The Horror of Party Beach

 



Director - Del Tenney (The Curse of the Living Corpse, I Eat Your Skin)
Starring - John Scott (The Curse of the Living Corpse), Alice Lyon, and Allan Laurel
Release Date - 1964
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Weird atomic beasts who live off human blood"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

      I have a big heart for horror.  There is so many sub-genres, decades, trends, and eras that I love.  From pre-Romero zombie films to modern horror porn.  I love it all.  I have a soft spot for horror and exploitation films from the drive-in era of cinema.  These cheesy and campy tales remind me of checking out movies on cable late at night or renting them on tape at the local ma and pop video store as a kid.  I own a metric ton of these films but there is always a movie from this time getting a release that I have never heard of.  A few months back Severin Films released the 1964 creature feature The Horror of Party Beach on blu.  I had never seen this one so I reached out to them for a review copy.  They were kind enough to send one my way.

     The film follows a small beach community when a string of murders pop up.  The police and a couple of twenty somethings investigate them when they uncover a severed hand from an unknown creature.  They are able to uncover that the hand belonged to a creature who needs human blood to survive.  Now they have to stop it before it kills again...but it isn't alone.

 

  

     I always go into a 1960s creature feature with high expectations and I'm rarely let down.  I don't mean high standards.  I mean that I have high expectations in regards to the cheesy factor.  Movies like The Horror of Party Beach always have that campy vibe that makes for a great late night viewing experience.  This film was no exception.  The acting in this matching the film.  The cast hams up every scene but they do it well.  They really get into their characters and have fun doing it.  The story for this one is simple but fits in perfectly with the age of the atomic and radioactive monsters.  Creatures that were born from toxic waste dumped on dead bodies in the ocean is pretty fucking awesome.  My biggest complaint is that this story would have worked very well as a serious monster movie instead of the one in the same line as The Giant Claw.  Finally, if you want blood and gore you wont find it.  If you want just a little fake blood and rubber monster suits that look like monsters have a mouth full of hot dogs then you came to the right place!  Overall, The Horror of Party Beach is a fun monster movies from the 60s that doesn't take itself seriously.  It is entertaining for what it is and the blu from Severin looks great.  Check it out.