Friday, February 2, 2007

Monster at Camp Sunshine (1964)

A model and a nurse are matched up by a roommate service, and discover that they both smoke and one is a nudist. The nurse tells the model all about her friend who owns a nudist camp and how relaxing it is to go there. As the model has just been asked to model a topless bathing suit, she agrees to head out to the camp to help rid her inhibitions.

Much of the film has olde tyme music that really doesn't fit the 60s nudist ideal. The 1920s flapper music gets in your head and won't get out. And you haven't lived until you've heard Way Down Upon the Swanee River played as a conversion van full of nudists sets up for their barbeque. Also I must mention that the sound is dubbed, and very badly at that. One girl even seems to be dubbed by two different people!

There isn't all that much talking since nudity is the point. Mostly there are narrative remarks from the model, and music montages of women and a man being modestly nude. The gang goes out of their way to avoid showing any full frontal nudity, and are quite adept at using books, towels, and even a zither(!?!) to cover their nether regions.

Oh yes, it must be mentioned that the doctor who works with the nurse has a potion that turns rats into killers. He disposes of the formula in a mason jar, which is reeled in by a local fisherman, who in turn spills it in the creek running alongside the nudist colony. The mentally deficient brother of the camp owner drinks from the creek, ingests the chemicals, and becomes an axe wielding monster.

You probably won't see anything like this again. So it's got that going for it.

No comments: