Sunset Cove was yet another for-hire gig for director Al Adamson. This time, producer Tony (The Toolbox Murders) DiDio tasked him with creating a teen comedy done in the Crown International mold. While I can’t call it one of Adamson’s best, fans of ‘70s nostalgia will enjoy it for the dated fashions, cheesy music, and forgotten trends.
A nerd pulls a prank on the principal on the last day of school. That gets him in good with the cool kids who let him cruise around with them in their van. When they aren’t challenging the local motorhead to drag races along the Strip, they are busy evading the local fat cop who can’t wait to bust the freewheeling teenagers. Their summer is potentially ruined when a real estate developer threatens to put up condominiums along the shoreline, and the teens must band together to save their beloved beach.
Sunset Cove presented Adamson another chance to collaborate with cinematographer Gary Graver, who once again delivers. His crisp photography coupled with the excellent transfer makes this one of the best-looking films on the Al Adamson Blu-Ray boxset. It also afforded him another opportunity to work with many players from Cinderella 2000, including Jay B. Larson, Erwin Fuller, Art Cacaro, and Sherri Coyle. The rest of his stock cast is largely absent, save for John Carradine who pops up at the eleventh hour as a lawyer who agrees to help the teens.
Like most late ‘70s, pre-Porky’s teen sex comedies, the whole thing is good-natured and innocent, especially compared to the stuff that would be released the next decade. It’s decidedly low-rent and no-frills, but it remains harmless, innocuous entertainment. Adamson’s style is a good fit for the loosey-goosey plot. In most of his films, the overreliance on subplots has a tendency to bog things down, but Sunset Cove’s rambling, episodic script allows him to pile on subplot after subplot without bringing the momentum to a complete halt. The movie only threatens to spin out of control by the time the big protest/rock concert rolls around. It’s here where things begin to peter out, but overall, it’s more consistent than many of Adamson’s films.
Adamson never met a trend he didn’t like. He crams a lot of stuff that the teens of the day could relate to. If you were young when the movie came out, you should have a fondness for all the detailed vans, Frisbee games, and hang-gliding sequences. If that sort of thing isn’t your bag, you can always sit back and enjoy the copious amounts of T & A.
AKA: School’s Out at Sunset Cove. AKA: Teenager Report.
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