Teen-Age Strangler

Yes, this movie stands on its own campy merits. I first saw it some 15 years or more before MST3K got their sticky robot paws on it (and made it even more hilarious). I am originally from Huntington, WV, where the movie was filmed, although I was only 4 years old when "Yipe Stripes" jammed the AM stations. Most of the cast were locals, many playing roles that they held in real life.

TEENAGE STRANGLER opens with a female victim found with a stocking around her neck, and a big X scrawled on her forehead in lipstick. The police are stumped. This all takes place in a small town where everyone speaks VERY LOUDLY! Sometimes, they yell, as if they're afraid that viewers might be falling asleep.

Who is the killer? Could it be some crazed stocking / lipstick salesman?

Meanwhile, a twist-o-thon erupts at the local diner. The mega-hit song, "Yipes Stripes" explodes, battering our eardrums, already ringing from the bellowing townsfolk!

We're introduced to Jimmy, his whiney brother, Mikey, and Jimmy's girlfriend, Betty. The killings continue, unabated.

BURNING QUESTIONS: #1- Could Jimmy be the stocking stalker? #2- Could Mikey possibly be more of a fist magnet? #3- Will the killer never run out of lipstick? #4- Who supplies him with stockings? A local cartel? Hmmm.

P. S.- Be sure to stick around, as Betty gets down with the rest of the 27 year old "kids" at the diner, for a twist-tastic hootenanny...

I saw this one as part of an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as I am sure many people did. The film kind of combines a murder mystery with those teenage rebel films as we get the obligatory random and in this case horrible song, we get a drag race and gangs and we get a killer on the loose! Granted, it is a bit telegraphed as to the identity of the killer as I was pretty sure who it was the moment he first appeared on the screen. Thus, rendering the murder mystery portion of the film almost moot. We get cops talking, we get fights in the local soda shop and we get Mikey, a brother who will do what it takes to clear the name of Jimmy and who kind of breaks down a lot for a guy. The run time on this film had to be incredibly short as the episode of MST3K that it was on featured a short that lasted through the entire first section of the movie time. I am pretty sure this one most likely did not have to get cut due to anything too risqué within as it looked like a pretty standard film for the times and in the 60's 'standard' usually means no nudity and graphic kills are few and far between.

The story has a killer on the loose, strangling young women, hence the title Teenage Strangler. Of course, one of the women killed is most definitely not a teenage so the other title fits the bill better. Not sure why that older one was killed, but my guess is that it would make more sense in a straight cut of the movie. Well, the police are going around and badgering parents and interrupting the Yipes Stripes song so they can find and stop this killer! Jimmy gets the blame initially and his strange, overly emotionally brother will do anything he can to clear his brother's name including going to the police station to tell the police that Jimmy didn't steal no bike, which really isn't relevant to the whole strangling case, but that is how Mikey rolls! Jimmy runs afoul of his gang members and they must race; meanwhile, the strangler takes out a couple of other girls and that one girl who is kill boyfriend really takes it in stride.

This made for a rather funny episode of MST3K as Mikey is such a wonderfully absurd character for the gang to make fun of. You take him out of the movie and it is still an okay episode, but with him in it just wow. Literally the guy is chewing the scenery any time he is on the screen.

So, in the end, a movie that is kind of a combination teen rebel film and murder mystery where there is not much mystery because you have to be rather dense not to figure out who the real killer is. Thankfully, we only get the one song, but we get its tune played throughout the film as they really did not put much effort into the music in this film only playing the one song or bars of it throughout the film. However, in the end a pretty bad but harmless film that probably would have completely disappeared from the face of the earth if it had not been riffed by MST3K.

YIPES STRIPES!

That song rocks. Apparently the only thing that does in this movie. Definitely not your standard high budget horror film, but after seeing it a few times, it's kampy cheesy effect does shine through!

No actors come to mind here. The 20 and 30 yr olds...I MEAN, good old fashioned teenagers are puzzled by heinous stranglings in town. Is it a a teenager who strangles or someone who strangles teenagers? This will haunt your mind as the show goes on. There's a bad boy gang railing against contemporary social mores. Either that or they're big Hoya fans clad in leather jackets. Heavy teen petting occurs in the oddest of back alleyways in the shady part of town. Our teen gang is deep in a whodunnit. And then, there's Mikey. Man, the ONLY character that I can recall from his incessant whining! His panic attacks and tear filled lines about some bike. Major pity factor with this one. For laughs, check out the wannabe drag race.

Ah, "Yipes Stripes". Who can forget this classic top 20 song? It's catchy beat makes your hips shake, hop up on diner counters, and swing till you're groovy! Watch how the girl lip syncing....uh, I mean SINGING the song. She really looks like she can't wait for happy hour! The guy behind the counter steals any scene he's in.

"And he didn't steal no bike neither!"

Hysterical. I don't know what they thought they were doing, but its fun to watch. Never saw such "interesting" acting in my life!