Teenagers from Outer Space

'teenagers from out of space' has grown on me a LOT since the first time i saw it. true, it isn't a very good movie, but considering how they used what little they had to work with (budget-wise, acing-wise, etc.) i'd say this movie deserves a bit more respect. the effects were cleverly planned (if not well-executed), the fairly inexperienced actors weren't terrible ( except for TORCHA! guy, but he's so bad he's great), and it had a decent plot with a fairly atypical ending. (okay, there's no excuse for the lobster. the lobster was just terrible.) it's no 'godfather' (heck, it's not even 'cannibal: the musical'), but, in the vein of 'night of the living dead', 'teenagers' takes very little and makes something decent with it.

I saw this film as a little kid and was absolutely terrified. I was really, really afraid of skeletons. You see, it was skeletons under my bed, not monsters. If any part of me dangled off the bed, they could grab me with those bony fingers and pull me under... anyway, this film holds a special place in my heart because I was SO frightened! They even killed a little dog, boo hoo. Of course, as an adult, this movie is quite laughable. But if you are a fan of campy, corny old sci-fi, you have it by the bucket here!!

The Spacemen are Coming! The Spaceships Have Landed! The Fifties are highlighted with stunning sequences of cars with flatheads, chrome and stick shifts. Nifty neighborhoods and helpful, unwitting locals who point humanlike aliens to the heroine and local vistas. Plus a warm-voiced Grampa who always seems to be asleep, just awakened, yawning or giving detailed, correct directions to the villain who is seeking Grampa's granddaughter and friendly alien renter. Curiously, Grampa never asked for rent in advance? But what the heck this is the Fifties, right?

Derek who is the hero Martian is a bit stiff. However, Derek's nemesis, Thor is swift of foot, quick to ray gun anyone or thing (dog, tree, sideview mirror) in his way. However, Thor MUST hurry and scamper he does in this movie, as Derek needs to meet his Dad at the spaceship. Unfortunately, Derek had never previously met his Dad and that is a curious plot twist. The beard on Derek's dad is not to be believed as are most of the effects but this is the Fifties, right?

The skeleton/ ray gun/ defleshitizer twang is ahead of its time by about 10 laser years. So, one must give the movie a few points for a non-screaming manner of death and no need for blood capsules for the humans. Also, the alien costume is quite trendy and should be awarded an extra stitch in the rankings. The heroine is heard to comment plurally on her need to change clothes which means she had THREE costumes. Everyone else except Derek only had one costume. Actually , Derek's second costume was probably what he wore to the set. The reporter clicks a few bulbs on the all time low budget reporter meter for his hat which he never loses. The t.v. announcer rates a special mention as he continues to scare the woodangie out of the village populace with reports of invading, impending and impatient aliens with their shrilled-voiced uncooked mega lobster monsters who eat humans. A subtle message here seems to be that if you don't carry a gun near the monster, you probably will not be eaten. One could regard this as abstract pacifism with a dash of vegetarianism in this stretch of Cold War craziness. It certainly adds pepper to the stew of the lobster monster creation. Locals are warned to go to their basement or fallout shelters- this is the Fifties, right?

I have always regarded this movie as essential in the timeline of Fifties space invaders movies. Not a major league effort but a more than what you expected plot that intertwines invaders in nifty Mel's Drive-In costumes, exceptionally small space vehicles, stilted alien conversations and phrasing, Ozzie & Harriet neighborhoods, and an ending replete with a face in the sky reminding us that he will always be with us. "He" being Derek who looks a bit like Duane Eddy or a very young Michael Rennie. As I mentioned a curious mix of teenage love but only one kiss in the twilight, a bit of religious symbolism, real auto sounds and a screaming- no, make that shrieking crustacean given to weapon carrying villagers for appetizers. Never forget the light-emitting Ray Guns! What?! A movie that demands an imagination? No graphic violence? You gotta work with me here- this is the Fifties, right?

What is it about this no-budget film that gets my interest? Sure it was produced for a mere $3,000 and the effects are laughable, but there is something that's actually engrossing about its storyline: Aliens come to Earth for the purpose of breeding their man-eating lobsters called Gargons. Derek, the young,idealistic black sheep, with James Dean pretentions, disapproves of his comrades lack of compassion towards the fate of the earth people, and goes AWOL to warn the unsuspecting citizens of our world.

Derek ends up in a suburban utopia, where everyone is sincerely kind and caring of one another (this must be an alien planet). He rents a room and falls in love with the local teen queen (who is surprisingly as UN-prima-donna as they come). Unknown to the hapless pair, one of Derek's cronies, Thor, is hot on his trail, blasting everyone in sight with his focusing disintegrater (which turns the victim into a skeleton). The aliens plan to return soon with a full shipment of gargons, and our heroes only have a short time to thwart their trecherous plans.

Ridiculous? Sure. Engrosssing? Definitely. In some ways the plot is reminiscent of TERMINATOR (I wonder if Cameron saw this in his younger years). As little more than a home movie, it's not really that bad. You could tell that filmmaker Graeff (who plays Joe the reporter under the name of Tom Lockyear) compensated for an inadequate budget, with heart, imagination and soul, and has produced a picture that has some surprising moments of brilliance. It would have been curious to have seen how this production would have turned out if Graeff had had a decent budget. This film doesn't lack creative inspiration or intelligence (you can rank it above Ed Wood or Larry Buchanan), but simply money. When it comes to the mega-budget likes of INDEPENDENCE DAY or GODZILLA - money isn't everything!

The performances here are pretty poor, but I came to really care about the characters. Figure that. The film also takes on a certain hallucinatory quality that actually makes it memorable.

This also has the significance of being one of the first independently produced films to be released by a major studio, long before Indies became a tired trend (I'm not much of a Sundance freak). Graeff originally entitled this THE GARGON TERROR and managed to sell it to Warner Brothers (no small feat, believe me). The studio, in turn, changed its title to the more drive-in exploitative TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE. One could tell, if they drop their prejudices and pay close attention, that Graeff was sincerely trying to produce a worthy effort. The man deserves to be congratulated for his attitude, even if the results fall short, due to lack of funds. He was desperately trying promote a stronger understanding between the adults and the kids, hoping for a less troubled world. How can one be faulted for that?

Naturally, MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 had a field day lampooning it, but I sometimes wonder what its producers and fans criteria really is? Is it all just superficial budget and effects with no regard for content? Sounds pretty shallow to me.

I won't recommend this to most, but if you put aside high-tech, you may want to trip back to a different era for curiousity sake if nothing else.