Wuchak RELEASED TO TV IN 1973 and directed by Paul Wendkos, "Terror on the Beach" stars Dennis Weaver & Estelle Parsons as a couple and their two college-age kids (Susan Dey and Kristoffer Tabori) who take a camping trip to a beach a few hours north of Los Angeles where they're terrorized by a group of hippies (Scott Hylands, Michael Christian, Henry Olek, etc.). Will they make it out?This movie effectively takes advantage of the subdued paranoia traditional folks developed toward hippies after the Manson murders put the kibosh on the 'peace & love' counter-culture movement. Hippies were never viewed the same after the horrific Tate murders of August 8, 1969. The drug-addled Woodstock took place just days later and it was indeed 'three days of peace & music,' but The Altamont Speedway Free Festival in early December (less than four months later) put the kibosh on the hippies' idealism forever. It's a shame too, as they had a hold of something real underneath their drug-obsessed fog (not that all hippies were druggies, not at all, but it seemed to be the norm).Despite being a TV production, "Terror on the Beach" is a serious look at the average nuclear family of 1972 (when the picture was shot) pitted against a small group of hippies on the beaches of Central California. The score is cogently eerie and off-kilter and the hippies are portrayed in a questionable light with a mocking, mischievous manner, but not over-the-top.This is a limited-environment flick, akin to "Prey" (2007) and "Wind Chill" (2007), where the events take place in a fairly one-dimensional setting. The main downside is the stupid reactions of the family in response to the malevolent shenanigans of the hippies. For instance, after the hippies harass the family by yelling out from the dunes at night, they obviously needed to take turns standing guard. But, no, they all just go to sleep. Seriously? If you can roll with this flaw (which can be defended on the grounds of the family' naïveté) it's a worthwhile TV movie similar to the Outlaw biker films that were popular from 1966-1973 and on par or superior to most.THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 13.5 minutes and was shot at Pismo Beach, a 3-hour drive north of Los Angeles. WRITER: Bill Svanoe.GRADE: B-/C+INSIGHTS ***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read further until you see the movie).It has been criticized that it was unlikely that the other hippies would just stand around watching the fight between the father and the lead hippie at the end. But I found it believable because they were all still young and were disillusioned with the direction their leader, Jerry, was taking them. Frank, the captured hippie, said they were supposed to be an alternative family, but Jerry basically ruined it with his dubious Manson-ish leadership wherein he was increasingly turning the group into thugs to survive without getting a job. Plus, with the possible exception of David, I think they all felt bad about how they were treating an innocent and loving family. This can be observed in Frank after DeeDee (Dey) selflessly tends to his forehead wound.

StuOz An all American family of the early 1970s runs into problems when young thugs appear.Not a lot of terror here, maybe "Disaster On The Beach" would have been a better title. Young people might struggle with this flick as it is not the sort of movie we see today. So if you are expecting strong violence, swearing, rape and drug taking: you will not get it here!I am a middle aged male who totally enjoyed enjoyed Terror On The Beach. However, I admit there was one scene where I was expecting a rape or even a sexual advance from the thugs (to an attractive girl in swimming cloths), but got nothing?? What was that all about?? Were the thugs gay or something?Also, at times the musical score sounds like it belongs in a 1960s sci-fi TV series, rather than a movie like this.But the flick held me from beginning to end and it was perfectly casted.

Coventry "Terror on the Beach" is a tense and relatively gripping ABC Movie of the week, starring yet again Dennis Weaver in the role of anxious father and husband of a continuously bickering household. All he ever wanted was to take his family on a camping trip to a secluded beach, but the trip inevitably turns into a nightmarish ordeal. Apart from the typical complications that probably all American model families have to struggle through (like the kid rebelling against their parents and such) there's the slightly more disturbing situation of a gang of youthful hoodlums with beach buggies terrorizing the living daylights out of them. Inventively cashing in on the contemporary Charles Manson hype, the thugs are hippies that petrify the Glynn family for no reason than to get kicks. There isn't any real violence in "Terror on the Beach", obviously, as this was a made-for-TV production, but there's nevertheless an admirable atmosphere of suspense and dread. However, you can't really sympathize with the lead characters in peril, especially not father Neil, as they shallowly ignored multiple clear signals of dangers and didn't alter their holiday destination when they still could. Tension highlights include the women's confrontation with two male thugs at the camper whilst the men are gone fishing or when daddy rescues a drowning mannequin doll from the ocean. There's also a very nifty sequence where the hoodlums are terrorizing the family with recordings of their very own nightly conversations. Nowadays, movies with a simple but creepily effective concept like this are called "Eden Lake" or "The Strangers" and they all feature extreme bits of violence, torture and cruelty. Here in this case, there's only the suggestion of cruelty and a lot of tension building, but it works equally effective – if not more effective. The hippies don't even attempt to rape the attractive teenage daughter in spite of her parading around on the beach in a tiny bikini. Instead they prefer circling around the camp site in their buggies and trip over the caravan. That's really bad-ass, guys. The climax sequences are disappointing, with a few moralizing twists and a lame and pathetically blood-free fight in the thugs' camp. TV- production restrictions, I suppose

warrior1967 I first saw this film when I was around 13 years old and I STILL love it today. Yes, it is slow in some spots but its a great film nonetheless. I am a FIRM believer that Wes Craven was inspired by this film when he wrote The Hills Have Eyes, even though he may not admit it.