TEENAGE MONSTER (1957)

TEENAGE MONSTER (1957)

Tagline: A teenage titan of terror on a lustful binge that paralyzed a town with fear!

(Horror, Sci-Fi, Movies With Titles That Don’t Make Any Sense) [PG]

Note: This movie wasn’t given an MPAA rating, but I would say it falls into the category of PG. The content is pretty serious and murder-laced. Also, the 1995 uncut version was given a PG rating. This movie was originally going to be called "METEOR MONSTER" and should have been, but movies with the word “TEENAGE” in them were becoming popular at the time, so there you have it…a really stupid movie title. 

In this one we are taken back to the 1800s and a father, mother and son are looking to strike it rich in a mine they have been working for years. One day a meteor lands killing the father Charles Cannon but leaves the son alive but with an affliction. The mother continues to take care of the son but becomes aware that he occasionally sneaks out of the house and kills people. Things get even more complicated when the boy (who is now a werewolf-looking monster) brings a young woman into the house against her will. 

First off, this movie is pretty damn tragic. Just the intro I gave probably already tells you this is going to go well. Having said that, none of this movie goes quite as expected and for a 50s movie has some pretty crazy twists. The setting is the old west, so I guess if just having a meteor land makes something sci-fi then this qualifies as sci-fi. It might sound like there are not very many westerns that cross over into other genres but the list is quite extensive even going back to the 1930s with “THE PHANTOM EMPIRE”. In the 50s we had THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN and CURSE OF THE UNDEAD then even more in the 60s and so on. 

What stands out most about this movie is that the acting is categorically terrible. I mean, there is just no way around it. If anyone was putting in an effort it was Gloria Castillo who plays Kathy North. Kathy plays a very duplicitous character and does a good job in that effort, but that isn’t to say she would win any acting awards for this one. She was also decent in INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN but didn’t have to carry as much of the plot load. Stuart Wade is also fine as Sheriff Bob Lehman, but even his performance doesn’t help this movie much in the acting department. Lehman is famous for MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR. Anne Gwynne plays Ruth Cannon and her acting is off and on in this. Zero consistency at all and her emotions don’t seem to match any of the scenes. This is probably more on the director than it was on her though. She was quite a bit better in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Incidentally in this movie as a mother she loves her monster son knowing he kills people. The same thing happens in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN when she falls in love with the “Wolfman”. 

Even though this movie is a downer, it’s actually pretty interesting and I don’t know if the plot is what I would call “bad”. I think there is just enough here to make this thing watchable, but I don’t see myself checking it again anytime soon. I still have to give it a 3 out of 7 though because of some of the creative choices and horrendous execution. It also doesn’t help when your scary monster is supposed to be a teenager but looks like a middle-aged Bob Ross after blowdrying his hair.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF GRAMERCY PICTURES (II) AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.