Beach movies

[Katie]

What is the worst beach b-movie you've seen?

[Scott]

Yea, these definately qualify as great B-movies and it would be great to see a multipack of these titles below. Must admit I've only seen parts of 4 of these films, but they are worth seeking out.

Gidget (1959)
Where the Boys Are (1960)
Blue Hawaii (1961)
Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961
Beach Party (1963)
Muscle Beach Party (1964)
Bikini Beach (1964)
Pajama Party (1964)
Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)
Ski Party (1965)
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966)
Fireball 500 (1966)
Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
The Horror of Party Beach, (1964)
Beach Ball (1965)
The Girls on the Beach (1965)
A Swingin' Summer (1965)
Village of the Giants (1965)
Wild, Wild Winter 

[Andrew]

We have a few of those.  Katie, from what I know, does not like beach movies.  I think she would consider all of them to be "bad," just by their sub-genre.  Not certain if the "Dr. Goldfoot" movies would fit exactly, but I understand why they are included.  Katie avoids them.  I remember her getting fed up with "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine" right around the time they all started doing the shimmy.  She left the room.

[zombiedudeman]

Phat Beach, what a stupid movie and a crude rip-off of Friday, but it's fun, I used to watch it on USA all the time.

[Scott]

Oh....my.  

Well, it's a nice little list that one can love to hate.   

[Shadow]

A Swingin' Summer (1965)

Another Raquel Welch drool-fest!! I caught this on USA's "Up All Night" back around 91'. Let's just say I was young and stupid, and wasn't exactly operating on all cylinders, having sampled some choice pharmaceuticals. It made for a very strange viewing experience. I'd love to see this one again clear-headed.

[Menard]

Does Surf Nazis Must Die count as a beach movie?

[sideorderofninjas]

Fat Spy comes across as at least a 4th generation rip-off of the Frankie and Annette beach movies.  If that's not bad enough, throw in a fat guy singing love songs about Phyllis Diller's quivering loins..
 

[The Burgomaster]

HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI is pretty bad

[Neville]

I don't think I've ever seen any of those. I remember watching one once, about this teenage girl who tried to earn a place (and lose her virginity with) a bunch of surfers. Very corny and silly stuff, and no racy at all, despite the topic, but with lots of sentimentality.

On the other hand, I sort of enjoyed "The Big Wednesday" last week. It's got its share of flaws and ends up taking itself too seriously, but the characters are likeable and the surfing footage is fantastic.

[Shadow]

How about Catalina Caper? Is that a beach movie? Or just a rip-off of the beach movies?

[Dennis]

The Beach Girls and the Monster AKA Monster from the Surf should be on this list, all it has going for it is that Frank Sinatra Jr. either wrote or recorded a song that was in the movie, maybe, I don't recall hearing him singing.

[El Dogo]

I remember watching Surf II several years back.  My little brother rented it, thinking there'd be breasts, but there weren't any.

Really weird movie, one of those comedies that isn't funny at all, but sort of fascinating for its gratuitous oddness.  It was trying to parody the beach movie genre.  At least I think that's what they were going for.  The plot involved a crazy teenage genius (played by the inimitable Eddie Deezen) inventing this foul-tasting cola that turned people into surf punks.  Ruth Buzzi was in it too, of all people.

Oh, and it wasn't a sequel.  The II in the title was supposed to be a joke.  In fact, the alternate title is Surf II: The End of the Trilogy.   Har dee har har.

[Yaddo 42]

These were perfect time wasters on basic cable during vacations when I was younger. Mild entertainment with no need to pay any real attention to plot or anything else, fun fluffy pop music, Dick Dale tunes, girls in bikinis, cheesy retro styles and hair, great cameos in the AIP ones anyway.

Besides, without these there would have nothing to riff off of in the 80s with Back to the Beach. A fun take off of the genre.

Neville, I'm not too surprised you haven't seen these, don't know if they'd translate besides being very dated, part of their appeal now. In their heyday they weren't even shown in the UK, IIRC, because the whole " west coast beach" culture wasn't thought to translate, although the Brits made their own beach films, some even starred Cliff Richard I think. He must have made Frankie and Annette seem like real hoodlums by comparison.

[Neville]

Neville, I'm not too surprised you haven't seen these, don't know if they'd translate besides being very dated, part of their appeal now. In their heyday they weren't even shown in the UK, IIRC, because the whole " west coast beach" culture wasn't thought to translate, although the Brits made their own beach films, some even starred Cliff Richard I think. He must have made Frankie and Annette seem like real hoodlums by comparison.

Yeah, I guess those are the main reasons. And I cannot think of any big names on those movies, which would have been a selling point, if not back then at least today. I imagine the big problem here is that the phenomenom was a very local one, like with the 70s bikers'  films, and no European critics have bothered to explore the genre afterwards, which could have inspired a revival.