At the beginning of this film, you'd think you were watching one of those "beach party" musicals as The Del Aires - a so-so group of the day - provide us with some rock music of the time period. Hey, we even got a folk song later by a couple of girls. It wasn't exactly Joan Baez and company, but they weren't bad.

Alice Lyon as "Elaine Gavin" may be one of the all-time worst actresses I've even seen on film. It is no shock this is her only movie. Some of the other actors ranged from bad to decent.

However, it's the "monsters" - the guys with the "Creature From the Black Lagoon" suits but with better eyeballs and hot dog-like appendages hanging from their cheeks - that mainly make this horrible film a hoot, making not really horrible but good because it was fun to watch.

To its credit, it was fairly fast-moving, too, with enough action to keep one's interest. The "creatures" were an active bunch! It all makes for decent viewing if you are a fan of the 1950s schlock monster and/or sci-fi films.

Recommended!

A barrel of, what else, radioactive waste falls into the ocean off Party Beach. When it mixes with corpses on the sea bed, they are magically transformed into horny killer monsters that mostly seem to attack ladies--killing some and taking others with them under the sea for mating or to perhaps to fill their pantries.

In the end, the monsters are killed with sodium!!! First, didn't anyone consider this is found in salt water and the water should have killed them or at least hurt a bit! This is especially silly because they learn about this when a beaker filled with sodium and water is accidentally dumped on a severed zombie-sea monster arm!! Second, the "scientist" called sodium a metal. Yeah, on what planet?! Talk about a stupid "scientific" explanation!

THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH has the distinction of being one of the films chosen for inclusion in the great book "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time" by Harry Medved. While there are many rotten drive-in horror films of the 50s and 60s, I can't quibble much at the author's decision to pick this film. While it may or may not be THAT bad, it is certainly terrible enough that I can understand its choice.

One of the big problems with this rock and roll horror film is that as far as the rock goes, the Del-Aires were simply terrible--perhaps as bad as the singing of Arch Hall, Jr. in EEGAH!--another inclusion in Medved's book. The words are stupid, their voices are pretty lame and the songs are just awful--the sort of group that might have, perhaps, played at Bar-Mitzvahs or proms but certainly not in movies. But, fortunately, they are so bad that they provide a good laugh. I especially loved the horrible "Zombie Stomp" and the final song as the credits rolled--uggh they were bad!

Another problem is that not a single person connected with the film has any idea what they are doing--including the director and the "actors" (?). In particular, I liked seeing Alice Lyon as the world's oldest teenager (looking close to 40 and with a poorly dubbed voice that was noticeably off). While she is bad, even worse is Eulabelle Moore who plays a horribly stereotypical superstitious Black lady. Having her talking about voodoo and all that hocus pocus was downright embarrassing and it's surprising to see such an obvious negative stereotype in the era of the Civil Rights legislation. Apparently they didn't hear about the Civil Rights Act in Connecticut where they filmed this!

As for the monsters, they were kind of neat in a silly, kitschy way, but I sure wonder why they decided to stuff about a half dozen large cucumbers in their mouths. Many thought they looked like bun-less hot dogs. Either way, it looked very strange and quite phallic, so it was good for a laugh.

Also, I know this will sound very, very catty, but the kids at the beach in this film looked,...well....very ordinary. All the girls and guys looked very plain and ordinary. None of the girls looked like Annette Funicello, Ann-Margaret or even Deborah Walley. You'd think it being a beach film they'd get a few bathing beauties or at least people who looked decent in bikinis. At least that might have provided SOME entertainment!!

Overall, it's very bad and very silly. I'll give it an extra point simply because it was oddly entertaining but rest assured, it is truly bad--but at least more entertaining than films like ROBOT MONSTER--which is just bad..

Also from the great director, Del Tenney, are classics such as I EAT YOUR SKIN and CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE (which isn't THAT bad, surprisingly). You can see him in a brief cameo in the film as well as in an interview on the DVD--where he seems like a nice unassuming man.

Also, despite this being a horrible project, one of the actors in the film actually went on to a decent film career. Wayne Tippit (who played a drunk who became monster chow) has a lot of credits that followed this film--proving even decent actors sometimes start at the very, very bottom and manage to find their way.

Apparently someone decided that what was needed in this old world was a beach movie set in the northeast. After all New York City and Long Island and New England have some fine beaches even if they're not prized by the surfing crowd as much as the year round warm weather beaches of Southern California. What also was decided that maybe we could combine two genres, monster films and beach flicks. The result was The Horror Of Party Beach one ghastly combination of genre.

With a cast that you positively never heard of The Horror Of Party Beach has some chemical waste dumped in Long Island Sound and a couple of creatures who look like Black Lagoon ripoffs are created. These things feed exclusively on human blood. Those that encounter them wish they hadn't because apparently they're impervious to all things.

But what science creates science can destroy and vice versa I presume. A very simple and basic element to life is what does the trick. But a lot of people get frightened and killed before its over.

What can I say, the acting is on the level of some of my junior high school plays, the cinematography is boring, the production values are lacking. An early 60s DooWop group called the Del-Aires provide us the unmemorable songs on the soundtrack. It's just plain awful.