My daughter had requested we watch The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Sadly, I don’t have this in our video collection, but, as luck would have it, Amazon Prime did have it for streaming video, and there was much rejoicing.
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is a departure from the rest of the AIP beach movies in that A) there isn’t a beach scene, B) no Frankie Avalon or Annette Funicello, and C) it is a horror/comedy. And, yeah, it did scare my daughter, but, hey, she’s not yet eight, so not a huge surprise.
The only real linkage between this movie and the other AIP beach movies that featured Annette and Frankie is the appearance of Eric von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and the Rat Pack. This gang of misfits on cycles is always welcome. Jesse White returns, reprising his role J. Sinister Hulk from Pajama Party.
The plot revolves around Hiram Stokely (Boris Karloff), who is recently dead and has to perform one good dead in order to get into Heaven. To help him accomplish this feat is the ghost of a long dead girlfriend, Cecily (Susan Hart), who is the Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Cecily’s task is to make sure that Stokely’s rightful heirs receive his fortune and not be cheated out of it by his lawyer, Reginald Ripper (Basil Rathbone). Ripper has hired J. sinister Hulk and his cronies to do away with the other heirs to Stokely’s fortune so he can keep it all for himself.
Good stuff – interesting plot the throws Lili (Deborah Walley) and Chuck (Tommy Kirk) together as a love interest, the Rat Pack with their antics, and Boris Karloff.
Weak points – the Indian in Hulk’s gang was NOT played by Buster Keaton. Not sure when this was being filmed, but it would have been right around the time that Keaton passed away. The editing is a bit choppy during the first third or so of the film, but evens out as it gets into the main part of the story line. Could have done without the Indian, Chicken Feather (Benny Rubin). In fact, would have been better if they had rewrote the role as something completely different instead of trying to build off of Keaton’s Chief Rotten Eagle from Pajama Party.
Overall a satisfying film, but not one of the better AIP beach movies. This I probably the only one of the Beach films I had never seen before. I had heard of it, but never seen it. Karloff is great in this film, as are the leads and most of the supporting cast. I am kind of sad to say that although it is not a bad film, it is not a great film. Still, if you like the AIP beach films, it is worth seeing.
