Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Absolutely Fantastic

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

My rating is a reflection of my great enjoyment for the majority of things AIP related, this film for me is very enjoyable on multiple levels. Probably what I like best is it's schizophrenic plot.I will not attempt to describe the narrative, it has been gone over. The many attributes I enjoy are firstly, AIPs production & sets, it's a very brand driven piece. Anyone familiar with AIPs 60's productions can recognize this visualization almost instantly & no studio has ever reproduced the visual 'look' of these films. I attribute this mostly to Daniel Haller in production design.Every goofy moment in this film is driven by this same feeling that communicates it can only be AIP at it's most essential; sets, music, narrative & even the actors all fit within this unique universe perfectly. You either love it or hate it with a few in betweens. I love it.I especially enjoy Harvey Lembeck's & Aaron Kincaid's performances but all the actors do what they R supposed to do within the AIP universe very well, even Tommy Kirk who I felt was very good in 'Pajama Party' btw.I'm aware of the post production insertion of everything regarding Susan Hart & I think it works well. Karloff is fine for what he does which isn't much. Rathbone is great & Bobbi Shaw is fabulous as always.No Nancy Sinatra fan here & IMO her role could have been played by anyone but for that, no complaints at all.This film is for an AIP completest primarily. If U love their films U gotta love this one. So, in a word, recommended!

Originally conceived as another Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello romp (both of whom would later drop out of this project, along with The Supremes), this was both the last Beach Party movie and the only Beach Party movie not set on a beach. The only reason I was even remotely interested in watching this one was for the "guest appearances" from Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. Karloff plays Hiram Stokely, a "corpse" who is awaken in his coffin by "ghost" Cecily (Susan Hart), his former girlfriend who died at a young age while he aged. She informs him that he has just 24 hours to do a good deed so he can spend eternity in heaven with her. As an added bonus, if Hiram is successful then he'll regain his youth. And even better, since Hiram cannot leave his crypt, Cecily will actually do the leg work for him as they communicate through a crystal ball. Hiram decides the good deed should involve making sure the heirs to his estate - Chuck (Tommy Kirk), Lili (Deborah Walley) and Myrtle (Patsy Kelly) - actually receive their inheritance. The problem lies with his crooked attorney Reginald Ripper (Basil Rathbone) and his "sinister sidekick" J. Sinister Hulk (Jesse White), who conspire to swindle the million dollar estate away from its rightful owners.The three heirs show up at Hiram's mansion, along with the attorney, and must remain there until midnight for the reading of the will. Myrtle's nephew Bobby (Aron Kincaid) and about a hundred brainless, grinning teens pop by in a bus and head straight for the pool. A band starts playing, Nancy Sinatra starts singing "Geronimo" and suddenly we're suddenly in musical hell as a bunch of rhythm-deficient young folks in bathing suits start bouncing around. Throw in more supporting characters (Quinn O'Hara as Rathbone's daughter, Francis X. Bushman as the groundskeeper, Benny Rubin as an embarrassing chicken truck driver, Harvey Lembeck as a biker, etc.) then was needed, pile on lame "comic" gags and sound effects and pad things out with around a half-dozen lame and (mostly) badly-performed musical numbers and you've basically got this labored and unfunny would-be dark house comedy from AIP. It's always nice to see Karloff and Rathbone - even in something like this - but most of the rest of the cast either annoyingly overacts or mugs, are talent and charisma free (I'm looking at you, Kirk and Walley) or look as if they'd rather be off doing something else. I've not seen many other "Beach Party" films before this one but they were basically little more than thin excuses for mainstream audiences back in the day to watch barely clad teens wiggling around in bathing suits and that's about it.The opening sequence is wonderfully atmospheric, with lots of fog and a red-cloaked figure walking through a graveyard toward a crypt, but that just goes to show what a waste this really is. The film seems to have had something of a budget. It's colorful, has a big cast, the shooting locations are nice and the cinematography by Stanley Cortez is excellent. Some reviewers might find this campy and enjoyably dated, but sorry to say, I didn't care much for it.

With the rest of the Beach Party films having made their digital debut, THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI deserves the same consideration. True, we don't get Frankie and Annette, but we do have A.I.P. regulars Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, Harvey Lambeck, Bobbi Shaw, Susan Hart, plus Nancy Sinatra, Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. Even though this is not the best of the Beach bunch, the cast alone makes it worth watching. Granted, the film's not a major motion picture, but it was FUN (which is more than can be said for a lot of other titles, old & new.) Since last few Midnite Movies from MGM have been double feature DVDs, maybe this could be paired up with DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS film, which has also yet to see DVD release. (They could even throw on the obscure TV outing, THE WILD WEIRD WORLD OF DR. GOLDFOOT, as an extra.

Ridiculous movie--just the title should tell you something. It's something or other about a ghost (in a bikini of course) trying to revive her dead boyfriend...or make him younger...or something silly. He's played by Boris Karloff who watches the movie from his crypt through a crystal ball. Poor Boris...he was reduced to THIS???? Basically this was the last gasp for the "Beach Party" movies. They were loosing money so they transferred the action to a "haunted" house and some dumb plot about a fortune being hidden. This is chockful of stupid jokes, bad songs, LOUSY acting and some "teenagers" in their 20s who should not be seen with only a skimpy bathing suit.It might be fun if you're in a REALLY silly frame of mind--otherwise this is truly an abomination. Not even bad/good--just BAD!!! Kids might go for it.