noises
serenade and the beast kills two
women, you can't help but be entranced;
everyone's having fun and nobody
seems to know what to do with themselves.
And why should they care? Do they
work? Has the kitchen sink started
leaking again? Is the rent due?
Not in this netherworld. You'll
howl at the Neanderthal line readings,
raise an eyebrow at the asexual
tone, and probably fall asleep at
some point. Yep, even female birthday
suit electricity can lose its lustre
after a three minute phone conversation.
Especially when it’s topped
with a heavy Brooklyn accent.
Now that we’re nice and relaxed,
it’s time for an undeniable
art statement! Understand: this
is not a movie. It’s The
Monster From Camp Sunshine
and you are hereby forced to soak
it all in. Follow the lives of two
women, a nurse and a fashion model,
as they live their lives in New
York. The girls giggle about fake
movies like Dracula Meets The
Beatles (sign me up), smoke
lots of cigs, and bond over nudist
mags. When the weekend hits, it's
off to Camp Sunshine; hipster nudes
and cigarette stripteases. The following
week, a chemical spill induces a
seriously nightmarish lab rat attack,
forcing a chemist to plunge the
potion into the drink. Inevitably,
the juice lands straight in the
river stream that runs through Camp
Sunshine. Whoa! Halfwit Hugo, the
camp gardener, takes a sip and explodes
into an axe-wielding maniac! Nudists
are attacked, a guy fishes for a
long time, Hugo gets a pie in the
face, and the climax of the film
explodes at the seams with the most
incredible use of military stock
footage imaginable. Start dancin’,
Hugo!
Holding more in common with 60s
cinema verite like David Holzman's
Diary than the banal confines
of the nudie-cutie genre, The
Monster Of Camp Sunshine is
a true bizarro classic. Most of
the film plays out as a living diary,
following the two female leads through
work days, relaxing at home, and
indulging in the nudist lifestyle.
However, unlike Barry Mahon's sleepy-time
photography, the technique used
in this film by one-time director
Ferenc Leroget is bathed in handheld,
arty sloppiness. The dialogue is
post-dubbed and seemingly improvised,
perfectly complimenting the "brainstorm"
visuals. Adding more to the surreal
mash is a limited animation opening
credits sequence, strategically
placed title cards, deadpan narration,
and over the top bits of social
commentary regarding war and peace.
Really! Sure, there's quite a bit
of downtime amongst the nudist padding,
but when Hugo foams at the mouth
before meeting his atomic defeat,
you won't even care.
Ridiculous or not, the unique slant
of Camp Sunshine is an
accomplishment in itself. A film
of this fragrance sweats 1964 and
could never be birthed during any
other time period. Then again, either
could Mahon’s gorilla boob-fest;
it’s like true trash-art in
reverse, times two. Ahhhh. Pardon
me, but I believe a volleyball game
is warming up...
AUDIO AND VIDEO
All you need to know is this: both
full frame prints look unquestionably
stunning. Perfect, vibrant colors
and super-contrast black and whites,
not a shade of dirt to be found.
Beast had a layer of fuzz
on the mono soundtrack that was
actually quite hilarious.
EXTRAS
The supplements are plentiful, but
they kind of blend together. The
monster-nudist theme drops the ghouls
and leaves the flesh, but whatever...they’re
still amusing. First up, there’s
a theatrical trailer for Beast,
as well as five additional nudie-cutie
pics. Best of the bunch is Goldilocks
And The Three Bares, which
features Herschell Gordon Lewis
narrating his way through several
absurd voices (the hipster beat-poet
was my fave). Six shorts follow,
ranging from 30s burlesque (“The
Expose Of The Nudist Racket”)
to 60s goof-offs (“Nudist
Fashion Show”). An alarming
short from 1954 called “Back
To Nature,” features nudist
FAMILIES (including little kids)
frolicking together at camp...disturbing.
There’s also a huge gallery
of exploitation ad art, complete
with fantastic radio spots. Don’t
forget the “Let’s Go
To The Drive-In!” option,
which allows you to enjoy three
hours of nudist madness uninterrupted,
complete with intermission shorts.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Barry and Ferenc have done their
jobs well, even if it’s for
completely different reasons than
were originally intended. If you’re
looking for sex, get outta town;
if you’re looking for amazingly
bad filmmaking that doubles a surreal
time capsule thunderclap, welcome
to Camp Sunshine. Buy it cheap on
its own, or buy it as part of Something
Weird’s “Beauties And
Beasts” box set. Just as long
as you see it. |
A real shame
Cosby wuz here
Beastie bungalow
Yeh yeh girls!
Down time
Horrible Hugo
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