Year: 1966
Director: Don Weis
Country: US
Language: English
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is the last film of AIP's "Beach Party" series. At this point the Beach Party formula was getting pretty stale, and they had lost the stars of the previous films, Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, so the producers decided to shake things up by changing locations from the beach to a haunted house. The end result is a horror/musical/comedy that is...somewhat entertaining?
Hiram Stokley is a recently deceased corpse who learns that he has 24 hours to mastermind and perform one good deed in order to get into Heaven. Something, something, something beach party! (the plot is illogical, just go with it)
The best elements of this film are the sets. AIP was also producing a series of Edgar Allan Poe movies at the same time, and was able to reuse some of the same spooky sets for this film. They even borrowed footage from a horror film to add to a tense yet somehow also comedic atmosphere. Adding to the horror hype is Boris Karloff, now an elderly man who...(sigh) is playing the corpse.
The film is peppered with lame musical numbers from Nancy Sinatra, The Bobby Fuller Four, Picolla Pupa, and Quinn O'Hara. Yeah 60's Nancy Sinatra was great, but unfortunately she ain't playing "These Boots are Made For Walking". The script is disjointed and the pacing seems slightly off. They tried to make the best of comedy and the best of horror, which unfortunately made for a disapointing mix despite some entertaining moments.
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini defintitley has sex appeal, oh yeah! Also a gorilla? Wait, what!? Well it's a silly 60's teen picture that plays like a dumbed down version of The Monkees. It has no wit or substance, but if you're looking for an escape from thinking then this is the picture for you!
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