Terror On The Beach -1974 (Dennis Weaver vs. Hippie Cult In Made for T.V. Mayhem !!)

    A couple of years after battling an evil 18 wheeler in DUEL, Dennis Weaver shows up here as the somewhat Casper Milktoast head of your typical 70’s nuclear family, who after being terrorized by a cult like group of hippies is eventually goaded into some T.V. friendly STRAW DOGS type reprisal action. Television (especially horror/thriller) movies of the 70’s are a fascinating genre to explore as they were trying to emulate the then popular drive-in/exploitation market by attaching lurid titles (such as SATAN’S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS & SCREAM PEGGY SCREAM) all the while keeping the content itself prime time friendly. Along the way there was some bona-fide classics (THE NIGHT STALKER & TRILOGY OF TERROR), a few well remembered scares from childhood (CROWHAVEN FARM & DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK), the bizarre and/or weird (CRAWLSPACE & ISN’T IT SHOCKING) and some forgotten gems (A COLD NIGHT’S DEATH).

    Weaver (taking time out from McCLOUD) plays pipe puffing slow-to-anger dad Neil Glynn who along with wife Arlene (Oscar winner Estelle Parsons BONNIE & CLYDE), son Steve (Kristoffer Tabori) and daughter DeeDee (Susan Dey – taking time out from THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY) are heading off for a weekend of beach camping & family bonding in their rented RV when they run afoul of the hippie gang, who are led by Jerry (Scott Hylands) – and who seem to be a combination of a Manson-like cult, renaissance fair attendees and extras from a Fellini movie. Of course we have the usual 70’s family issues here as the square dad can’t understand why his son doesn’t want to go to college, with wife & sis are caught in the middle on the bickering.

    A couple of initial encounters with the roving band of malcontents include running their RV off the road and pretending the old fire truck needs a push, both of which cause dad to respond by calming puffing his pipe, nodding solemnly and refusing to take any action (despite prodding by his son). Upon arriving at the beach the Glynn’s set out for some clam digging and family bonding and later discover vandalism a plenty at their campsite with all their belongings scattered about and that night things begin to get creepy as dad leads a sing-along of "Went to the Animal Fair" (which is pretty scary in itself) and they hear voices coming from the darkness (plus later that night somebody sneaks in and sabotages the RV!).

   The next day while dad & son are off fishing (and arguing some more), Susan Dey changes into her bikini with perfect timing as two of the gang show up for a visit at the same time, which leads to them leering away for awhile before scampering off to report back to Jerry. In the meantime Neil & Steve have discovered a mannequin floating in the surf wearing some of DeeDee’s clothing!! The next night the terror on the beach really starts getting amped up as the hippies rig up a sound and recording system and flips the RV over! Eventually Dad is pushed into taking a stand and responds by going sort of Rambo-light as he slowly begins to escalate his anger up to some “G” rated style payback.

     The Manson Family murders were still fresh in people minds at this time, so roving bands of long hairs in dune buggies were a pretty scary scenario to middle America (as represented here by Dennis Weaver). With all the finesse of a sledgehammer, the movie points out the difference between the square (but hard working & family loyal) middle class man and the shiftless (and most likely jobless ) band of hippies with the not to subtle implication that this is what the son will turn out like if he doesn’t go to college (and follow Dad’s advice).

    Director Paul Wendkos (GIDGET) keeps the tension up as much as expected and although limited by the confines of the T.V. screen sets up some pretty effective long shots and atmospheric photography over the nighttime dunes. A pretty decent & fun example of 70’s made for T.V. cinema by way of the drive-in, plus it’s got Dennis Weaver kicking some butt and Susan Dey in a bikini. Coincidentally DeeDee was the name of Annette Funicello’s character in the A.I.P beach movies of the 60’s. Look for drive-in star Roberta Collins (THE BIG DOLL HOUSE & THE UNHOLY ROLLERS) in a pretty wasted role as one of the hippie chicks.

Nazisploitation Movie Night # 2 - Jonny Quest Episode # 21 : The Devil's Tower

     If you were a kid (especially a boy) in the 60's Jonny Quest was about the coolest cartoon you'd ever seen. A heady mixture of James Bond, Republic Serials and sci/fi & monster movies all crammed into a half hour TV show. Created by comic artist Doug Widley it ran for only one season in 1964/65 (every episode ran over budget - hence cancellation), but it left an indelible wrinkle on millions of young brains. Quest stayed in syndication up until the early 70's until the watchdog group Action for Children's Television (ACT) had it cancelled because of onscreen death, violence, weaponry, monsters etc. - so you know it had to be great (and HEY !, I think those are the main reasons why we watched it !).
      The ongoing main plot concerned 11 year old Jonny Quest (voiced by Tim Matheson of Animal House fame) who father is famous U.S. government scientist Dr. Benton Quest. Although it was never specifically addressed it was implied that Jonny's mother died when he was young. To protect father & son from nasty foreign elements the government assigned bodyguard "Race" Bannon to protect them. This being the height of the cold war the villains that pop up in various episodes all speak with a heavy Russian accent or in the case of the one recurring bad guy Dr. Zinn , it’s the "Oriental peril" plot staple of the men's adventure magazines popular at the time. There's also Hadji (an Indian orphan adopted by Quest in one of the episodes) and Jonny's dog Bandit.

   Jonny Quest was unique in that it never talked down to its intended audience and manged to always mix in a bit of history, geography or science into each episode. The group jetted around the world to investigate weird happening & sightings while the plots mixed such things as Gothic horror, spy stuff, monsters, laser guns, giant robot spiders and even classic staples such as mummies and werewolves. In addition it had death in high doses - including (but not limited to) being eaten by alligators (and other creatures), guns, falling into chemicals and tar, plane crashes and a Quest favorite - getting blown into smithereens. Although it featured Hanna Barbara's "limited" animation style, thanks to Widley Jonny Quest has a real cinematic feel to it with dissolve shots, heavy use of shadows, close-ups and very effective use of music and sound effects along with some beautiful painted backgrounds.

   The Devil's Tower is one of the more memorable episodes as it concerns a Nazi war criminal in hiding, Neanderthal men, bi-planes, hand grenades and even a rope bridge. While using the bi-plane to chase an errant weather balloon which has drifted atop a huge plateau (it's never stated where the location is - maybe Africa or with a WWII German most likely South America), Dr. Quest and the group are captured by Nazi in hiding Klaus Von Duffle. Klaus is forcing some Neanderthal-like men (or "throwbacks" as Dr. Quest refers to them as) to mine diamonds which he has discovered. After commandeering the plane he attempts to kill the Quest gang by throwing hand grenades at them (while laughing maniacally) as they negotiate a narrow footpath and the classic rickety rope bridge. Of course this being Jonny Quest he has to die spectacularly - one of his hand grenades becomes lodged in the plane wing and he dies screaming as the plane is engulfed in flames and crashes (and of course blows up !).

   The entire show run is available on a DVD set - although it has had  some of the perceived un-PC dialogue such as "ignorant savages" edited out.

  The Race Bannon charactor was modeled after actor Jeff Chandler.

Dragnet

   With Shout ! Factory picking up the ball with the color run of Dragnet after Universal quit after the first season (Dragnet 1967), an unexpected bonus turned up in season two set - the 1966 pilot movie. When Webb revived the series in 1966 he hoped to get Ben Alexander back in the role of Frank Smith, but he was busy with a new ABC series Felony Squad. Webb then cast Harry Morgan in the role of Bill Gannon. In the pilot (not aired until 1969), Gannon is on his last day before retirement and Friday's rank is Lt. - not the familiar Sgt.  Perhaps Webb still hoped to get Ben Alexander back and just used Morgan as a fill in for the pilot, once the series was sold hopefully Frank Smith would be back.  The series was picked up and Harry Morgan was cast as Bill Gannon and Friday was back to a Sgt. The movie itself is based upon the real life case of serial killer Harvey Glatman ("The Lonely Hearts Killer") and some of Glatman's own statements to the police were used in script. 
    Although I grew up with the color Dragnet the original B&W series is really where it's at. Warner thru its MOD DVDr program on Amazon has released the original 1954 movie in all it's Warnercolor glory. A fascinating pre- Miranda rights procedural police movie, with Jack Webb's entire "stock company" from the TV series (many of whom would also appear later in the color Dragnet) including Virginia Gregg, Stacy Harris and Vic Perrin.  Also on board are Richard Boone, Ann Robinson and Dub Taylor (who gets blown away with a shotgun in opening scene).  Based upon the actual L.A. Police Intelligence Bureau who during the 1950's were responsible for fighting the war on organized crime in Los Angeles.
   The original B&W TV series still seems to be ignored by Universal - there are bunches of public domain DVD's out there with the same handful of shows.  I've bought a bunch of them and this one seems to be the best, with the most episodes and decent quality.

"Shotgun, extreme close range, double-O. Starkey was hit four times, first two cut him in half. "

"The second two turned him into a crowd."