poe-48833
TEENAGE MONSTER is a textbook examination of Teenage Angst: our hero, Charlie, is dealing with feelings of inadequacy, so he lashes out at Society. Because his testosterone levels have been upped considerably by an errant meteor, this results in several gruesome deaths. When he first discovers the joys of male/female relationships, his naïve notions of Love are put to the ultimate test by a young temptress; this, too, results in mayhem. All of this is typical teenage behavior. Ask Whit Bissell. TEENAGE MONSTER doesn't waste any time whatsoever getting down to business: the meteor comes crashing to Earth during the prologue, effectively killing two birds with one stone (Charlie is transformed and his dad killed so horribly that the filmmakers didn't have the intestinal fortitude to show it). Jack Pierce takes over at this point, and we gets lots of good close ups of The Monster (a huge plus for ANY Fright Film). The pace never slackens. Not disappointing.
dbborroughs
Scifi Western Horror film about a boy changed into a werewolf like psycho by a meteor crash that kills his father. The only one who can control the boy is his mother who keeps him locked away when he isn't working in her goldmine. Of course she can't watch him and he gets out from time to time and kills or kidnaps members of the surrounding area.Give it points for being something different, I mean how many Westerns have scifi and horror elements? But at the same time you have to wish it was at least marginally better than it is. The acting is okay, about what you'd expect from b movie like this. The problem is the plot line is so full of holes that nothing makes sense. To begin with how could the teenage monster have wandered around for 7 years and no one have been the wiser? Explanations in the film don't ring true as much of the plotting. This is a real turkey of a film. (and it serves me right for trying a 50's horror film that was completely unknown to me.)
thefountainmenace
Hey - it's a 50's horror movie, what can we expect, kids?This one is truly original in that it actually combines werewolves, meteors, and the Old West. However, the sci-fi aspect (meteors) is particularly tenuous - the 'meteor' appears to be a lit sparkler held close to the camera in soft focus. And the 'grown-up' Charles is just unbelievable, even if he is a werewolf - it's seven years later, but he looks at least 40. But if you can deal with 50'd Sci-Fi - you'll find this fun. Nice comment on manipulative women as well -actually a fairly coherent, if more than a bit far out - plot.
mord39
MORD39 RATING: ** of ****This is not a classic by any means, and it shouldn't be expected to be one. The 1950's gave us simple, cheesy fun from more innocent times (which we could all use again).TEENAGE MONSTER succeeds in providing us with all the things we love in these half-baked films: A laughable monster, former Universal Forties film star Anne Gwynne looking embarassed just having to BE in it, and a scant running time of just over 60 minutes that breezes by with good, clean fun. I'll watch this over a a true modern piece of manure (like 1999's THE MUMMY) any day.
AD
