Del Tenney Double Feature: Horror at Party Beach/Curse of the Living Corpse (DVD, 2006)

Okay, first of all "Horror of Party Beach" has never looked this good before, & it & it's original co-feature "Curse of the Living Corpse" come with an interesting & informative commentary track with director Del Tenney (subtitles too so that you can follow the film while he's speaking, something that's all too rare with a lot of cult films out there!).
Things that are wrong with the films? Well, I've complained about this before, but for all the work that Dark Sky Films puts into their releases, they can't seem to get around their annoying compulsion to release all their old films in that awful mock letterboxing even when they were originally released in standard full screen format.
And the other thing which I've noticed on other old releases from other companies is that they've done such a good job on their remastering that they've actually accidentally taken out stuff the director wanted left in.
In the case of "Living Corpse" there are brightly lit insert shots of the mysterious masked murderer that stand out in sharp contrast to the shadowy scenes around him.
Now I've seen the same film on TCM, & the lighting is consistent all the way through & everything blends together perfectly.
There's an old saying in Hollywood: "Don't worry, we'll fix it in post production." The scenes in question were darkened when the prints were made so that they would look right.
Unfortunately, DVDs are remastered from the original negatives, & while you get a perfect print, last minute stuff like this gets lost (it's not just on low budget features that this happens. When I saw classic fright flicks like "Revenge of the Creature" & "The Creature Walks Among Us" on TV or even up on the big screen I never saw the wires because they were taken care of in post, but when I watch the same films on DVD, there are the wires as plain as day!).
Now I'm not saying that these things take away from this set.
"Party Beach" is great fun & better than a lot of the guide books would lead you to believe, even if the stereotypical superstitious fat black housekeeper is played by the best actor in the film who brings a certain quiet dignity to a rather racist role.
And "Living Corpse" is a pretty decent film, kind of a Victorian ghost story meets "Friday the 13th", & while not as much sheer gonzo fun it's technically much superior in quality, the equal of stuff coming out of the bigger studios at the time, well-filmed & well-written with a talented cast that includes the first big screen appearance of "Jaws" star Roy Scheider who gives a very good performance.
Aside for the few flaws mentioned, only thing this DVD lacks is an explanation as to why there are actually TWO quite different-looking monster suits in "Party Beach", the famous cheap-looking fish face stuffed with hot dogs worn over a scaly scuba suit & a much more realistic shambling 'Heap'-like creature that actually looks like it's made up of dead sea creatures risen from the ocean floor.
It's from the latter that the chopped-off arm the scientist experiments on in his basement is obviously from (my guess is that they set fire to the original suits for the big battle at the end of the picture only to realize that they needed more shots of them to bring the movie up to full feature length & only then came up with the silly sausage sucker suits we all know & love).
Anyway, if you're into old low budget B&W monster movies, don't flounder about, just through your net in & haul this DVD into your boat.

Over the last decade there have been poor quality DVD's and VHS tapes of this cult classic. Finally a studio quality DVD exists! While I was hoping for a copy that at least featured the vocal track matching the film, I was pleased to discover better lighting present in each scene than I recalled. The whole viewing experience was improved 100%! The DVD likewise features a second Del Tenney film, Curse of the Living Corpse, a movie originally billed as a double-feature in theatres. I only remember seeing The Horror of Party Beach at a drive-in as a little kid with my folks on a Saturday night in the summer. We used to frequent the drive-ins for movies like The Tarantula, Mole People, and It Came From Outer Space. What a great childhood! Anyways, if you're looking for a top notch copy of these two classics, than this is the item for you!

Of course this movie was good! I was in it. Ahh, the memories...Summer time in Stamford, Connecticut, West Beach, everyone knows EVERYONE....and they're filming a movie using locals as "extras"!

This movie was well before its time - a prelude of things to come regarding nuclear waste and corporate disregard for polluting our waters. I mean, what do the corporate mental giants expect to happen to old bones fermenting in our coastal waters when they're further seasoned with nuclear waste and sludge?!? A MONSTER IS BORN! Shines like the nuclear waste that runs through it's bloodstream, smells like low tide, and sounds like a bullfrog with gas! AND THERE'S MORE THAN ONE!! God help us! They're reproducing!!! And from the looks of it, they want to reproduce with the sweet, dark-haired, curvy (but bitchy) relationship wrecker, Tina. However, she wants NOTHING to do with their "advances", so they kill her while she's sunbathing on a jetty of rocks.

While beach-goers, scientists, and locals dance and party to tunes of the times, and Tina's ex realizes he should have stayed with his delicate blonde former girlfriend, Tina's body washes up on shore, streams of blood pouring from her poor, mangled flesh(actually, it's chocolate syrup - Hershey's).

Houston, we have a problem! There's no bluefish in 'dese here waters that can do that kind of damage!

People who live near lakes, streams and oceans....lock your doors! Keep your daughters home at night! Don't let your sons put the convertible top down on the car when they go driving!! Stay home and stay close to your housekeeper. She's the only one with the intelligence to stop the horrific rampage, thereby saving the world!

Fortunately, the movie is short, so boredom won't be a problem. Adults will laugh at certain scenes, but young children will definitely need to sleep with a nightlight for a while.

the monster in the movie/dvd has alot to be desired. real fake(rubbery looking), but due to the fact it was made in the early 60's i guess they didn't have alot to work with as far as special effects.

I love old horror films,the ones with good creatures in them. I saw this movie when I was 13 and loved it.Brought back fond memories. I am 58 now.