The Horror of Party Beach -- August 28, 2018

[monwobbbo]

Originally Posted by redrunner97

I really hope they release more Del Tenney, particularly The Curse of the Living Corpse. Or I Eat Your Skin.

Actually, I wish we would have just gotten a double feature of these two tbh.

I EAT YOUR SKIN was a special feature on the I DRINK YOUR BLOOD blu

[Hubunkey]

Originally Posted by monwobbbo

I EAT YOUR SKIN was a special feature on the I DRINK YOUR BLOOD blu

Would have been better as a Drive-In double feature style releases as a bonus instead of just the movie

[Jobla]

The transfer of I EAT YOUR SKIN on the I DRINK YOUR BLOOD BD was the shorter version of SKIN.

The best-ever home video transfer of the uncut I EAT YOUR SKIN was under it's original title ZOMBIE, which IIRC was included on VCI's DVD of SWAMP OF THE RAVENS.

[AKNewbie]

JarJar with a mohawk. I'm in for the BD. Ordered.

[indravayu]

Originally Posted by JMDiaz718

Well, I grew up watching it on WNEW Channel 5, in New York City. They played low budget, cult classics all the time on a show called Creature Features in those days. It would awesome, if someone resurrected MonstersHD!!

Here's a cool programming schedule I found for WNEW:

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/TV%20Guid...resarticle.htm

Thanks for sharing this!! I moved to the NYC area as a kid in 1977 and used to love watching old horror movies on channel 5 and channel 11.

I was a little too young (8-9yo) to have stayed up so late for Creature Features in its 1979-1980 run, but I do remember some of those movies playing during more accessible hours for me.

[JMDiaz718]

Originally Posted by indravayu

Thanks for sharing this!! I moved to the NYC area as a kid in 1977 and used to love watching old horror movies on channel 5 and channel 11.

I was a little too young (8-9yo) to have stayed up so late for Creature Features in its 1979-1980 run, but I do remember some of those movies playing during more accessible hours for me.

I was about 10 at that time. My dad and I would watch horror/sci-fi movies together. I'm a HUGE fan of horror and sci-fi to this day.

We also had WOR-TV channel 9. This channel had the Thanksgiving Day marathons of King Kong and later Godzilla. They also ran movies like Day of the Triffids, Horror Express and Beware The Blob all the time.

[MartinScorsesefan]

Now we need FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE SPACE MONSTER.

[MartinScorsesefan]

Originally Posted by CreepyThinMan

Ironic from the Writer/Director of Maximum Overdrive.

And from the man who thinks Kubrick's The Shining is a bad film and prefers the miserable nineties mini series.

[bigshot]

If they want to charge $25 for a blu-ray of stuff like this, they need to make it a double feature. I would buy this immediately in the $10 to $14 range. But if they want another ten spot, they need to add another feature.

[Jobla]

Originally Posted by MartinScorsesefan

Now we need FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE SPACE MONSTER.

That's not impossible, as HORROR OF PARTY BEACH, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER, THE FLESH EATERS, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT (aka PSYCHOMANIA), THE CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE, JACK THE RIPPER (1960) and some other titles are all in the Teleworld package, I believe.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by bigshot

If they want to charge $25 for a blu-ray of stuff like this, they need to make it a double feature. I would buy this immediately in the $10 to $14 range. But if they want another ten spot, they need to add another feature.

Like most Severin titles, this will eventually end up on Amazon in the $12-14 range.

[Zillamon51]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The site reviewer does a fine job of laying out The Black Scorpion for new viewers.

For many of us, this movie was a pivotal inspirational positive influence on our lives, but nostalgia for the childhood viewings is admittedly a big reason why we hold it in high esteem.

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

As scrappy as The Horror of Party Beach is, it is not as self-indulgent as the last three books in The Dark Tower series, and, unlike a lot of recent King works, it doesn’t date itself with snide political barbs. Instead, this is a timeless movie that families will be able to enjoy for centuries to come.

Dude, you fawn way too hard over weird old crap (and I like weird old crap).

[CelluloidPal]

Originally Posted by JMDiaz718

It would awesome, if someone resurrected MonstersHD!!

Amen to that.

[The Great Owl]

After being dumped into the waters near an East Coast seaside college community, a barrel of radioactive waste becomes unsealed, turning the skeletonized corpses of shipwrecked sailors into terrifying zombie-like protozoa creatures that feed on human blood. This unsettling development inevitably harshes the mellow of a crowd of attractive beachgoers, all of whom are immersing themselves in rock 'n' roll surf music while they sunbathe, dance, and flirt innocently with a local motorcycle gang. As the scaled monsters wreak widespread bloody havoc, a scientist and his assistant, with the unwitting help of a voodoo-practicing maid, are the only ones who can save the entire town from becoming fish food.

The scrappy 1964 cult classic, The Horror of Party Beach, which was filmed in two weeks for $50,000 by director Del Tenney (The Curse of the Living Corpse, I Eat Your Skin), has earned a somewhat less-than-stellar reputation from critics over the decades. It routinely shows up on lists of worst motion pictures ever made, and it currently sports a 2.8 rating on the Internet Movie Database. In his nonfiction book, Danse Macabre, Stephen King really goes off on this film, calling it ”an abysmal wet fart of a picture.” It was brought back into the public consciousness of ridicule during the late 1990s when it was featured as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

When I revisited The Horror of Party Beach last night, however, by way of a new Blu-ray that showcases the best-looking presentation that has ever been bestowed upon the movie, I was reminded that seemingly “bad” old-school horror films of low prestige can still hit the sweet spot in my psyche that craves fun-spirited drive-in cinema from times long past. I will not go so far as to say that this low-budget endeavor is an unsung masterpiece, but I do find it supremely engaging, entertaining, and amusing for reasons both intentional and unintentional.

I love the music of the The Del-Aires, the band who played themselves during a handful of pivotal beach sequences.

I love an early beach scene where a guy has sand kicked in his face by a bully. I had always assumed that this scenario only happened in the Charles Atlas bodybuilding advertisements that used to adorn old comic books and magazines, but I suppose that it actually was a thing back in the day.

I love the sequence where 20 teenage girls are having fun at a slumber party, only to be interrupted by radioactive monsters that crash through the door and proceed to kill all 20 of them in a matter of seconds. I guess that this is one way to shut up an obnoxious group of loud slumber party girls.

I love one moment where two attractive women, while walking alone through the town, are shown standing in front of a store sign that reads, “Prime Meats”, as they are stalked by one of the flesh-eating creatures.

I love the three beautiful ladies who pull up at a gas station and blatantly flirt with the male attendant. “Fill me up.”

I love Tina, the wayward party girl who just wants to enjoy a swinging lifestyle by boozing it up on the beach and hitting on other men against the wishes of her uptight laboratory assistant boyfriend. I also love how Tina's boyfriend instantly upgrades to the lovely blonde daughter of his scientist boss after Tina swims off by herself in an act of rebellion and ends up unhappily dead at the hands of one of the creatures.

I love how the radioactive monsters explode in a fantastically exciting fashion when they are introduced to the secret weapon of the scientists.

I love the crucial etiquette lessons that are provided by this movie. “Tina's death has affected a great many people... but it doesn't give you or anyone else the right to be discourteous.” Modern day teenyboppers (and adults) need to watch this film to be reminded that ghosting is not cool.

Finally, I love the “Zombie Stomp.”

In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that The Horror of Party Beach rules.

This Severin Blu-ray brings party to each of us by way of a home video presentation that easily overpowers its predecessors. There's a bit of source-inherent print damage, but, for the most part, this film looks really good here. The sound is quite nice, especially for fellow fans of the band. I would love to have seen a mountain of extras, but the ones that we have, by way of a couple of solid documentaries and archival footage, are informative and excellent.

[charlieray1]

My copy just arrived ... in a waaaay cool black case.

Haven't watched it yet, but I scanned through and saw a few scenes -- looks great!

[twozbar]

Originally Posted by dig311dug

disagree x 10025432534

Disagree with this disagree x 10025432534.

Any viewer from the generation that first saw these films in television syndication (long before cable access allowed amateurs on the tube), knew how to make fun of while enjoying the hell out of Horror of Party Beach, without having to be told how to make fun of it.

[cakefactory]

So you don't like a comedy show, and don't want anyone else to enjoy it either, so you want it kept out of the extras. Got it.

I personally hate those "Horror's Hallowed Grounds" episodes that are on so many blu-rays, but I don't give a *** if they're in there, cause I don't have to watch them! They don't affect the main feature.

[bigshot]

Since the Mystery Science show was probably shot in SD, it would be a supplement in DVD quality. Why not just put on the Mystery Science DVD if you want to see it? It's out on DVD isn't it?

[DrJekell]

Originally Posted by bigshot

If they want to charge $25 for a blu-ray of stuff like this, they need to make it a double feature. I would buy this immediately in the $10 to $14 range. But if they want another ten spot, they need to add another feature.

That is the way I feel. $25.00 for the obscure B (D?) movies is crazy, and I love obscure B movies.

[DrJekell]

Has anybody watched this yet. How does it look?