Nightmare Beach (1989)

   

Written & Directed by: James Justice

Starring:

.... Skip
.... Gail
.... Strycher
.... Rev. Bates
.... Ronnie
.... Doc Willet
.... Trina
.... Dawg
.... Mayor Loomis
.... Malcom
.... Kimberly
Ben Stotes .... Al
.... Lori
.... Ralph
John Baldwin .... Mad John

Release Date: Direct-to-Video: September, 1989 (West Germany)

Rating:

 

A leader of a biker gang Diablo (Tony Bolano) gets a death sentence for his criminal acts but swears revenge.
Afterwards a mysterious biker uses his vehicle as a killing machine against party goers, mainly beautiful girls, on their spring break in Florida as one of these party goers Ronnie () becomes this maniacs next victim after being beat up by the biker gang.
Some people claim that Diablo has come back from the dead to seek revenge in which Ronnie's friend Skip Strycher (John Saxon) is responsible for all of this.

 

When I was first watching this movie I knew that I was in for a real treat in which the sun is nearly setting down and the biker gang called the Demons (As on the back of their jacket the logo is the same as the italian film) are waiting outside near the prison with great close up shots on all of them.
Then there's the death sentence with the biker leader Diablo with him acting vengeful as this leaves an impression but not to be taken seriously. Still it was enjoyable to watch this as well as good shots on people like Strycher and Gail watching him get into his electric chair and be put out of his misery. However there's no intense or effective moments when this occurs which could've been used in the film. But oh well.
Then the film goes into an uplifting mode for the opening credits taking place at a beach making me want to join in on the fun with all that's happening in the scene's. In these situations there's some tearsers thinking that someone is murdered and so fourth only to be pranks which was done in mediocre style.
Then when night falls the horror begins in a great fashion when some beautiful girls ask for a lift to the beach and one is left stranded until a mysterious biker picks her up and drives in a fast pace when she asks him to stop as I got the feeling that she will be done in and it's done in great itensive taste which can please horror hounds like myself.
Afterwards both Skip and Ronnie drive near a bar to gave a good time but run into the Demons as trouble nearly starts although it looked a bit cheesy it was done in exciting style at the same time and entertaining to watch as well.
The next day the beach has a wet tshirt event which seemed to draw me in but I've seen better moments in other films. It was still 80s fun with what was going on.
The horror is about to start again when night falls as Trina acts charming towards Ronnie only to set him up to be pitted against the Demons once again and gets beaten up as it was in fair taste but have seen other films that looked convincing with violent moments such as this. Still it was well put into the story and knowing that this Trina chick is bad news indeed.
Suddenly when Ronnie is left alone when these biker goons take off he spots the mysterious biker and boy does this dude's killing looked good as it somewhat seemed to pay a homage to other horror flicks such as A Nightmare On Elm Street.
The action packs up a great deal when Skip tries to search for his missing friend by spying on the Demons as I get a cold feeling he will get caught which made me watch carefully as well as the police officer Strycher affiliating with this gang aggressively as this looked convincing that something isn't right about this lawman.
The uplift the story a bit is a hooker who makes out she's someone innocent doing charity to get money while sleeping with middle aged men is seen in the story which is silly to watch but done in a fairly decent campy type of fashion. Some of you may disagree with me though.
Plus Skip does anything to find his friend as he sees him buried in an area as well as Strycher catching him along with his obnoxious threats to him in which this looked truly intimidating leaving an impression that this man is a suspect to the killings in the movie.
Also Gail arrives home and we see the mysterious biker seeming to follow her as well as when she is at home see this bikers footsteps walking to her doorway which looked chilling to watch wondering if he will enter her home and done in perfect mysterious horror timing.
This biker knocks another beautiful blonde unconcious and then takes her to what looks like a boiler room (Yes folks this seems to pay another homage to you know what which is exciting watching this) and then she begs for her life only for this maniac to do something horrifying to her which also looked very effective and decent effects to this scenario.
Skip and Gail break into Strycher's mobile home and tries to look for clues as this was well focused and it made me cringe wondering if these two will get caught since that's the case most of the time in stories such as this one.
Then Trina is pitted against the killer biker that she thinks is Diablo and he gets violent with her which was done in a fair style and does her in with a unique style but I won't give this one. It's probably the classic killing to anyone who saw this flick.
More great action when the Demons breaks into a police station to do some damage as well as trying to track down Strycher while this asshole is trying to get after Skip in which I enjoyed these moments making out the biker gang is noiw allies with this innocent fellow.
The final moment look fantastic when this evil biker tries to kill Gail and she tries to push off his helmet which made me e ager as to wonder who this maniac really is as well as Skip trying to save the day and all sorts. Plenty of action for an 80s horror film you won't be disappointed!
Bottom line is that this is one of those so bad types it's good and I loved it all the way through. It's was 80s cheese low budget horror but I enjoy these kinds and was done in great style. Some of you may not agree with me. I dug it big time. It's an obscure flick but if you find this one then check it out.

The acting is quite cheesy and dated in which (Skip) had the clean cut boy next door heartthrob looks and appeal and his acting is okay as he tries to show some convincing energy when getting into action or trying to save the day as this all showed not too bad timing. You could tell that he tries hard. He wasn't spectacular but he was okay for what he had to do.
(Gail) had the healthy cute girl looks as well as doing a nice job with her soft spoken voice and sounding quite innocent too. She tried to give all that she got but at times she was a bit wooden in certain spots but not terrible. She needed a bit of a push. But seemed to show okay adrenaline when she gets spooked when the moments in the scene's were necessary as she seemed to do a nice job with behaving that way.
(Strycher) was the best out of the cast I must admit as he did a solid performance in which I've often seen him do a great job. He was excellent by acting obnoxious and down right in your face mean. He for sure came across convincingly as a suspect in the story and got into his role pretty good. He shows off alot of energy into what he did here.
(Rev. Bates) however was just plain wooden and saying his lines. He can't seem to get into character whatsoever and is over the top whenever he tries to. He seriously needed acting lessons.
(Ronnie) seemed to do a fair job from what I remember as someone who likes to have a good time and seemed to show a bit of spunk into what he did as well as someone whom is outspoken as he shows this off in a decent fashion too. Had the right appeal for this type of role.
(Doc Willet) often does a good job within everything that I saw him in but I must say that he didn't seem too keen on his work in this one as it shows big time. He was stiff within his characteristics especially when he acts nervous or frightened.
(Trina) drew in her role pretty well as a biker chick in which she knew on how to act like a total bitch as well as being deceivingly outgoing. She drew in well as someone whom is untrustworthy as well as having the beautiful bad girl looks for her role which is a plus.
(Dawg) seemed to do fairly okay as the new leader of the biker gang in which he was not too shabby by acting obnoxious or violent but seemed a wee bit over the top and a bit cheesy while acting this way. At the same time his performance looked pretty fun to watch by behaving this way. He had the right rough looks which worked well in his favor.

A few women do a brief flash exposing their breasts during a wet shirt contest.

Bodies are electrocuted or burned to a crisp.
Some slit throats.
Eyeball is gouged out after being electrocuted.

Claudio Simonetti isn't too memorable with his music in this one as there's not alot of it but there are some low sounds for the suspenseful situations as well as some airy sounds too at times. Plus we hear the odd chiming sounds and the music seems mediocre for when the adventure happens in the scene's but nothing over the top special whatsoever.

A nice 80's pop sounding soundtrack although these artists aren't well known to my knowledge do a good job along with an artist named Kirsten with her song "Don't Take My Heart" which sounds uplifting for the opening credits which is focused at the beach in Florida.