THE BEACH GIRLS AND THE MONSTER (1965)
aka Monster from the Surf
Article 2742 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 11-8-2008
Posting Date: 2-14-2008
Directed by Jon Hall
Featuring Jon Hall, Sue Casey, Arnold Lessing
Country: USA

A monster is killing teens on the beach. Police investigate. Meanwhile, one teen’s father (who has an unfaithful wife) is trying to get him to give up his beach life and go back to work.

If you need a companion piece for a beach/monster double feature with HORROR OF PARTY BEACH, you could do worse than this one. Wait, I take that back; maybe you couldn’t do worse than this one. Apparently, this isn’t actor Jon Hall’s only directorial work; he did some uncredited direction on THE NAVY VS. THE NIGHT MONSTERS. It is his last acting performance, and he couldn’t have gone out on a worse note. This is one of those movies where the padding and stock footage (girls dancing, surfing footage, etc.) is more entertaining than the hackneyed and annoying plot, with Jon Hall’s character constantly grousing, Sue Casey’s character acting bitchy, and Arnold Lessing’s character just wishing everyone would let him alone and let him hang out on the beach. The monster costume is lame, but so is the script and the acting. Quite frankly, this movie is so dead in the water that it makes HORROR OF PARTY BEACH look intelligent and innovative, and I’ll take the song “Zombie Stomp” over the “Monster in the Surf” song here. On a side note, I find it interesting that Jon Hall is a cousin to Ben Chapman, who is most famous for having played the Creature from the Black Lagoon during the land scenes; this movie certainly gave them something in common. Incidentally, Kingsley the Lion is played by himself.