NIGHTMARE BEACH

In the seaside town of Spring Break, summer seems not to want to be like all the other times; in fact, among the streets of the city, a mad serial killer roams around, disguised as a motorcyclist and with a particular interest in high tension, who enjoys killing young tourists looking for fun. The police are in the dark, but suspicions begin to fall on a local gang of motorcyclists whose leader, recently executed, swore revenge before dying. Produced for the foreign market, despite part of the technical crew being Italian, this mediocre film, little exciting and with quite dull tones, clearly seeks to plagiarize the teen slashers that were so widespread in America during the 1980s, often achieving satisfying success. With "Nightmare Beach" we are faced with a rather naive little film, burdened by deep flaws, that does not convince the viewer at all but that, despite everything, manages to entertain without too much difficulty. The direction of the film is entrusted to a veteran of Italian genre cinema, Umberto Lenzi (who for this film hides behind the pseudonym Harry Kirkpatrick), a director who in the past has managed to be appreciated and loved by genre lovers thanks to films like "Incubo sulla città contaminata", "Cannibal Ferox" or "Spasmo", but who gives us with "Nightmare Beach" one of his most unfortunate and disappointing horrors of his career. The film starts off on the wrong foot by choosing to address a very worn-out theme, exploited to the bone, and therefore unable to arouse particular interest in the viewer; but if the basic plot already seemed unenthusiastic, it must be said that no effort was made to make it interesting. On the contrary, every possible path was taken to ensure the film settled into total mediocrity. It starts with the figure of the killer, a pathetic individual dressed as a motorcyclist (with suit and helmet) who goes around killing people in the stupidest way possible: he enjoys frying people with a kind of electric chair incorporated into his motorcycle; thus, he does not even decide to satisfy horror or splatter fans who hope for the staging of murders leading to gore, because the film suffers from a total absence of blood. But it is not only in the figure of the killer and in his "strange" and unexciting way of killing that the major flaws are found, because, perhaps the most painful note, is that the film suffers from a monstrous predictability such that the viewer will be able to guess the killer's identity and motive from the first few minutes of the film. Negative note also for the characters, absolutely two-dimensional and stereotyped, and for the performances of most of the actors. But among the many forgettable faces that make up the cast, also stands a always competent John Saxon (not unfamiliar to genre lovers for having participated, among various interpretations, in the cast of "Nightmare on Elm Street" in the role of Nancy's father) and a likable Michael Parks, a fetish actor of the Tarantino/Rodriguez duo, who has played the unforgettable Sheriff Earl McGraw several times in the films "Dal Tramonto all'alba", "Kill Bill" and the recent "Grindhouse – A Proof of Death". Music by ex-Goblin Claudio Simonetti and special effects by the art sons Alex and Vittorio Rambaldi. In conclusion, this "Nightmare Beach" is a really minor film that, due to a total lack of originality, blends too much into the mix of 1980s slashers without standing out for any quality. If you are inclined to watch a film by Lenzi, look elsewhere. It entertains but nothing more. Rating rounded up.