I understand this movie is a part of the Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection, well I'm glad I found it on Tubi. The movie isn't anything great but it's an enjoyable low budget teen sex comedy. If you like these type of movies check it out.
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twonebody8 January 2021
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SilentOne9213 June 2020Sunset Cove is a low budget Teen Comedy from Al Adamson film from 1977-78 thought to be lost. Severin has found a great print which they released on Blu Ray in the Adamson "Masterpiece" collection. The film is a retread of the numerous teen comedies of that era. The plot revolves around a group of Teenagers trying to save the local beach from being bought out by shady businessmen who are going to redevelop the land into Condos. Outside of a quick cameo from John Carradine who Adamson used in most of his films, there is little if any name talent in this one. it has by the book nudity, humor and the typical stereotypical characters, (The mean pretty boy, the heavyset nerd, the bumbling cop who is embarrassed by the kids with make fun of him with one liners, etc). Little bit better than most Adamson films as this one is not spliced together from another film with some additional footage. worth a look for Adamson fans based on the great transfer
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Leofwine_draca17 December 2017SUNSET COVE is another of this cheap indie high school dramas that proliferated in the late 1970s, I suppose following on from the success of ANIMAL HOUSE. There's an attempt to build an energetic vibe here, but the efforts largely fall flat thanks to the below-par production values and listless scripting. I had no idea that it was made by Al Adamson, that legendary purveyor of cinematic trash, and sad to say it's one of his most boring movies. School's out and the beach beckons, but a bunch of teenagers have to band together to fight back against some ruthless property developers with designs on their patch of sand. You get muscle guys, fat nerds, John Carradine cameoing as a judge, a camper van sex scene with ample nudity, and the usual low rent shenanigans. There's a good sense of the era, and a bad sense of everything else.
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parkerr8630218 March 2006In his recent book, John Carradine:The Films, author Tom Weaver declared this film to be a lost film. Try as he could, he was unable to locate the film for viewing, as he tried to do with all of Carradine's films. Maybe it is lost today; if so, it's too bad. I have seen it---it aired a couple of times on Phoenix, Arizona TV in the early 1980s (admittedly, a long time ago). As far as bubble-headed beach movies go, it wasn't really that bad, and I would go so far as to say it was one of Al Adamson's better efforts. In his book, Tom Weaver also said there is confusion as to what kind of character John Carradine (cast as "Judge Winslow") played, since 1978 data on the film clearly indicated he did not play the presiding trial judge. On the outside chance that Weaver (or any friends of his) see my remarks here on IMDb, I would like to clear the matter up. My memory of the film is that John Carradine played a retired judge who gives the kids legal advice on how to go about saving their beach. Also, typical of the degrading level of the cameos the great Carradine was reduced to in his declining years, I remember the script called for other characters to refer to him as "senile". I have always been a Carradine fan, and if this truly is a lost film, I'm glad I was able to see it, even if it was long ago.
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Sorsimus11 October 2003A group of funloving teenagers spend their summer vacation saving their beach from builders.
Ample- bosomed teenager comedy with the works: vans, bikinis, parties, a nerd and a fatso. Pretty much includes what you'd expect from a low budget imitation of the more famous examples of the genre.
Nothing new, nothing surprising. Turkey- legend John Carradine appears in a tiny supporting role. Recommended for fans of the genre only.
Released on video in Finland in the early eighties. -
humplestump14 March 2024There's Trash and then there's trash. The slew of immobilizing chemicals in my brain at the time of viewing only served to bring the experience closer to masochistic torture as opposed to a lens into a fun beach romp. I've spent countless hours with 70's trash and this is one of few films that I've had to entertain as opposed to it entertaining me. Incredibly flimsy and out of touch writing, characters, plot, motivations at a Gruelling pace. I felt something near hatred for each character and for Sunset Cove as an entity. This movie came on autoplay some time after my initial viewing and I legitimately shouted "No!" and jumped up from my seat to shut it off. I had a nightmare one time wherein a goblin-type creature forced me through a black curtain in space and I would up in the opening scene of this movie, up in the sky SUNSET COVE mirrored in bright blue, that dreaded peppy music playing. I screamed NOOOOOO at the top of my lungs and tried to drown myself but found I had gills and was stuck inside of Sunset Cove forever. The 2 stars goes toward the beautiful HD restoration of this initially lost film (too bad they found it), and for the sheer audacity of director Al Adamson to put something like this out in the world.
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mikecanmaybee6 January 2022It was fun to watch a found lost film especially when it is directed by "B" movie royalty Al Adamson who has directed many enjoyable films. Sunset Cove's plot revolved around a bunch of high school kids attempting to stop an evil land developer (Dexter), played quite well by James B Martin, from building a Hotel on their beloved Sunset Beach. Hijinks ensue as the crazy kids attempt to blackmail (Mayor Nix) played with over the top camp by William Smidt. There is ample nudity although definitely nothing to write home about as the film rolls on to a happy conclusion.
One of the problems with the film is that there is not a solid actor among the kids who is a viable leading man as both Mark Flynn who does an adequate job playing the high school kid with a cool van (Bart) who incidentally doesn't look a day over 32, and Ray Andrews who plays the brains of the high school kids operation (Mike). He is lost in the film and is frankly terribly directed as the would be lovable nerd. Both Bart and Mike look like they have tooth picks for arms which doesn't stop wimpy Bart from getting tough when he has to, yeah right Bart. Mikes girlfriend (Joyce) Karen Fredrik is passable as the leading lady but really nothing great. Pretty Shirley Broger looks good and adds a little energy to the film playing Bart's girlfriend (Mimi). There is a third female amigo to Joyce and Mimi (Joanne) played by the aesthetically deficient Jane Ralston who kind of looks like a poor girls Squeeky Fromme.
The other major high school guy is the gangs frenamy (Moose) played stiffly by Bill Nuckols. This is where Al Adamson just dosn't seem to get it with Moose directing his two high school girlfriends (Bubles) Jenni Bardell and (Pig Iron) Sherri Coyle to have sex with any guy Moose finds favor with. The rest of the high school gang thinks that is just a hoot for some reason.
To sum it up, OK at best cinematography by the over rated IMHO Gary Graver, a terrible script , uneven acting and a substandard directing job by my buddy Al Adamson, Sorry Al. -
1977's "Sunset Cove" was a 70s update on the 'Beach Party' fad from huckster director Al Adamson, its working title "Save Our Beach" in place when shooting kicked off January 29. The expected hijinks include songs, dancing, swimming, eating, drinking, streaking, hangliding, shooting hoops, and making out in vans, pretty much made on the fly without benefit of script. The dimwitted cops trying in vain to corral such exuberant behavior was done better in "The Hollywood Knights," and just about any other raunchy comedy in the wake of "Porky's." About two reels in we find the nincompoop mayor literally making waves by proclaiming the beach front property as ideal for building condominiums, but nothing much happens until the last 7 minutes, when John Carradine as retired judge Harley Winslow convinces the court that the beach remain public as per the original county charter (just under 3 minutes screen time). As the last of his 7 collaborations with Adamson, it's easily the most innocuous and forgettable, and for the better part of three decades was believed to be a lost film before joining a comprehensive Blu-Ray release in 2020 covering the director's entire catalog.
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lazarillo2 November 2013This is one of the most obscure films of the late and not-so-great low-budget film director Al Adamson. At their best Adamson's films can be fun and moderately entertaining ("Satan's Sadists", "Nurse Sherri"), but at their worst they are unwatchable dreck that would probably violate the Geneva Convention if they were to force POWs to view them. This movie falls somewhere in between.
It's a very atypical Adamson film in that it rather than being a half-assed Western, blaxploitation flick, or incomprehensible monster mash-up, it is instead an even more low-budget version of the late 70's teen films churned out by companies like Crown Pictures and aimed squarely at the drive-in market (i.e. "The Pom Pom Girls", "The Van", "Malibu Beach"). The late 70's always seemed like a cool time to be a teenager and that really comes across in the aforementioned Crown movies or in stuff like "Jailbait Babysitter", but no so much here. Adamson is out of his element (although some might argue he had no element). He lacks even the meager budget of the average Crown picture. And instead of actors like Robert Carradine, Rainbeaux Smith, Susan Player, and Jennifer Ashley, he's saddled with complete unknowns with only a brief cameo by a decrepit John Carradine.
The plot involves s nerdy student who becomes part of the popular crowd after he pulls an end-of-the year prank on the principal. He and his new friends get involved in a campaign to save their local beach from greedy condo developers. There's the usual teen hijinks. There's a couple tricked-out vans. There's a healthy amount of "T", but a definite shortage of "A" (which certainly wouldn't have been the case if Suzie Player or Rainbeaux Smith had been in the cast).
I read a book once about Adamson. He seemed like a colorful characters and he and his group had a lot of fun making films. Watching some of them is a different story though. This would probably be marginally better with a better transfer and a legitimate release (it was a lost film for many years and the version I saw was very rough), but it's definitely not a lost classic.