The Horror of Party Beach – 1964, US, 78m. Director: Len Tenney.
Keep My Grave Open – 1977, US, 73m. Director: S.F. Brownrigg.
Night of the Bloody Apes – 1969, Mexico, 84m. Director: René Cardona.
The Nightcomers – 1971, UK, 97m. Director: Michael Winner.
THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (1964) Radioactive waste dumped into the ocean transforms the dead crew of a sunken fishing boat into humanoid sea monsters. The creatures ascend topside at a popular beach and kill a teen, igniting a feeding frenzy within the local scientific community. This low-grade teenybopper exploitation flick takes the upbeat musical components of the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello bikini romp, Beach Party, and mixes it with the horrors of Creature from the Black Lagoon, but with extremely mixed results. Much of the film’s poor craftsmanship ranks within the so-bad-it’s-good category, but its plotless story structure holds your attention only for so long. Luckily, Horror of Party Beach‘s scant 78 minutes won’t keep you from straying too far from the TV. A drive-in crap classic that predates the Roger Corman-produced Humanoids from the Deep, which features a similar plot but with 1980s-infused nudity and violence. C+ (Currently streaming on Prime.)
KEEP MY GRAVE OPEN (1977) If anyone needs more proof that Hitchcock’s Psycho influenced a whole generation of independent filmmakers, look no further than with this low-budget oddity. Lesley (Camilla Carr) lives an isolated life in a hilltop manor with her brother, Kevin. The young woman, who seems to be in a permanent state of upset, suffers from headaches and is constantly bickering with her bro, who wisely stays behind closed doors. When Lesley is in the mood for love, she seeks affection from stable boy Bobby (Stephen Tobolowsky), whose girlfriend ultimately winds up on the wrong end of a sword. Lesley’s hormones continue to surge, and after getting dolled up (and looking like Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde) she commits the most forbidden of acts with Kevin. This is followed by the slashing of another victim in the bathroom. But there’s a twist, folks! Kevin fled town years ago and left sis a loony psycho who lives in a fantasy world, using big bro’s saber to take down those she feels threatened by. Pretty scary, huh? Not really. Despite its overt silliness, Keep My Grave Open expects to be taken seriously. That’s a tough sell for a movie that seems destined to end up on a revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000. C– (Currently streaming on Tubi.)
NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES (1969) Desperate to cure his teenage son, Julio’s, leukemia, a medical doctor takes a gorilla’s heart and transplants it into the young man. After we’re treated to some graphic footage of real open-heart surgery—the squeamish will want to look away—Julio wakes up on the operating table a new man, so to speak. His newfound health is short-lived when he begins to develop ape-like facial deformities—and a thirst for brutally murdering his fellow homo sapiens. This notorious south-of-the-border gore job has all of the hallmarks of an unintentional howler, including bad editing, laughable acting, Ed Wood-level writing, and is possibly the first “the-make-up-ends-at-the-neck” example of obliviously terrible filmmaking. A subplot featuring a female wrestler seems to have been tacked on to pad out the running time, but Mexican female wrestling fans will most likely rejoice. Slightly amusing and all-moronic, Night of the Bloody Apes is Mexican trash cinema at its weirdest. The movie is actually a remake of director René Cardona’s previous Doctor of Doom, but with a lot more boobs and blood. D+ (Currently streaming on Tubi.)
THE NIGHTCOMERS (1971) Marlon Brando’s last hurrah before The Godfather gave him his superstar resurgence, this handsome but murky film acts as a prequel to Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, which was adapted to great success as The Innocents (1961). Brando plays the brutish Peter Quint, groundskeeper to Bly Manor and home to orphans Flora (Verna Harvey) and Miles (Christopher Ellis) and their buxom governess, Ms. Jessel (Stephanie Beacham). Quint spends his days tending to the horses, drinking, and acting like a general buffoon. Despite his lecherous demeanor, Flora and Miles take an immediate liking to Quint—he tells the easily manipulated Miles that the rape Quint committed against Ms. Jessel, which Miles witnessed, is a form of lovemaking. Quint’s corruption turns Miles and Flora into psychopathic brats and Ms. Jessel into a lovelorn halfwit who literally rows a boat to her doom while pining for her despicable “lover.” The script never develops these people into actual characters the viewer can sympathize with; instead, the actors go through the motions like zombified caricatures. Brando’s terrible Scottish accent is one for the ages. Read Turn of the Screw and bypass this flaky production without a second thought. D (Currently unavailable.)