Entry 87: Malibu Beach (1978)

Malibu Beach (1978)

Dir: Robert J. Rosenthal

"Everything can happen on...Malibu Beach!"



I'm at the end of a LONG couple of weeks, so I thought I'd relax with a cocktail and a dumb sex comedy from America's greatest decade!  Slather on some suntan lotion and join me in the Basement of Sleaze as I soak up a few rays on Malibu Beach!

 Kim Lankford (The Octagon, Cameron's Closet) stars as lifeguard Dina in yet another dumb, plotless, American Grafitti-inspired teen flick from Crown International.  There's plenty of pot-smoking, drag racing, drinking and LOTS of T&A as the large cast of characters drive around, talk, party, intermingle, couple and fight as seemingly-random story threads weave together.  The movie also features a Rolling Stones American tour 1972 poster (the tour on which the legendary Cocksucker Blues was filmed!), not one but SEVERAL "comedic" scenes in which dogs steal bathers' bikini tops, skinny dipping, a disco scene and a break-in to ride bumper cars in an amusement park!  A pretty awesome girl drives a Corvette Stingray with a "Cure Virginity" bumper sticker.  In the silliest scene, teens pressure a rookie cop into smoking dope while his seasoned partner gets shitfaced in a bar across the street.  Tough-guy actor Steve Oliver (Werewolves on Wheels, The Van, who kind of resembles a giant Peter Dinklage) plays beach tough Dugan, who shows up seemingly at random to threaten/beat the shit out of various characters (he has snake tattoos VERY similar to Kurt Russell's in Escape from New York!).  In the "A" plot, Dugan and sensitive lifeguard Bobby (James Daughton, Animal House, TVs The Incredible Hulk) duel for Dina's affections.  It ends in a swim-off, complete with a guy wearing a fake shark fin and some knockoff John Williams music.

I'll fully admit that I was only half paying attention to this one.  It's an inoffensive bit of time-capsule entertainment, no better or worse than any of the other dozens of similar flicks that Crown and AIP were cranking out around the same time.  Still, it's fun enough if you're in the right mood.  Director Rosenthal wrote previous B.O.S. entry The Pom Pom Girls (for those keeping score), and 80's teen comedy Zapped (a staple of the USA Network when I was growing up).