Updated Nov. 1, 2013
RECAP: See photos from Hulaween 2013
*** Friday, Oct. 25 – Hulaween 2013: The Horror of Party Beach featuring Skinny Jimmy & the Stingrays at The Mai-Kai, 3599 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale. (954) 563-3272. Free admission. Valet and paid self-parking. Happy hour 5 to 7 p.m. Live music and costume contest in The Molokai bar, 7 p.m.-midnight. [MaiKai.com | Facebook event]
* Event history: Oct. 25 marks five years of frightening fun at Mai-Kai’s Hulaween party
* Full preview: Beware the ‘Horror of Party Beach’ at The Mai-Kai’s Hulaween
The fifth annual Hulaween at The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale will feature a lot of classic elements, from the surf music of Skinny Jimmy & the Stingrays to the cocktails, food and decor at the 56-year-old Polynesian palace. One additional classic element for 2013 is a theme centered around a classically bad B-movie.
The Horror of Party Beach is a 1964 horror film intended to be “a take-off on beach parties and musicals.” What it ended up being is one of the 10 worst films of all time, according to The Book of Lists. It was also among the films in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.
Shot in black & white on a miniscule budget in Connecticut, the film stars laughable creatures that are said to be derived from water plants and dead human tissue mutated from radioactive waste. The monsters become humanoid by attaching themselves to skeletons in a shipwreck, then proceed to hunt down and kill a series of comely young women. The official trailer:
When bad movies came into vogue for their camp value, The Horror of Party Beach was an instant headliner attraction. Director John Landis extols the schlock value of the film in a Trailers From Hell video.
The movie was also perfect fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000, which featured it during season 8 in 1997:
Billed as “the first horror monster musical,” the film includes performances by The Del-Aires, a surf/garage group from New Jersey who play themselves as a local band. The band performed throughout the Northeast in the early ’60s until they split up shortly after the movie was released, but can you blame them?
Among the six songs they perform in The Horror of Party Beach are Zombie Stomp and Wigglin’ Wobblin (see below), a band original.
Former Del-Aires Ronnie Linares and Bobby Osborne reportedly still play together in Bonita Springs, Fla. The movie even inspired a punk song by the same name by Indiana’s Sloppy Seconds in 1989.
For Hulaween, The Mai-Kai will be rockin’ with the vintage sounds of South Florida’s Skinny Jimmy & the Stingrays, who will bring the required 1960s garage-surf vibe to the party. Here’s a clip from the band’s performance opening for Dick Dale in Miami on April 25:
Skinny Jimmy & the Stingrays: Facebook page | Reverb Nation | YouTube
Between sets, listen for classic surf, garage, Halloween and other retro party music programmed by The Atomic Grog. The fun kicks off at 5 p.m. with The Mai-Kai’s legendary happy hour, running until 7 p.m. The band blasts into its first of three sets shortly after 7, and look for the costume contest (with special prizes) around 10.
There will be free samples from sponsor Captain Morgan, plus two of The Mai-Kai’s most deadly exotic concoctions – the Jet Pilot and Shark Bite – will be half-priced all night.
The Mai-Kai is at 3599 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale, on the west side between Commercial and Oakland Park boulevards. Call (954) 563-3272 for more information or to make dinner reservations.
Online: Official website | Facebook page
Related coverage on The Atomic Grog
* Event history: Oct. 25 marks five years of frightening fun at The Mai-Kai’s Hulaween
* 2013 Preview: Beware the ‘Horror of Party Beach’ at The Mai-Kai’s Hulaween
* 2012 recap, photos: Hulaween was hoppin’ all night at The Mai-Kai
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