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[tab title="Movie Review"]

Nightmare Beach

Dudes named Diablo don’t ever die.  And you probably shouldn’t fuck around with them either – especially when they, upon the eve of their death sentence being carried out, vow to return . . . to kill everyone who chooses Florida as their Spring Break getaway.

"it is all done with a cheesy grin on its face"


I suppose those are the initial lessens to be learned when vacationing on the wild shores of Nightmare Beach.  Now on blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber’s brand-new sparkling 4K transfer from the original camera negative, this gory bloodbath on the sandy shores of South Florida is ripe for rediscovery thanks to its nutty premise and its headbanging tunes.  The madman in the motorcycle helmet killing beautiful bikini-clad co-eds helps, too.

After gaining some momentum in the cult cinema circuit recently, Nightmare Beach is the place where the boys are idiots, the girls are as hot as the sun, and the killer is one demented son of a bitch.  It’s also pretty damn hilarious, too, thanks to some obnoxious acting and it’s self-aware swagger. 

Violent and completely off its rocker in “How ‘bout them gators?!” tone as it tries to one-up the American slasher with even more clichés than thought possible, Nightmare Beach (originally released as Welcome to Spring Break) stars Nicolas de Toth, Sarah Buxton, John (Cool as a Cucumber) Saxon, and Kill Bill's Michael Parks and splatters parts of partygoers all over its heavy metal soundtrack. {googleads}

And it is all done with a cheesy grin on its face.

Putting the pun in fun, this film operates as a horror film by way of supreme camp and cuts.  We’re talking boobs and blood here as screenwriter Harry Kirkpatrick (who also directed) tackles the fads and the fashions of the 1980s slasher films with even more stereotypes and familiar situations!  Woot woot! 

This ain’t Luke Bryan’s version of Spring Break either, so don’t arrive ready to party or you are likely to get your throat slashed and then possibly disemboweled right in front of your friends.  There aren’t any nice places here on the beach either.  Not in director Umberto Lenzi’s hands.  While the word is still out on whether or not he actually directed, he gets co-directed credits here and it matters, too.  Lenzi is, after all, the director responsible for the first Italian cannibal film, Man from the Deep River, which kicked off the cannibalism craze during the 70s and, as this film has some similarity to his classic Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, there’s a chance he was more influential on its production than is credited for. Nightmare Beach

Too bad for this Florida town!  No amount of sun and fun is going to shed the pitch-black leather of this helmet-wearing killer as he takes out one drunk and stoned teen after another.  Nightmare Beach is alive and well once again thanks to Kino Lorber!

4/5 beers

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Nightmare Beach

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Kino Lorber
Available on Blu-ray
- October 8, 2019
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Kino Lorber offers Nightmare Beach on blu-ray thanks to their newly scanned & restored 4k transfer from its 35mm original camera negative.  This release features a number of new supplemental items, including a brand new commentary.

Video:

Clocking in at a brisk 91-minutes, Nightmare Beach is a wild film that looks absolutely grand on blu-ray.  The details in beach locations are bright and strong and so too are the details in the fibers of the clothing and the primped-up late 1980s hairdos.  Framed in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the transfer here is amazingly detailed and popping with strong colors.  The gore is quite good and sticky and so too are some of the laser-brained effects as the filmmakers throw everything at us in the finale.  There are strong black levels throughout.

Audio:

  • The DTS-HD Master Audio track is a good one, making even the crackling on bonfires expressive and haunting.  The growls!  The grunts!  Everything is crisp and clear in the center speakers.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • Fans get a fun and informative commentary from film historian Samm Deighan.

Special Features:

There aren’t a lot, but that’s probably because we don’t really need a lot of supplementals for this feature.

  • Audio Commentary by Film Historian Samm Deighan
  • Nightmare Rock: Interview with Composer Claudio Simonetti
  • Includes both English and Italian Audio
  • Reversible Art
  • Theatrical Trailer

Blu-ray Rating:

  Movie 4/5 stars
  Video  4/5 stars
  Audio 4/5 stars
  Extras 2/5 stars

Overall Blu-ray Experience

3.5/5 stars

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[tab title="Film Details"]

Nightmare Beach

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
90 mins
Director
: Umberto Lenzi
Writer:
Umberto Lenzi
Cast:
Nicolas De Toth, Sarah Buxton, Rawley Valverde
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
A film by Umberto Lenzi.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor:
Artisan Entertainment
Official Site:
Release Date:

DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
October 8, 2019
Synopsis: A shockingly gory tale of a madman in a motorcycle helmet who is taking out young co-eds all over the sparkling sands of South Florida during Spring Break. As the body count creeps up, Miami detective John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Black Christmas, Evil Eye) tries to keep ahead of the curve in this carnage-packed slasher gem from the maestro of macabre.

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[tab title="Art"]

Nightmare Beach

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