I'm just a few years younger than the original intended audience for the Frankie and Annette movies, but I have always been amused by them. However, as others have said, this is easily the weakest of them all. The biggest problem is that it spends far too much time focused on peripheral characters and events that have nothing to do with the beach or even Frankie and the gang. Instead we get long stretches of Don Rickles and his crew of shirtless body builders just acting stupid. Evidently someone in charge either meant to pander to the gay audience (in 1964?) or thought that teen girls would be fascinated by all that oiled, tanned, rippling maleness. However, this element was mostly just weird.Perhaps even weirder was the duo of Luciana Paluzzi and Buddy Hackett as a young, widowed Italian countess and her major domo, or whatever Hackett is supposed to be. There's nothing wrong with their performances when considered in isolation (indeed, it's perhaps the most restrained performance of Hackett's career). It's just that neither has any business in this movie. Besides, Lucianna's role as a sexual predator who is looking to recruit new boy toys seems really odd in a series that is mostly as chaste as driven snow. However, this movie had a number of more adult-themed moments, not least of which was Annette's extended session rubbing suntan oil on Frankie's back, which is far more sensuous than one might expect here, especially if you turn off the sound.Probably the best example of everything wrong with this movie can be seen in the multiple scenes of dialogue between Hackett and Rickles. Here you had two of the most iconic stand-up comics of the era, both famous for their improvisational skills and well known for their particular individual schticks. Indeed, we might have expected these two to go to war, each trying to one-up the other with insults and outrageous energy. Instead, they stick to a dull, unimaginative script that made no effort to play to either man's strengths. Indeed, you could just as easily have put Fred McMurray and Vincent Price in those scenes with the same effect -- boring.Of course, music is usually at the center of these films, and this one offered several numbers. But like everything else, they were flat (with the notable exception of 12 year-old Stevie Wonder's appearance). Annette sings one of the worst songs I've ever heard (although I could see her styling as the inspiration for David Lynch's favorite crooner Julie Cruz and her weird warblings), and Frankie later echoes it with only slightly better results. Then Dick Dale and The Del Tones appear, and Dale proves to be even more tone deaf than Funicello. The band was okay, but its eponymous front man was incredibly bad.So, more bikinis, more surfers, and maybe even Eric Von Zipper would have vastly improved this entry in the venerable AIP series. Like the melody of Annette's song, the movie just wandered around without anything anchoring its center or guiding it in a coherent direction. For some reason, this one was just released on Blu-Ray. Hopefully Beach Blanket Bingo or Bikini Beach will also appear to remind viewers of how much fun this series could be.

"Frankie" (Frankie Avalon), "Dee Dee" (Annette Funicello") and the other characters who make up the surfer gang are back in this sequel to "Beach Party". Sharing the beach is a group of bodybuilders led by their trainer, "Jack Fanny" (Don Rickles) who has little regard for those who aren't part of his team. Also interested in a particular bodybuilder is an extremely rich and beautiful countess by the name of "Julie" (Luciana Paluzzi) who wants "Mr. Galaxy" (Peter Lupus) for her very own. Yet, just when she manages to buy the entire bodybuilding team she just happens to hear Frankie sing and everything suddenly changes as she quickly forgets all about Mr. Galaxy and falls madly in love with Frankie instead. But before Julie can get Frankie she has to first contend with Dee Dee. At any rate, rather than reveal any more of the story I will just say that this particular movie wasn't nearly as good as "Beach Party". For starters, other than the performances of Frankie, Annette, Luciana and possibly Buddie Hackett (as Julie's manager, "S.Z. Matts") there really wasn't anything that remarkable about this film. Clearly, the inordinate amount of time spent on "Candy" (Candy Johnson) didn't help in that regard as she didn't add anything new or different than her previous appearance. Personally, I would have preferred to have seen a bit more of Valera Noland (as "Animal") or a couple of other attractive ladies. But that's just my opinion. In any case, I rate the movie as slightly below average.

Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello witness the invasion of their beach - by a troupe of "Muscle Men" being trained by Don Rickles (as Jack Fanny). Buddy Hackett (as S. Z. Matts) wants "Muscle Man" Peter Lupus (using the name Rock Stevens) for his wealthy client Luciana Paluzzi (as Judy), but she gets a hankerin' for Frankie...The soundtrack songs are a highlight, appropriately sounding like Brian Wilson's Beach Boys; moreover, Frankie and Annette are joined by Dick Dale and Stevie Wonder. Morey Amsterdam should have been retained as a series regular. The Eric Von Zipper motorcycle gang is missing. The regular players are still fresh, but the elements are not up to par, relatively speaking. It's a fair "Beach Party" film; obviously, it's not as good as the first. *** Muscle Beach Party (3/25/64) William Asher ~ Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Don Rickles

This has to be the weakest entry in the entire series. Even though the muscle heads make great adversaries for our favorite beach bums they aren't as interesting as Eric Von Zipper and his gang, the Rats. The main story has been done a thousand times in many other pictures. Also, the music in this film isn't as good as it was. Dick Dale's scenes are a waste and the rest of the songs are just filler. One saving grace for this film is Don Rickles.He really is the one saving grace of this film. To me the next two films in the series, "Bikini Beach" and "Beach Blanket Bingo", were much better than this one. However, this film isn't as bad as the final Avalon/Funicello film in the series, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini".