Teenage Cave Man (1958)

Sick Product of a Sick System

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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.

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.

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!

I thought this film was actually pretty good. The writing is done well. It is very "B" rated, but don't let that tell you all about this film. The plot twists and turns and you will think you have the hang of it, then you won't. Please, take the time to see this, you may like it.