Teenage Caveman

'Teenage Cave Man' is officially declared as 'one of the worst movies ever made'. Even Roger Corman himself has famously said, "I never directed a film called Teenage Cave Man". And Teenage Cave Man Robert Vaughn himself stated that he considers it worst film ever made. But that ending - even 'The King of All Twist Endings' Mr. M. Night Shyamalan himself couldn't come up with such a devilish one.

Well, don't let yourself fooled by all the criticism and bad publicity. The film is silly and it looks cheap (fake fins on the back of baby alligator to make it look like prehistoric monster). Cavemen are hunky young dudes with haircuts by the latest '50s trends. Drawn out dialogue and overacting that sometimes hilariously falls into (pseudo)Shakespearian territories, make the film somewhat unwatchable at parts, but bare to the end - you will be rewarded. I wonder how this film would have come out with proper budget and with more work on the screenplay. The themes Corman played with 'Teenage Cave Man' are actually pretty intriguing (following some abstract rule with no explanation, standing by the dogmas, hunger for power, should father be punished for the crimes of his son - yes, it sounds like quite messy soap opera, but like I said - well developed screenplay). In 2002, Larry Clarke directed a film with same title and loosely based its premise on Corman's film, but never fully used the potential of the material in hand, but the original 'Teenage Cave Man' is worthy enough to give it a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised. Or, if you won't then you have witnessed one of the most awful pieces of cinema ever made. 3/10

Made in the 50s to cash in on the unexpected success of the "I Was a Teenage.......", this entry at least dared to be different. Corman shows promise in this early directoral effort, and the story does have a neat twist at the end (if you make it that far), All that said, the slow, dragging plot and the non-existent production values make it a chore to watch. Notable also for an early screen appearance of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Robert Vaughn.

Teenage Caveman is an enjoyable Prehistoric adventure from Roger Corman and I taped this when BBC2 screened it during the early hours some years ago.

A young caveman goes against warnings and decides to explore the land beyond the river where his tribe live. There are plenty of dangers our there, including stock footage dinosaurs from One Million BC and Unknown Island, a pack of wild dogs and, best of all, a very strange looking "monster" that turns out to be a man in a radiation suit. We then learn that after a nuclear war, this part of the World went back to Prehistoric times.

Being made in the Atomic Age, this movie show was yet another theory what people thought could have happened in the event of any nuclear war. At the end, we also get to briefly see clips from other AIP movies including The She Creature.

The cast includes a young Robert Vaughn (The Man From UNCLE, The Magnificent Severn, Hustle) and sci-fi B movie regulars Jonathan Haze (Little Shop of Horrors, It Conquered the World), Ed Nelson (The Brain Eaters) and Robert Shayne (The Neanderthal Man, The Giant Claw).

Teenage Caveman is a good way to spend just over an hour one afternoon or evening. Low budget fun.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Roger Corman's 1958 "Teenage Cave Man" (three words), retitled from its original "Prehistoric World" to capitalize on Herman Cohen's Teenage Werewolf and Frankenstein, was released to theaters on a double bill with Cohen's "How to Make a Monster," introducing the Paul Blaisdell costume that would be utilized for his next production "Night of the Blood Beast" (plus stock footage from "Day the World Ended" and "The She-Creature"). Screenwriter R. Wright Campbell was no stranger to Corman, having scripted his directorial debut "Five Guns West," going on to do the same for "Man of a Thousand Faces," "Machine-Gun Kelly," "The Young Racers," "The Secret Invasion," "Hells Angels on Wheels," "Captain Nemo and the Underwater City" and "The Masque of the Red Death." What at first appears to be a simple 50s retread of the Lon Chaney classic "One Million B.C." becomes actually quite watchable, as the tribe depicted here speaks English and lives in the familiar environs of Griffith Park, right there in front of Bronson Caverns. They could qualify as either Hill People or Rock People, though it's a bit jarring to see the Corman repertory company dressed in caveman togs, regulars like Jonathan Haze, Ed Nelson, Beach Dickerson, and lovely Barboura Morris (seen briefly twice, no dialogue). 25 year old Robert Vaughn made his starring debut as The Boy, hardly a teen but questioning the laws of his elders as his father (Leslie Bradley) tries to keep him from venturing across the river to the great beyond. Frank DeKova is naturally cast as the villain, eager to usurp the power of both father and son as tribal leader, and even murdering a visitor astride a horse rather than make peace as requested. Once The Boy journeys into the forbidden zone he finds dinosaurs (footage from both "One Million B.C" and 1948's "Unknown Island"), marauding dog packs, and a strange creature that walks on two legs, supposedly the one whose touch causes instant death. The small role of the blonde maiden is played by Darah Marshall, not to be confused with Sarah Marshall, British-born daughter of actor Herbert Marshall, enjoying a skinny dip under a waterfall to The Boy's approving flute. Vaughn was embarrassed enough to proclaim this his worst film, but by the 1990s there must have been stronger contenders for that title, like Christopher Lee's "Starship Invasions" or John Carradine's "Buried Alive." The final twist typical of a Roger Corman picture was quite a novelty at the time, but has grown tired from overuse in the decades since.

Although its obviously low budget and cheesy special effects prevent this early Roger Corman film from a higher rating, Teenage Cave Man actually turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would. It shows that in every generation teens rebel, even back in prehistory.

Robert Vaughn who later turned in performances as rather sophisticated people be they good guys or bad guys, is a rather erudite teen Cro Magnon who does not think the tribal religion has all the answers. His tribe is restricted in its turf by the Word which gives them only certain parameters to live.

Frank DeKova is our villain, a hidebound sort of caveman, a fundamentalist in his beliefs who says death should happen to those who wander out of the tribal area. But Vaughn goes and in the process learns the answers to many things. And the film has a surprise ending, very similar to Planet Of The Apes which many critics have compared Teenage Cave Man with.

Or for me this could easily have been a good Twilight Zone episode, as directed by Roger Corman.