Eric Stevenson It's nice to understand what makes something truly dated. It's so easy to tell that this was made in the 1960's, heck even in exactly 1960. The film's main flaw is that the characters are themselves very unlikeable. There's this one guy who keeps imitating what other people say and it's apparently some lame attempt at comedy. The plot is just that this guy wants to be a singer. Oh, and some people get shot as well. It seems like this was a thing back then. You just had a bunch of boring stuff show up and then tie in some random violence. 90% of the characters in this were completely pointless.The biggest flaw is how unmemorable everything is. I can barely even remember any plot points or dialogue. I wish this had more than 1,000 votes. Then it could be featured on the IMDb Bottom 100. It's hard to pay attention to what's going on and everything is just so dull you don't care in the least. The pacing is very poorly done with pointless scenes stretched out. This is seriously one of the worst films ever made. 1/2

bletcherstonerson If you can only see one movie in your life, IE, you live in the Amazon and are a forgotten indigenous tribal member and you stumble upon a plane wreck where in lies a laptop fully charged, wish upon a star, pray to your god of the oak moss that is used in owaska tea that this is the movie you find inside it. This film is so brilliant that when viewed it is like seeing burning magnesium without protective glasses. it will leave you with an indelible print allowing you to see nothing else the rest of your life. With the amazing Karen Kadler as the female lead, you will think of nothing but the wonderment of seeing her in a state of undress. The story is of Eddy, a singer so talented that the Sirens that sang to Odysseus are jealous of his velvety smooth arias that are the purest form of aphrodisiac. He and his chums are on pilgrimage of spiritual enlightenment, seeking nothing ...but "kicks" , aka..good times, tomorrow's fondest memories of the past.They settle in at a Diner and decide "this..is where it's at. " The dark side is not Peter Brecks affinity for violence but that a strange group of men named "squares" are coming for them to take them away to "Squaresville". Eddy succumbs to the strange men named " Squares" and sings for them. His close brothers, the defenders of the faith of "Kicks". Are worried for Eddy's transformation into the " Square Society". A secular society deemed to be uncool. Pete and his fellow pilgrims rush to stop the horrific metamorphosis known only as " maturation" to devastating results so grim that this viewer was aghast! You too will watch in horror as the future that unfolds was not the one that was planned, see...the jukebox play the same song over again in a state of consistent déjà Vu.See the T birds fight for the inalienable rights for Kicks, and see Eddy, god of crooners with a power no mortal man should possess, the voice of Midas brainwash record execs into believing he has talent. You shan't soon forget this visual trip of existential wonder as the Animus is destroyed and the monadic essence is released into " The Beatniks". Not to be confused with the violent blood soaked exploitation movie "The Boatniks" which starred Buddy Hackett.

LCShackley I watched this movie because of my interest in voice actor Paul Frees, who wrote and directed "The Beatniks." He also wrote the lyrics to all the songs in the picture, with music by Eddie Brandt (who had worked with Spike Jones). In the Frees biography, his ex-wife (who stars in it) warns readers NOT to bother watching it because it's AWFUL. She claims that Frees knew nothing about directing, and that the photography and sound were also terrible. And she was right: this movie is a stinker, loaded with clichés about teenage troublemakers and also the entertainment industry of the 50s. It never really getting off the ground, leaving in the "deep Frees."

Chrissie First, a caveat: There are no actual beatniks in this film. Nary a beret or black turtleneck or bongo to be seen. As for the movie itself, to steal a line from Roger Ebert, "The Beatniks" is transcendently bad. It soars above ordinary badness as the eagle soars above the mosquito.The plot is a common one of the era: kid from the wrong side of the tracks is spotted by a talent agent, but alas, his crazy friends ruin it all for him. To call the characters two-dimensional is an insult to planar surfaces. To call the plot threadbare is an insult to rags. To call ... Oh, never mind. You get the idea.The entire production screams, "high school drama club project," though the actors playing the teens are a bit long in the tooth for the youth set, dig it? MST3000 had great fun with it, though, and thus it's worth a watch.