Back in the “good old” early 1960’s the “hipsters” of that generation were embracing the wave of the California beach vibe. Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys set the “Good Vibrations” of “The Warmth of the Sun”, beaches, surfing and how nobody could beat “California Girls”. The genius of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who wrote one of the most iconic, beautiful songs ever “Surfs Up” to culminate the genre.
Wilson based the creation of “Good Vibrations” on how his mother would blow a dog whistle that only the dog could hear and respond. Those were the vibrations.
The creators of this movie must have heard the whistle to create this dog of a movie. But, can the music of the Del-Aires save the day?
Let's Go Back Before We Move Forward
The beginning of the 60’s Hollywood decided to capitalize on the beach party craze with decent budget movies with “teen idol” stars like Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello iconic comedians like Don Rickles and Buster Keaton with movies like “Beach, Blanket, Bingo!” Let’s not forget Elvis Presley’s “classic” “Clambake”. Yes, lots of beach music too.
Of course, the creators of low budget B-movies also wanted to get in on the party. In steps Del Tenney the director and mind behind “The Horror of Party Beach”(1964). His vision was, and promoted as, the first horror monster musical. That’s where the Del-Aires come in. To create the horror, beside his directing, the cast, cheap special effects, radioactive waste. Let’s not forget a ‘menacing’ biker gang to add to the drama.
So, just off the coast of a Connecticut beach shore, some jabronies dump barrels of radioactive waste into the ocean. They hit bottom and break open by a sunken ship and contaminate the skeletons resting there turning them into mutant atomic creatures that feed off humans. Where better to start, Party Beach.
Meanwhile, at Party Beach, the teens are having fun but a fight breaks out with a biker gang form New England that can best be described as “Smells Angels”. They make Eric Von Zipper from the popular beach movies look menacing.
Providing the soundtrack for this is the Del-Aires, a beach party band from “beautiful” Paterson, NJ where the closest beach is the banks of “lovely” Passaic River, at the time noted as the most toxic river in the USA. It’s very fitting.
Through the chaos and horror they carry on in all their dorkyness and preform their classic “Zombie Stomp”.
In search of a solution to stop the creatures the rest of the movie meanders aimlessly, throws in voodoo, and a site seeing tour of New York City in search of sodium.
Sodium
In search of a solution to stop the creatures the rest of the movie meanders aimlessly, throws in voodoo, and a site seeing tour of New York City in search of sodium. To learn more about sodium listen to the Satellite of Love crew embrace their inner Del-Aires on the wonders of sodium.
It is a bottom feeder of a movie but if you take it with a grain of sodium chloride, accept that the blood is made of chocolate, it can be very amusing in all it’s badness.
