The Horror of Party Beach

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The Horror of Party Beach
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Del Tenney
Produced by	Del Tenney
Written by	Richard Hilliard
Starring	John Scott Alice Lyon Allen Laurel
Cinematography	Richard Hilliard
Editing by	Leonard De Munde Richard Hilliard David Simpson
Distributed by	Dark Sky Films
Release date(s)	1964
Running time	78 min
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Horror of Party Beach (working title Invasion of the Zombies) ^[1] is a 1964 horror film, directed by B-movie maven Del Tenney, that Tenney himself describes as "a take-off on beach parties and musicals". ^[2] A small U.S. East Coast beach town experiences a wave of attacks from water plants and dead human tissue mutated from radioactive waste. They coalesce into humanoid form by attaching themselves to skeletons in a shipwreck and immediately proceed to hunt down and kill mostly young women, as is common in the horror films of this era. Trying to stop the monsters are scientist Dr. Gavin, his young-adult daughter Elaine, and her boyfriend (and his employee) Hank Green, with some unexpected assistance from housekeeper Eulabelle and metallic sodium.

The Del-Aires, a Paterson, New Jersey rock band, play themselves as a local band and provide several songs for the soundtrack, including "Drag", "Joy Ride", "Just Wigglin' and Wobblin'", "Zombie Stomp", "Summer Love", and "Elaine". ^[3]

Movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured Horror in one of its season-8 episodes in 1997. ^[4]

[edit] Plot

The movie starts with Hank and his immature girlfriend, Tina, driving to the beach. Hank tries to tell Tina that he has matured from being a "campus big shot who'd do anything for kicks". Tina tells him that he is not living because of his life as a scientist, and wants to prove to him she can live better in her own way. Meanwhile, a boat dumps toxic waste into the ocean, which lands on a sunken ship with the skeleton of a dead sailor, which transforms slowly into a half human, half fish-like monster. The monster then proceeds to make its way to the surface.

Meanwhile, a party is going on at the beach with music played by the Del-Airs. The party catches the attention of a motorcycle gang. Tina starts flirting with the leader, Mike. After some dancing, Tina begins stripping. Hank, who was just staring out at the ocean, talks with Elaine. He tells her about Tina, and Elaine says she is sure that Tina will understand him eventually. Noticing the commotion at the beach, Hank and Elaine decide to check. Hank, angry at Tina, tries to bring her away, but Mike starts a fight with him. Hank wins, and Mike accepts his defeat. Tina tries to apologize to Hank, but he leaves. Mike is then taken home by his gang. Tina then decides to go for a swim. She swims all the way out to some rocks far away from the beach. She is attacked and killed by the monster. The sight of her body causes commotion on the beach.

Later, Elaine has been worried about Hank since Tina's death. Her father, Dr. Gavin, tells her not to worry about him. Eulabelle, Dr. Gavin's house keeper, suggests that some kind of voodoo is responsible for Tina's death. Gavin refuses to believe it. Later that night, Elaine cancels going to a slumber party with her friends. The monsters, whose number has increased, along with the inclusion of a new kind of monster, which seems to be more plant like than fish like, attack the slumber party and kill most of the girls. This news spreads quickly. Three traveling girls make their way through the town while traveling to New York. They get a flat tire while going past Fingel's Quarry. While attempting to fix the tire, they are killed by the monsters.

Elaine is later seen depressed by the news of these murders. Hank comes by to pick her up for a date. Hank decides to go to the beach. He has a short chat with the Del-Airs, who tell him that there has been no action since Tina was killed. The band sings "Summer Love", and Hank and Elaine kiss.

Meanwhile, two girls wait for someone to pick them up. A monster prowls them as they walk along. The girls are finally picked up, and the monster gets angry. The monster then walks along the street, and it notices a clothing store with female mannequins on display. The monster punches through the glass in an attempt to attack them, but its arm is ripped of by the sharp edges. The arm is later being studied by Dr, Gavin and Hank. The arm is still alive, and they can't figure out how to kill it. They then hear some noises upstairs. Thinking it's one of the monsters, they prepare to defend themselves, but it turns out to be Eulabelle. The notices the monster arm and is startled by it, accidentally spilling a container of sodium on it, which kills the arm. A way to kill the monsters has been found. Meanwhile, a drunk is killed by another monster, the only male victim shown.

Since the discovery of the monsters weakness, a way to locate the monsters is searched. After discovering that the monsters leave radioactive water wherever they go, which allows scanning for them to track them, Dr. Gavin finally tells Hank to get Sodium. Hank cannot find anyone who supplies sodium, but Eulabelle suggests he try the last couple places in the phone book. Hank finds a place that has it, and goes to New York to get it. Meanwhile, Dr. Gavin has had no luck on finding the monsters. Eulabelle tells him that Hank went to get the sodium, and Elaine went to look for the monsters at Fingel's Quarry. Dr. Gavin realizes that it's where the monsters must be, and he rushes of to help Elaine, bringing a small case of sodium with him. Elaine tests the water for radioactivity, and the monsters chase after her. She trips between two rocks and breaks her leg, but she still tries to run away.

Dr. Gavin makes it and throws sodium at the monster attacking Elaine, which kills it. Another monster attacks. Since he used his sodium he attempts to defend his daughter herself. Hank, who is bringing the sodium, is then stopped by a cop, who leads him to Fingel's Quarry. Hank saves Dr. Gaving by killing the monster attacking him, but burning him in the process. The group then kills all the monsters. Later, Hank visits Elaine, who's leg is recovering. They kiss while music by the Del-Airs plays on the radio.