Product: Teenage Monster [VHS] (1958)
Rating: 2.0
Faint praise. Very faint praise.
Teenage Monster is not a good movie. I bought it as an Anne Gwynne fan, hoping for a few campy midnight-movie chills. However, this movie is dull, and almost sad in its ineptitude. Where other movies can triumph despite limitations, this one's script is too poor, and not ambitious enough to be entertaining.The liner notes explain many of the movie's problems; there were reasons why some talented people cranked out a movie this cruddy. One of its few virtues is good acting by Gwynne (even though she hatedhatedhated the film) as the Monster's mother and Gloria Castillo as the manipulative vixen who brings about the Monster's ultimate demise.The Monster is unscary, played by a 50-year old man in boots to make him seem taller. And nearly all of his dialogue was re-dubbed as grunts and hoots to make him seem more like a bestial killer than a thinking being. This would be okay, except for the fact that sometimes he CAN talk reasonably well, just because the script needs him to convey a point. I could buy the dubious idea that the women close to him understood his gibberish, but the inconsistency grated on me.Added to these glaring inconsistencies are the movie's stagnant direction and lack of creepy atmospherics. The sum total is kind of a bore.A side note- It is called Meteor Monster almost everywhere on the web, but goes by its alternate title of Teenage Monster on the cover. This is somehow strangely fitting, as many of the people involved with this movie probably hope it stays hidden.The DVD transfer is excellent. Trailers include Teenagers From Space, Robot Monster, Carnival of Souls, Giant From the Unknown, and Cosmic Man. They are the best part of the disc.