MonsterfromBikiniBeach

Monster from Bikini Beach (2008)

Okay before I even start the plot synopsis I need to be completely honest. For those that don’t know I’m a huge monster movie nerd, so if you are making a movie with a guy in a rubber suit then I’m already inclined to like it. No matter how silly or cheesy the flick might be. So when I got this movie in the mail I wasted no time in popping it into the old DVD player. There are two stories here that are connected. First you have a prehistoric mutated monster that comes from the river to kill and look for the perfect female human to mate with. There are a couple of journalists that are following the story of the monster and manage to track it down to it’s lair. The other story is that of a corrupt cop who is trying to find the five million in stolen drugs that will let him retire with his Go Go dancing girlfriend. She of course is entered in the big Go Go dancing contest, which is a smorgasbord for the monster that it can’t resist!

Okay so three minutes into the movie you have the first appearance of the rubber suited monster and the first pair of boobs. That might seem crude to come right out and say, but as a movie reviewer I’m forced to sit thru too many movies that advertise something and never come thru with it. I found it refreshing to sit down and immediately be given what I expected. Now as far as the rest of the movie goes the story with the crooked cop and drug dealers I never really liked that much. It just wasn’t that interesting and seems to be in the movie to maybe increase the runtime. But this is more than made up for by the story line with the two reporters and of course the monster itself. All of the comedy, and there are some really funny characters and lines, come from this part of the movie. Now understand this isn’t high brow stuff, but then if you are looking for high brow why are you watching a movie with a rubber suited monster and Go Go Girls?

There is a surprising amount of blood and guts in this movie. Some of the shots are executed better than others. But even when the effects are less then stellar (the decapitations are pretty bad) they look very silly and fit nicely with the overall tone of the movie. So not only is this one of the funnier independent movies I’ve seen, but is also delivers some good gore. What more could you ask for? How about a creature design that is great and captures the look and feel of the 50s/60s B-movies perfectly. The monster in Monster from Bikini Beach looks really cool and would have fit in nicely to any of the old creature features that I grew up watching as a kid.

This is a gory, funny throwback to the creature features of the 50s and 60s that was made on a budget and is very entertaining. So yeah I really like this movie. But the ending to the movie seals the deal for me. I’ve seen creatures killed off with electricity (Thing from Another World), tossed off a dam (The Amazing Colossal Man), and killed with flamethrowers (Them!). But I’ve never seen one killed off like the Monster from Bikini Beach. This was just icing on the cake. I recommend this movie it is a blast. For more information about the movie and where you can pick a copy up check them out at http://trashfilmorgy.com/

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer