Mr Harrison is the manager of the Beach Hotel on an island off the coast of Wales and he has bad news for his staff, but he's reluctant to let anyone in on the information except the receptionist, Carol. What is about to happen is that a representative from a chain of hotels is planning to buy the Beach Hotel and they have a reputation of sacking all the local staff and bringing in their own people, but when Harrison tells Carol this, he doesn't realise there's an eavesdropper in the vicinity who will inform the workers of the situation. But that will soon be the least of their problems.
With a title like Last Day at the Beach you might be expecting a wintry relationship drama about a married couple preparing for divorce with one last seaside outing, or similar. What this actually looks like is an episode of Crossroads that descends into mayhem in the closing fifteen minutes, as it's an amateur film shot on video and scripted by its director Brian Davies, and as stiffly acted as you might expect.
However, you don't watch amateur horror films for Robert De Niro versus Al Pacino style sparring, and you'll be relieved to know that there's nothing of that weight here, just awkwardly presented conversations designed to get that plot motoring along. Davies quickly introduces his characters, or should I say victims, with the eavesdropping caretaker, the barman (an unlikely Casanova) and two chambermaids who are vying for his romantic attentions. All of them are dismayed they may soon be losing their jobs.
And the hotel chain representative turns out to be an obnoxious fellow who is less than impressed with what he sees. If you're intently following the drama, then you may be disappointed to see a murderous psychopath arrive after about twenty minutes, his presence foreshadowed by a newspaper headline (the newspaper also reports the hotel takeover - news travels fast). This heralds the short film's only ambition, to kill off the staff as bloodily as possible via the hands of the killer, who has a real knack of creeping up on people, with more than one victim not noticing him standing three feet away from them.
If it's gore you want, then your patience will be rewarded, although the mundanity of the long introduction defuses any tension and prompts you to wonder why they included it as it has almost nothing to do with the killings. You won't be particularly bothered to see the characters meet their maker, as you never really believe in the reality of the situation anyway, and the only moment of unpleasant inspiration, with the killer deliberately vomiting on someone, is more likely to elicit laughter. In fact, the whole thing has the unintentional tone of an episode of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and that camp appeal should satisfy the no budget horror fans. Music by Colin Hives.
[The good value DVD includes a selection of outtakes.]
