Villain(s)  Seaweed creature

Actor(s):  Jon Hall, Sue Casey, Arnold Lessing, Elaine DuPont

Brief Description  The Beach Girls and the Monster is a low-budget horror beach party film directed by and starring former Universal star Jon Hall. It mixes 1960s surf culture, go-go dancing, and a rubber-suited sea creature that attacks teenagers along the California coast. Also released under the alternative title Monster from the Surf.

Plot:
Young Richard Lindsay (Arnold Lessing) abandons his scientific pursuits to live a carefree life of surfing and partying on the California coast. This infuriates his father, distinguished oceanographer Dr. Otto Lindsay (Jon Hall), who despises the local beach youth. A seaweed-draped, rubber-suited sea creature emerges from the ocean to brutally slaughter bikini-clad girls and surfers on the beach. Dr. Otto Lindsay becomes convinced the killer is a mutated, carnivorous South American "fantigua fish" capable of walking on land. Meanwhile, Richard and his friends suspect a human madman with a personal grudge is behind the attacks.

As the body count rises, the dead begin to include Richard's surfing peers, his flirtatious stepmother Vicky (Sue Casey), and his crippled friend Mark (Walker Edmiston). The film is famous for awkwardly combining a tense, dysfunctional family melodrama with extended, plot-stalling go-go dancing sequences performed by dancers from the famous Sunset Strip club Whiskey a Go Go. It features bizarre side-acts, including a performance involving a ventriloquist and a lion puppet named Kingsley. Regarded as a quintessential "so bad it's good" drive-in artifact, it is celebrated by B-movie enthusiasts for its cheesy monster suit, catchy surf-rock instrumentals, and campy execution.