User reviews

'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

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.

Strangely, I liked this movie. Okay: low budget, bad acting, cheesy spliced-in scenes from other "dinosaur" movies. Yet there is something innocent and compelling about it -- Roger Corman in his naive and earnest phase. It reminds me very much of the old Twilight Zone series (because of the ending). Just imagine Rod Serling saying, "For your consideration, a group of prehistoric cave dwellers ..." and you will truly enjoy this odd little film.

Even dependable ace director Roger Corman wasn't able to turn this dud into something steadily worth watching. It stars THE MAN FROM UNCLE's Robert Vaughn as a 26-year-old "boy" who defies his tribe's law by daring to venture forth "beyond the river" to the other side, where he is met by quicksand and a few silly creatures. It's an hour or so of tedium, but we do get a hearty laugh in seeing Robert Shayne looking ridiculous as a bearded caveman in sheepskin and sporting a Shemp Howard haircut. The ending of the film is at least interesting, though it's not worth the trip to make it that far.

* out of ****

Why Roger? WHY did you make this film?

Action, acting, great special effects...look elsewhere for these my fellow viewers, cause this film bites the big one. Vaughn is the philosophical caveman who's questions on life are perceived as the evil manifestations. What was evil was that someone actually funded production for this. I nodded on and off and can safely say this film was made in black and white. There's trouble about crossing the river and Vaughn catches a good one running into a tree.

So good a movie that the characters remain nameless!

A young(ish) caveman (Robert Vaughn) defies the clan's laws and explores the other side of the river, a place of plenty and peril, only to find out the truth about his world. The ridiculously rebranded (originally the film was entitled 'Prehistoric World') low-budget quickie from frugal auteur Roger Corman really doesn't make a lot of sense (the time course especially) but the core premise (as revealed in the 'twist ending') is more sophisticated than the film itself. Considering the cast are supposed to be 'cave-people', the script and acting is pretty good (especially the faux-teenager's father) although perennial character actor (and 'F-Troop' Indian Chief) Frank De Kova's limping 'Black-bearded One' is a weak link. The film recycles the oft-seen pseudo-antediluvian beasts from 1940's "One Million BC' as well as what maybe the least convincing tyrannosaur costume ever put on film. A number of Corman's usual thesps (including Beach Dickerson, Jonathan Haze, and Ed Nelson) wear the furs and the fearsome "God who Kills with a Touch" was designed by Paul Blaisdell (and later is repurposed as an alien mother-figure in the dire 'Night of the Blood Beast' (1958)). All in all, the film is talky and slow-moving but, like most of Corman's output, entertaining enough to pass a squandered hour.

Robert Vaughn (hair perfectly styled and all) plays a teenage caveman (duh) who questions why his tribe can't go in a certain part of the wilderness. Defying his elders him and a bunch of dumb friends go and discover a creature who can kill with its touch...

I only caught this once at 11:30 at night on a local TV station. I realized it wasn't good but nonetheless had a fun time watching it. Seeing Vaughn so young and trying to make this silly script work was amusing. The other acting ranged from tolerable to God-awful. It was shot in two days--and looks it. I do admit there was a twist at the end that I didn't see coming and saves this movie from being a total fiasco. Basically this is only for Corman completists and Vaughn fans. Even Vaughn himself this was one of the worst movies ever made. I give it a 3.

At 1 hour long,this movie is another Roger Corman disaster. With almost no time to fill,the movie still drags and is mind-numbingly boring. Anytime it's not a tight shot of 2 people,it's them walking on the same path. Some of the monsters are OK but some are silly. The way the cave people talk is extremely lame.They can't figure out the concept of naming people but can call people things like "the fair haired boy".Of course,the teenagers look to be about 40.There obviously weren't any real teenagers in the 50s. The only thing more amazing than the terrible acting is the fact that this movie even got made. There is one redeeming quality,a good twist at the end.

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.

It was made in two WEEKS, not two days as someone else's review stated. Please get the facts straight. Read Robert Vaughn's autobiography, he has some choice information about the background of the making of this movie.

Robert Vaughn recalled the filming of it. It took place entirely in Griffith Park in California and the animals involved refused to cooperate. Also, he was sent to the hospital twice. once when an animal bit him, and once when he fell off a log and stepped on broken glass. The glamor of show biz, it is intoxicating.

It was eventually released on a double-bill with the Michael Landon classic.....wait for it....."I Was a Teenage Werewolf."

Oh, Roger Corman, you've done it again!

This is not meant to be high art, so don't get your hopes up. The costuming and animal special effects are minimal, maybe even very bad. But The twist ending makes it worthwhile though. The conflict between tribal leadership rivals and the use by one of the boy as a pawn is interesting- But the boy is a visionary who seeks to discover and know, and maybe overthrow his clans gods in the process. The Robert Vaughn character is a deep thinking revolutionary- too bad this film could not have gotten a more generous budget. In any event watch it and be forewarned of todays real military conflicts that could turn this movie into our reality. 4 +

Roger Corman has directed over fifty films (and at age ninety is still active as of this writing as a producer,) some of them, recognized classics of the B-movie genre, such as The Little Shop of Horrors, Bloody Mama, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and the series of Poe-inspired horror movies featuring Vincent Price, but many others so quickly and cheaply made that they are esteemed as classics of the "so-bad-it's good" genre.

This film is firmly in the latter category. Teenage Caveman, obviously made to take advantage of the 1950s brief fad for "I was a teen-age ..." films, is notable mostly for starring Robert Vaughn in what he said was the worst film he ever made. Production values are minimal -- I've seen worse, but not often -- the cast members look more like they belong in a 1950s TV ad for vacuum cleaners than in the Upper Paleolithic, and the acting, if it is no worse than you would expect in a high school play, is not any better. In short, this will appeal to bad movie fans and not to many others.

Probably properly a one or two star movie, but give it an extra star for the camp value.

I watched this Roger Corman offering from the 50's on the cult and awesome television show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. A movie with teenager in the title, but nary a teen in sight. Kind of like that other film that MST3K did, I think the name was Teenagers From Space, the one with the killer lobster. The closest thing to a teenager in this one is the young maiden and Robert Vaughn who is the title character, but he was like 25 when this was made and not a young looking 25 either. Still, the film kept me wondering a bit as to what was going to happen as I knew there was going to be some sort of surprise at the end of this one and I was correct. I also kind of guessed it as well. The film could have been better had they did more exploration of the forbidden lands, but this film wants to impress us more by having the word and the law discussed a lot. The film at these points in time is less exciting to watch than a filibuster. Like a lot of films from this era, it is also very short as back then I guess people did not mind only being in the theater an hour or so, plus they had shorts to go along with films whose run times were on the minimal side, MST3K even had to do two shorts to go along with this one!

The story has a tribe of cavemen who hunt for food and are very rigid and set in their ways. One young caveman, who is a young adult (though I do admit teenage caveman has a better ring than young adult one) questions the laws and rules of his people. The food in the area they live in is scarce, yet across the river is a land full of greenery and animals aplenty to eat. He wishes to cross into this land to not only to get more food, but also to learn of its secrets and see a strange monster said to kill with only a touch. He is quite stubborn in his ways and will stop at nothing to learn the truth.

This film, made for a pretty good episode of MST3K. Many of the riffs were directed at Robert Vaughn's age as he clearly is no teen, and also to the many uses of footage from other films in certain areas. They even use an image of the She-Creature during the end of the film. Of course, they riffed this film well before that one, so no mention of it being from another film. The film was very talky in areas, but they managed to keep me entertained in an area of the film I would have been bored otherwise without them. Though, the funniest laugh I gave this film was not even during the film, but during one of the bump segments as Dr. Forrester and T.V.'s Frank battle it out!

So your typical MST3K fare and pretty much your typical Roger Corman fare as well. The most notable thing about the film is that it does have a young Robert Vaughn as its star, after that it has a bit of a twist at the end that is kind of like one found in an M. Night Shyamalan film. It is not completely terrible because it does seem to be racing to some reveal, but nothing to surprising for those of us today as it would have been for people back in the day. I kind of figured that was where they were going with it, and I am sure most others guessed it as well.

Ok, this is a terrible film. The film dragged on and on, its action scenes were lazy, and the writing was pretty bad. But, the premise was cool. And as usual, Corman did a lot with very little. And if you consider it from a b-movie angle, it was pretty cool. I recommend it, regardless of its shortcomings.

I saw this as an MST episode, and it's one of the few where you might actually be able to watch the movie and stay interested if Joel and the bots weren't blabbing away. The commentary is hilarious but the story also manages to be somewhat intriguing.

There are what seem to be obvious flaws in the plot and even the wardrobe and outfitting of the cavemen that make the whole film seem silly until you get a surprise ending that you wouldn't be able to predict. The acting is bad and the cavemen are far too clad, but you don't seem to care entirely I wouldn't recommend actually trying to watch this on it's own, you need MST to make it enjoyable but at least it was a serious film which didn't entirely fail to entertain you and get it's point across.

As a side note, I saw quite a few ideas here that have been used by Jean M Auel in her Clan of the Cave Bear portrayal of the Clan, even down to the name of the people

Over his time as a director Roger Corman directed some great movies. Unfortunately, he also directed some not so good ones. This one to me was a total dud and never really showed off any of Corman's true abilities as a director, but was made for $70,000 and made money at the box office.

Teenager Robert Vaughn (who looks 30, was actually 25 I believe) starts to questions things that go on within the society he is involved with back in the caveman days. I must say I enjoyed the fact that there is a message to the movie and a nice one, but the way it is delivered just wrecks the film. May work for a 5 year old who has never seen a movie before. Horrific costumes worn by the cave people and the monsters as well. There is a scene with a bear, it is obviously some actor in a bear suit. There are also gigantic monsters that unbelievably fight each other. Corman must have watched GODZILLA and thought hey we should slip that into the movie. To me this film is ruined by the low budget and low quality filming techniques. Was used for a episode of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000 and deserves it.

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.

This is so bad it's good. Unlike Troma, this film doesn't mean to be bad, it just is. The acting is atrocious, the effects are dire, and as for the dialogue...

Let's just say that this must be watched, just so you know how not to make a caveman film.

We just lost Robert Vaughan a few weeks ago. He was a great character actor and is best remembered for "The Man from UNCLE." In this one he plays the title character who longs to find out what is beyond the place where the ancestors and the priests have forbidden him and his peers to go. He, of course, is going there. This movie, done by Roger Corman, and marketed strictly to the drive-in set of the fifties, is pretty bad, and I am very patient with the B-movies of this time. Someone mentioned the Twilight Zone and this idea has been used there, but the thing was done on an extremely low budget with most likely single takes over a very short period of time. The only reason to watch it would be to see what Corman was doing at the time. And, of course, to see the young (though not that young) Robert Vaughan.