The 10 Worst Movies Filmed at a Beach

When I was a small child, every Sunday beginning at 12:00 noon, there would be a movie on television. Inevitably it would be one from the beach party film genre so popular in the 1960s. I recently rented some of my all-time favorites from that period in my life and I have but one word to describe them, corny! Here's my list for the 10 worst movies filmed at a beach.

Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello starred in a whole string of "beach-themed" movies. The acting was bad, the plot and story line were sub-standard, and interwoven into all of this was dubbed-in singing from Frankie and Annette. These movies alone account for the first five of my worst beach movies ever! There were actually seven beach party movies in total but can't list them all without slighting some of my other bad beach movies.

"Beach Party" was the first of the worst. It involved a whole host of actors posing as teens and living on the beach. They did what they wanted, when the wanted! The plot consisted of Annette falling for a Professor that saves her from advances made by the leader of a motorcycle gang; she develops a crush on him much to Frankie's dismay. He retaliates by attempting to make her jealous, they sing, and everything turns out OK.

"Muscle Beach Party" was the next beach movie made in the series. It starred all the same people with only Annette's character's name changing from Dorothy to Dee Dee. Instead of a derelict motorcycle gang threatening their turf, this time it's a gang of bodybuilders, led by Don Rickles. The bright star in all of this, Stevie Wonder, makes his film debut at age 13.

"Bikini Beach" quickly followed that same year. The teens head to the beach again but this time the villain is a millionaire who's convinced that the teens are nothing but empty-headed and sex obsessed, and wants to turn their beach into a senior citizens retirement home. In walks British rocker and drag racer, The Potato Bug, played by Frankie Avalon. Dee Dee uses The Potato Bug to make Frankie, played by Frankie Avalon, jealous! More dubbed music ensues and Frankie and Dee Dee make up at the end.

"Pajama Party" is the fourth in the series. This time, Annette Funicello stars opposite Jody McCrea, Big Lunk. Her name has changed again, this time, to Connie. The villain in this movie turns out to be Big Lunk's aunt Wendy's neighbor, J. Sinister Hulk and his gang who are trying to steal Aunt Wendy's money. Frankie is missing for most of this film and nothing much happens during the movie except that Connie ends up with the martian GoGo who has been named George? If I had to vote I'd say this is the worst of the lot!

"Beach Blanket Bingo," features Annette and Frankie, again, playing opposite each other. Linda Evans, Sugar Kane, plays a singer whose manager is exploiting her. Frankie is tricked into thinking he has rescued her from a skydiving stunt and falls for her. Meanwhile Dee Dee gets jealous and tries skydiving to win back Frankie. Cue the music and Frankie and Annette are back in business. Plus, bonus, this is the movie that introduced the song, "I'll Never Change Him," sung by Ms. Funicello. This is the final movie in this series that I'll be discussing but, rest assured, there are seven in all if you're a glutton for punishment. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination!

Next on my list is "The Beach Girls and the Monster" and features a weak script and a sea creature that looks like it was dressed in a bad Halloween costume! The film's in black and white and hales from the 1960's. The sea creature stalks beach bunnies while bongo music plays in the background. If you look up the dictionary definition of torture, this movie will be mentioned!

"The Horror of Beach Party" tops the list as strange radioactive monsters feast on human blood in a small beach community. However, that's not the weird part. This black and white beach horror is also a musical, complete with bad acting and everything!

"Blood Beach" is an earlier version of the movie Tremors. It's about a monster that lives in the sand, tearing people limb from limb, as the local authorities' frantically attempt to find out what's going on. The monster is eventually blown up but regenerates into multiple mini monsters. Can you say "The Trouble with Trebles?"

"Gidget" stars Sandra Dee, James Darren, and Cliff Robertson, about a young girl who discovers surfing and love on a Malibu beach while hanging out with a surfing clique. They eventually dub her Gidget, short for girl and midget. The movie is corny, and the dialog is hard to swallow. Plus, what kind of names are Moon doggy and The Big Kahuna?

"Spring Break" is the last movie to make my list of worst movies filmed at a beach. Its empty storyline about a group of mindless college students, drinking and trying to hook up, all while attempting to get the best tan they can is painful to watch! Unless, drinking and acting like a total moron is your kind of movie, avoid this one!