mrb1980
Early Roger Corman movies can be very good ("The Little Shop of Horrors", "Not of This Earth"), very bad ("The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent"), or somewhere in between ("It Conquered the World", Attack of the Crab Monsters"). "Teenage Cave Man" falls somewhere in the middle, with an impoverished budget but a good cast and intelligent story.A restless teenage cave man (Robert Vaughn) has an urge to travel to the forbidden land "beyond the river", where a fabled monster can kill with just a touch. The first journey ends with an unfortunate death (B actor Beach Dickerson) in some quicksand (The "Sucking Sands"), so there's lots of discussion about the status quo, which the tribe elders say must be maintained. Eventually the teenager journeys again to the forbidden land, there's a bear attack (Dickerson in a bear suit), an attack by wild dogs (no doubt liberated from the local pound), and a final confrontation with the dreaded beast. The beast is nothing but an old man in a radiation suit who represents the last survivor of a long-ago nuclear war.Beach Dickerson used to tell hilarious stories about this movie, including a description of his four roles (he dies in three of them, and attends his own funeral). Vaughn adds some credibility to the proceedings, and the luscious Barboura Morris appears in a small part. Okay, it's really cheap, but it's also fun, and Vaughn is pretty good under the circumstances.
oscar-35
*Spoiler/plot- Teenage Caveman, 1956, A young man fights tribal laws and goes beyond the sacred river in search of his tribe's future, more animals for food, and 'the God whose touch kills'. *Special Stars- Robert Vaughn, Darrah Marshal, Lesllie Bradley, Frank DeKova. Director: Roger Corman *Theme- Youth must try to make a place for itself in the older world of tradition.*Trivia/location/goofs- B&W, American, Bronson Cave area in Gower Park Hollywood for cave locations. LA's Arbouretum, La Crescenta CA for the jungle and river scenes. Frank DeKova(F-Troop's Indian chief) plays the 'baddie' role. Robert Shayne (TV's Superman show cop) plays one of the bearded rule keepers. Early role for Robert Vaughn(Man from UNCLE) Beach Dickerson was a familiar face and name in many Corman's films. Here Beach does five roles. TV's sitcom mainstream actor, Ed Nelson is one of the cave tribe. GOOFS: Cavemen have 'farmer tans' lines and some are clean with hair combed.*Emotion- Essentially a coming of age film about a young man trying to find his place in his society. An injured and evil older caveman unrelated to him tries to police the young man's thoughts, actions, and feelings. A nice twist of the rebellious 50's youth theme that isn't treated in a modern society with cars and police ala James Dean. Mr. Vaughn's performance is very James Dean-like though. The final plot points contain a nice surprise twist ending dealing with modern society and 'the God whose touch kills'. It's thought provoking, interesting and deep for normal B-movie films.
bkoganbing
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.
mlraymond
I caught the very end of this movie on television years ago as a child, and was fascinated by the thought provoking conclusion. It made me want to see the whole movie, and though it does show its budgetary shortcomings, this picture is actually quite well made, and is definitely worth seeing once.Leslie Bradley is excellent as the Symbol Maker, the father of the young hero, and Frank De Kova is very good as the jealous older warrior trying to get his younger rival in trouble all the time.It's true that there is a temptation to laugh now and then, as one recognizes members of Roger Corman's stock company in cave people outfits, or some obvious stock footage is used from other movies, but the overall effect is surprisingly good. The film may look kind of rushed and amateurish, but the actors play their roles with sincerity, and the whole story has an oddly convincing feel about it.I recommend this for viewers who enjoy cave people movies and imaginative story telling on a limited budget.
AD
