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.

merrywater I tend to adore the ABC movies of the week: to me they represent the originality of plots back then. Pictures nowadays seldom come up with something new. Horror pictures always deal with haunted houses and dead kids. Or else they're Japanese rip-offs.This movie can boast of having a two-faced atmosphere: summer vacation leisure mixed with insidious peril.A middle-class family goes on a camping trip, and repeatedly become the victims of an eerie hippie gang's pranks. The pranks keep getting more and more physical until they reach the level of attempted murder.Dennis Weaver was perhaps type-casted as the upright, rather naive family man that believes that if you don't react on bad changes, they'll conveniently disappear clear out of sight. Nevertheless, he was an excellent actor, and this picture offers quite a number of interesting twists. A hilarious scene is when the family hears a cry further down the beach, and Weaver gets the sight of a body in the water. When he's ran out to it, he founds out that it's actually an inflatable sex doll dressed in his daughters underwear!

Toronto85 A family experiences 'Terror on the Beach' when a group of youngsters attacks them on their vacation. Basically we are introduced to the Gwynn family who are your typical American family. They have their arguments, but overall love each other greatly. They begin to be targeted by a group of young people. The gang runs them off the road at one point, tricks them into thinking their car is broken down, goes to their camp and takes some of their stuff, etc. It escalates quickly and it's obvious that the family are in real danger of being physically hurt. That's when they must come together and fight back against the gang who believe they own the beach.'Terror on the Beach' feels a bit like 'National Lampoon's Vacation' meets 'The Hill Have Eyes' meets 'Duel'. We have the family who are in the family van going on a trip. When they get to the beach area, they are stalked and watched by members of the gang. The gang also tries to drive them off the road at times... so it has the feel of a bunch of different films. The acting was good enough, especially from Parsons and Weaver, But 'Terror on the Beach' failed to do what a lot of the other ABC movie of the week films did. It lacked great suspense or high drama. This one had it's moments, but at the end of the day is your pretty average made for TV movie.It has some good moments, particularly towards the end when the family finally fights back against the gang. There are some great beach location shots to go with it. I'd probably recommend catching this online if you are interested in 70's television movies, but it is one of the more slower moving one's from that time.5/10

bob_meg I wouldn't say this is even remotely in the league of really great '70s TV movies like "Duel," "Bad Ronald," "Dying Room Only," "Savages," "The Girl Most Likely To...." et al, BUT, that said, it's still a bit more original than the usual made for TV pablum.There are a lot of movies that features gangs of unruly punks waging war on middle-class values but most of them have somewhat of a plot that buoys the movie along. This one doesn't...the hoods harass, annoy, and generally terrorize the family for absolutely no reason all the way through. I think it adds to the tension.When this was released, I guess I was about 10, and at that time, I found it pretty disturbing. Years later, it's a bit dumb, but the weird blow-up doll on the beach, and the animal noises emanating from speakers hidden deep within the family's RV had a perverse touch of sadism that was creative and a bit chilling.Unfortunately, the evil-hippie gimmick, replete with dune buggies, completely diffuses any tension that's been stored...I think I even found it retarded back then.This one's strictly a curiosity, for those who remember when TV movies had some originality and substance.