Tuneful Revelry: The Horror of Party Beach (1964)

My dear readers, as the summer officially comes to a close and we find ourselves tumbling towards shorter days, I, for one, will feel a tinge of melancholy at the passing of yet another bright and balmy season. Though I have heard much of the pleasures one might find in warm days spent out of doors, taking in some light repast while wicking away the occasional droplets of perspiration, my sweet Penny Dee’s complexion disagrees rather noticeably with direct sunlight and so we are forced to forgo the conventional means of appreciating this time of year. Instead, we have taken to summering in the South Wing and I find that the extra sunlight that its windows afford simulate all the gaiety of a day at the beach.

This sort of summery merriment is also readily available at the aptly named Party Beach, where youngsters spend their days “necking” and gyrating to the musical stylings of seaside troubadours. While many find this carefree lifestyle to be perfectly suitable, Hank Green (John Scott) is a serious-minded sort who firmly believes that there is more to life than dancing in the sand and he is greatly vexed by his relationship with a woman whose philosophy contrasts most severely with his own. Though his romantic troubles are swiftly resolved when his significant other is murdered by a bipedal sea creature, other difficulties soon arise. The creature reveals itself to be the result of combining sunken human remains with toxic waste, providing a stern reminder that one should always make sure the cap is properly secured before tossing barrels of hazardous materials into communal bodies of water.

Sadly, this lesson comes too late, as the creature quickly multiplies into a loose swarm of aquatic zombies that subsist entirely on human blood. Even with its jaunty name, business at Party Beach is adversely effected by news of mutated, undead gill-men making meals of the locals and the formerly exuberant youngsters are largely unable to maintain their tuneful revelry. Luckily, Hank is in the employ of Dr. Gavin (Allan Laurel) a scientist whose grasp of marine life allows him to identify the origins of these biological aberrations. Hank does his best to assist in finding a way to destroy the creatures while seeking solace over the death of his lover in the arms of Elaine (Alice Lyon), the good doctor’s fetching daughter.

The horrors of Party Beach are by no means confined to the beach

Despite a career that spanned four decades, director and producer Del Tenney has but a handful of films to his name and none of them ever rallied the critical circuit to his side. Professional moviegoers have been particularly unkind to The Horror of Party Beach, which has been condemned by some consensus to a list of the worst films ever made. While I certainly understand why no one is attributing a Kubrick-like level of aesthetic perfection to his work, I am a little taken aback by the severity of the reactions to a film so obviously full of humorous good intent. Using musical numbers, an episodic approach to the creature’s victims and incongruous scenes that stand as little more than opportunities for a quip or two, Mr. Tenney adds an almost vaudevillian sensibility to the cinematic surfing scene. And though I do not claim by any means to be an expert on the sub-genre of beach party musicals, I imagine that the addition of a bloodthirsty horde is an improvement on an already winning formula.

If my sweet Penny Dee and I were to able to spend a day at the beach, I would hope for it to be as light and breezy an affair as Mr. Tenney’s melodic monster movie.

The Horror of Party Beach runs 78 minutes and is certified "approved" in the United States.