Phil's B-Movie Madness: Phil reviews BEACH BABES FROM BEYOND (1993) from Full Moon Features-December 13, 2012

BEACH BABES DVD Cover (2011)

BEACH BABES FROM BEYOND
Starring: Sarah Bellomo, Tamara Landry, Nicole Posey, Michael Todd Davis, Ken Steadman, Michael Roddy, Linnea Quigley, Joe Estevez, Albert Andrukaitis, Burt Ward, Joey Travolta, Don Swayze, Jackie Stallone
Written by Alexander Sachs
Produced by Charles Band, Jerry Goldberg, & Karen L. Spencer
Directed by David DeCoteau (as Ellen Cabot)
Originally released by Torchlight Entertainment
Re-released by Full Moon Features

Hello there my faithful followers and welcome to the return of Phil's B-Movie Madness! It's been a long time since I reviewed one of the many classic B-movies that I used to watch when I was younger. Now tonight's film is in my Favorite Top Ten B-Movies of All Time. Featuring an impressive ensemble cast, sophomore humor, cool special effects, and scantily bikini-clad girls, BEACH BABES FROM BEYOND has all the markings to make this a true B-movie classic for the ages!

The film's official synopsis is as follows: An intergalactic babe named Xena (Bellomo) borrows her dad's T-bird ship to do a little planet hopping with her two friends Luna (Landry) and Sola (Posey), but they run out of fuel unexpectedly, and must land on earth. They land on the California coast and run into Dave (Davis), Jerry (Steadman), and Ziggy (Roddy), where they have fun and a few close encounters at the beach. Dave's Uncle Bud (Estevez), who just wants to meditate and hang out, is being threatened with condemnation of his beach house unless he puts some money into repairs. The alien babes offer to enter the local bikini contest with their way-out designs to try and win the money he needs, but they are hampered by garment designer Sally (Quigley) who will stop at nothing to win.

Making cameos in the film are Don Swayze (younger brother of Patrick Swayze) and Jackie Stallone (Sylvester Stallone's mother) playing Xena's parents Gork and Yanna, Burt Ward (Robin from the 1960's TV show Batman) as suntan lotion king Mr. Bun, and Joey Travolta (younger brother of John Travolta) portrays scientist turn vegan snack shack owner Dr. Veg.

Original Promotional Poster (1993)

The film was the first release under the new Torchlight Entertainment banner, a line conceived by Full Moon founder Charles Band, which produced softcore films for the adult market. Band is an icon in the horror film world, having creating the PUPPET MASTER series, the SUBSPECIES series, and the TRANCERS series for Full Moon. His previous company Empire Pictures released such cult classics like GHOULIES, RE-ANIMATOR, TROLL, and FROM BEYOND. In the 1990's Band also created the family oriented company Moonbeam Entertainment to produced films aimed at kids and tweens. Torchlight Entertainment was just another way for Band to tap into a specific type of audience and entertain them the only way he knew how.

The film was directed by David DeCoteau, who was one of the Top Three B-movie directors during the 80s (the other two being Rick Sloane and Fred Olen Ray). DeCoteau has directed several low-budget classics from the 80s, such as CREEPOZOIDS, NIGHTMARE SISTERS, and DR. ALIEN. DeCoteau would also go on to direct films for Full Moon Entertainment: PUPPET MASTER III (1991), THE KILLER EYE (1999), and newest installment of Full Moon's flagship title,  2010's PUPPET MASTER: AXIS OF EVIL. All together, DeCoteau has directed over 80 films in his career!

At the end of every single Full Moon movie, there was a new instalment of Full Moon's VideoZone; a video magazine that contained behind the scenes making of, Spotlight interview, trailers, and ordering cool collectibles. BEACH BABES had it's own as well entitled Torchlight's VideoZone and it was very similar to Full Moon's. Now the VideoZone on the DVD here is different than the original that was seen on the VHS tape. The one on the DVD was the original version, but host Sara Suzanne Brown didn't like the way it was shot and complained to Band, thus having to reshoot her segments. While it was cool to see the original VideoZone, it would've been nice for Full Moon to have the VHS version included on the DVD as well. The transfer of the film isn't that great either, but seeing that this is the only way to watch the film now that the VHS copy is long out of print, I can't complain too much.

All in all, BEACH BABES FROM BEYOND is a cult classic that I hold near and dear to my heart! I rented the film when it first came out back in 1993 and I've held on to my old, beat up VHS tape for all this time. It's great to see it again on DVD. So if you're looking for some light, silly, sexy, B-movie fun, then look no further! 5 out of 5 stars!! Recommended!!

BEACH BABES FROM BEYOND is currently available on DVD. To purchase a copy, visit the Full Moon website at www.fullmoondirect.com.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil's Horror Watch, Day 27: Phil watches RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1986)-October 27, 2011

Here it is folks: Day 27 of my horror movie marathon! I took another trip back to the 80's (hey, there were a lot of great horror films from that era) and picked out another great zombie film that stayed to the conventions of the genre, while adding its own spin to the mix. So if you haven't seen RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD yet, you are missing out on a splatter zombie film classic!

Theatrical Movie Poster (1985)

The film's about two dim-witted medical supply warehouse employees Frank and Freddy (James Karen and Thom Mathews respectively) who accidentally release a deadly gas from a government drum into the air, which the vapors causes the dead in the nearby cemetery to rise up and feed on the brains of the living!

Also appearing in the film are Clu Gilager, Don Calfa, Beverly Randolf, and legendary 80's scream queens Linnea Quigley and Jewel Shepard. The film's soundtrack boasts some the best punk bands from that era, such as The Cramps, T.S.O.L., The Damned, 45 Grave and others.

The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon, who got his start when he and iconic director John Carpenter collaborated on his student film DARK STAR (which O'Brannon wrote and starred in). He then went on to write the screenplay for ALIEN (1979) and DEAD AND BURIED (1981). Originally O'Bannon was hired to write the script and horror director Tobe Hooper was set to direct the film. But when Hopper backed out of the project to make LIFEFORCE (which O'Bannon wrote as well) producers Tom Fox and John Russo offered O'Bannon the job as director. He accepted on the one condition that he could totally rewrite the film so that it differed from George Romero's zombie films. The film is more "splatstick" style morbid humor and eccentric dialogue. While the first half of the film is comedic, the second half is pure horror.

Another note worthy fact: Long before the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake and 28 DAYS LATER, the film boasts of having the image of FAST running zombies. Another one of O'Bannon's twists to the rewrite. The fast zombies were a total surprise to audiences who were use to the slow moving undead in Romero's films. Another fun aspect to the film is the combination of the old time actors (Karen, Gilager, and Calfa) blending perfectly with the young, inexperienced actors of the film. You have this great contrast of young and old in the film, which gives the film a great universal appeal.

Upon completion, the studio Orion Pictures deemed the film "unreleasable" and supposedly re-cut the film, then quietly released the film to theaters. However, audiences reacted positively to the film, and as a result, has become a huge cut classic. The film spawned four, count 'em, four sequels! But those films don't even come close to the original.

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is a gory, scary, funny, and entertaining horror film that deserves to be part of everybody's film library. The film is the lasting legacy of Dan O'Bannon, who passed away from Crohn's Disease on December 17, 2009. So a big "Thank You" to Mr. O'Bannon for giving us this film to enjoy for the past twenty-six years!! You did good my friend!!

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is currently available on both Blu-Ray and DVD. To purchase a copy, visit your local retailer, or visit the Amazon website at www.amazon.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!