The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Nice effects though.

Must See Movie...

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The veteran actors outscore the youngsters in this American International farce that came up during the heyday of the beach party movies. Frankie and Annette aren't available, so you get Tommy Kirk and Deborah Walley instead, not to mention the consistently unfunny Harvey Lembeck. Billed as the corpse, Boris Karloff as been dead for a week, and with the help of the luscious ghostly figure of Susan Hart, looks on his heirs who are desperately trying to find his missing fortune. it's another one of those Drive-In comedies that seems more like a Scooby-Doo Saturday animated cartoon then something that you can sit through for 90 minutes without longing for a snack, but there are a few downright hysterical moments. The songs and dance numbers (featuring Nancy Sinatra) is pretty much anything that you would see on any of the popular music shows of the time such as "Shindig" and "American Bandstand". Tommy Kirk and Deborah Walley try, but they can't compare to the veterans who really get a chance to shine, especially the very funny Patsy Kelly. She is joined by Jesse White, Francis X. Bushman and another legendary horror figure, Basil Rathbone. This is one of those films you can have a few good laughs at, but you'll be dying for something of more substance not long after it is over.

This should be a comedy? A horror? Or they wanted to be a sexy movie, piled with innumerable girls only in swimsuits? I like wacky comedies, when they are successful. Here we got just a bunch of so-called actors who are flocking into each other in a castle inhabited by awkward monsters, including a ghost-woman, a gorilla and many many morons. They are just fooling scrolling back and forth, totally pointless. Nancy Sinatra's pathetic, like everyone else. Poor Boris Karloff, he was impressive as Frankenstein. Neither the songs in the film don't save anything because they are awful too. Piccola Pupa, who was full of life, singing Italian songs in the '60s, present in a scene, does not save anything. If you watch this, the only thing you want is to finish faster.

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.

Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, The (1966) * 1/2 (out of 4) An old man (Boris Karloff) dies but can't get into Heaven until he does a good deed so his ghost goes back to make sure his crooked lawyer (Basil Rathbone) doesn't rip his family off. This is a stupid mix of horror and those Beach Party movies, which doesn't work on either level. One has to wonder what type of smoke was being passed around at the studio who said okay to this film. I'm really not sure how much of a demade there was for a horror Beach Party movie but I hope this thing made money for them. This isn't the worst film ever made but I can't say I enjoyed too much of it. The supporting players are all rather bland and the teens are just downright annoying as is the music, directing and pretty much everything else. Rathbone appears to be having fun in his role and Karloff is good in the few scenes he's in. Fans of the two legends might want to watch this once but you've been warned.