Much was churning and changing at Hammer Studios in 1966. This month we dissect The Witches (1966). It’s time to highlight the power, impact and influence of Hammer Studios and ignite new conversation surrounding some forgotten classics. Over the course of this column, I will focus on these releases, gauging the films in context of the Hammer Studio story as well as analyzing the merits of the release. In late 2018, Shout Factory’s Scream Factory line began to focus on bringing Hammer’s titles to disc in the US, finally making many of the studio’s underseen gems available in packages that offered great visuals as well as insightful accompanying features. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 19 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. But, if you’re not already predisposed to appreciating this level of trash then sadly you’re gonna be left in the dumps, daddy-o!
SPLATTER BEACH GUITAR MOVIE
This is exactly the type of movie you’re gonna love. Still, if you’re looking for some Ventures type rock n’ roll, a monster that a grade school art class could make with the Sunday Times, a fair amount of blood, a bevy of beach beauties that were willing to doff their bikinis for no pay then look no further. But, it’s also never as good as it could be–in the bad way.
![splatter beach guitar splatter beach guitar](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/acoustic-guitar-watercolor-sketch-isolated-over-white-background-drawing-musical-instrument-paint-grunge-splatter-199607533.jpg)
![splatter beach guitar splatter beach guitar](https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/images-profile-flow/400/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/black-and-white-fender-paint-splatter-dan-sproul.jpg)
Too long for it’s own good, this film from Darin Wood and Christy Savage is never as bad as it could be–in the bad way. But if you were looking for a serious movie called MONSTER FROM BIKINI BEACH you’d best put down the remote and call a shrink! Oh it’s campy death sequences galore! Often it appears that the actors are actually holding the fake intestines in just before throwing their arms up in the air and letting their stomachs explode on camera. Still, those long swaths of nothingness are broken up with exquisite moments of showering, partying, pot smoking, ukulele playing, switchblade wielding starlets who are more than happy to have their tops torn from their bodies before spilling their guts out all over the screen.
SPLATTER BEACH GUITAR SERIES
The Palonia’s film is a very brief 60-minute feature but this 90-minute epic way overstays its welcome–padding itself out with an endless series of surf guitar montages and go-go dances. Ultimately, where SPLATTER BEACH succeeded (and only where) MONSTER FROM BIKINI BEACH fails is in the extended running time. And attack scenes that play out like homage to the Lobstora rape sequence from John Waters’ MULTIPLE MANIACS…at this point I was just about ready for anything. ….Ok, look…the MONSTER FROM BIKINI BEACH is some kind of Primordial Paper Mache-looking Walking Catfish crossed with a Shrimp. All that is left after that is a succession of nudie cuties to be chomped to bits by a… The cast includes the voice-over-detective (Sammy Payday), his door-knob-genius-girlfriend (Boom-Boom), a dorky reporter (Archie “don’t call me Scoop”) and a no-nonsense beat reporter whose name is the tongue-tying Raquel Vanvanderzander. Of course for arguments sake we also visit a club, a pool, a nerd’s bedroom–replete with X-FILES posters, the monsters lair and a taco stand. The plot is all right there in the title. So, when the opportunity presented itself to check out a film called MONSTER FROM BIKINI BEACH it didn’t take “two shakes of a puppy dogs tail” for me to pound back and e-mail screaming “bring it on daddy-o”! Something about best-laid plans comes next.
![splatter beach guitar splatter beach guitar](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/brutal-white-electric-guitar-blood-260nw-1298935588.jpg)
Unfortunately, last year I bemoaned the semi-failure of The Palonia Brothers ode SPLATTER BEACH and that made me even more homesick for a new beach blanket bloodbath. I crashed a market screening of Charles Busch’s PSYCHO BEACH PARTY when it played at the Cannes Film Festival 8-years ago and in 2006 I spent much of the year raving to anyone who would listen about the merits of a film called FRANKENSTEIN VS. I guess this one isn’t for everyone….įew things in cinema get me more excited than the prospects of a Monster Movie/Surf Movie mash up.
![splatter beach guitar splatter beach guitar](https://www.franticfrets.com/uploads/1/2/0/2/120207729/s875160934289152875_p44_i1_w2268.jpeg)
Inside you’ll find Tex’s negative thoughts on the film, while if you click here you can chew on David’s positive thoughts. Today we posted two reviews for the indie DVD feature Monster From Bikini Beach, one positive, and one negative.