Teenage Zombies (1959)

Really Surprised!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Blistering performances.

Yet another masterpiece from that ever reliable Jerry Warren, "Teenage Zombies" tells of two young studs, Regg (Don Sullivan, "The Giant Gila Monster") and Skip (Paul Pepper) and their two girlfriends Julie and Pam (Mitzie Albertson and Brianne Murphy). For kicks, they like to go water skiing. They end up marooned on an isolated island, held captive by mad scientist Dr. Myra (Katherine Victor), who's conducting experiments in making mindless slaves out of humans.Although one of Warrens' better efforts, relatively speaking, this is still bad enough to induce some hearty chuckles. Good atmosphere regularly competes with a sometimes dull and plodding pace, and a script with more talk than action. Among the delights on display are a wild gorilla (Mitch Evans) and a hulking, blank eyed henchman named Ivan (towering Chuck Niles, who's an absolute hoot). Since Dr. Myra is being bankrolled by enemies of the state, this allows for some intrigue as part of the scenario - but don't expect very much in the way of actual "teenage zombies".The acting in this sort of fare may never have been destined to pick up lots of awards, but it's sincere enough to get the job done. Regg and Skip are strapping heroes who engage in scuffles and fisticuffs with the bad guys, while Julie and Pam aren't required to do much. Victor, who was a Warren regular, is pretty amusing as the aloof, evening gown wearing Dr. Frankenstein wannabe. Mike Concannon is good as the local Sheriff who has a twist in store for all of us.Must viewing if you totally dig the groovy and cheap side of 50s sci-fi cinema.Five out of 10.

1st watched 9/1/2014 -- 3 out of 10(Dir-Jerry Warren):70 minute version Boring and lame teenage zombie movie with some really wacky performances from some of the teens and very stoic performances from the adults. The movie starts as some kids from a local malt shop set out to do some water-skiing, and have a picnic at a nearby small island. As they investigate the area -- they come upon a strange group of men appearing "doped or dead" according to one of the kids. Their boat is stolen so they go to a lone house on the island to question the inhabitants about the disappearance and come across a stoic woman, played by Katherine Victor, who denied knowing about this, and then all the kids get captured to be used as experiments for her zombie-inducing gas that eventually will be used on all Americans. The pacing of this movie is what makes it boring with a soundtrack that doesn't match the movie's pace. The sound effects are very canned especially when the boat is searching for the kids(same sound no matter what the boat is doing---very funny stuff). This movie was obviously trying to capture on a trend(monsters with teens), but fails miserably, and there really is only one real monster, if you can call him one, Ivan -- the helper zombie and possibly a late appearance by a man in a gorilla suit. There is a sub-theme of foreigners(who don't sound foreign) trying to "control" all Americans with this gas(which was probably shocking at the time), but it's done so badly that it doesn't get noticed much. Pretty much this is a movie to avoid -- so do so.

By any measurement, this is a horrible film.The plot is silly.The acting is non-existent.The directions is worse than amateurish.There really is nothing to recommend unless you want to see what the The Plot.Teenagers Reg, Skip, Julie and Pam go out for an afternoon of water skiing on a nice day. They come ashore on an island that is being used as a testing center for a scientist and agents from "an eastern power." They seek to turn the people of the United States into easily controlled zombie like creatures. The agents steal Reg's boat, stranding the teens on the island. The four friends are then held captive in cages able only to speculate on their fate. Though they have already been testing the formula on convicts and drunks, the enemy scientist and agents plan to conduct final tests on the teens before they use it on the rest of America. Meanwhile, two of their friends, whom the captives had planned to meet later, search for their missing friends. After a series of suspicious encounters, they urge the corrupt sheriff to search the island where their friends are trapped.

An obvious attempt at cashing in on the success of I Was a Teenage Werewolf and even I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Teenage Zombies is a complete disaster. It makes those other two movies look like masterworks in comparison. The problem – well there's really too many to mention, but at the top of the list is the lack of anything remotely interesting in the plot. What a nothing movie! I'm having trouble thinking of a movie that bored me quite as much as Teenage Zombies with its nothingness. Dull doesn't begin to describe it. The 70-something minute runtime was the longest hour and ten minutes I believe I've ever spent in my life. The title may evoke images of teenagers being turned into mindless zombies, but that never happens. Instead we see naturally mindless teenagers walking around an island, driving a boat, and trying to carry on conversations. Exciting, huh? The teens do run into a band of Communist types bent on world domination, but if this sad group of teens is able to take them down, they really never posed much of a threat. If the movie wasn't bad enough already, with about ten minutes to go and out of nowhere, the director decided to throw a gorilla into the proceedings. What was that all about? A desperation move that fails epically. And then there's the ludicrously bad acting, the often inappropriate music, the strange silent pauses at every turn, and the poor sets. No matter how you slice it, Teenage Zombies is one badly made, dull as dishwater movie.