Teen-Age Strangler

This campy whodunit is an example of the fun that was the 1960s. There's a distinct "Manos: The Hands of Fate" flavor to the film as we have a shrill, overacting female lead, a creepy Torgo-esquire janitor, an authoritarian cop, a jaunty soundtrack that never fails to entertain, various shots of teens necking, and plenty of Southern accents to go around. Some of the scenes are superfluous (such as just about any scene with the character Curly), yet there is little denying that overall the film is quite enjoyable. Perhaps most fun of all, though, is the unforgettable character of Mikey. He's the androgynous, whiny teen that you just can't help but love. I give the movie a score of 6/10, and the MST3K version a 9/10.

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!"

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.

Though the quality of the movie speaks for itself. Most may not know the restaurant scenes were filmed in our family restaurant "Martin's Restaurant" on 5th Avenue next to WHTN TV in Huntington. The family eatery was a favorite for students from Marshall University just ten blocks down the street.

My Father John Martin was the owner and was originally asked to play the part of "Marty" in the movie. We had scheduled a family vacation during the time of the filming, so he was not able to take that part.

It's no accident that they selected our restaurant as the landlord was WHTN TV and Clark Davis was the general manager at the time.

INTERESTING NOTE: If you look closely at one of the first scenes where several of the teens are sitting in a booth, in the background you will a picture of my father "Johnny Martin" hanging on the wall. My brother George Martin and I still have that picture. Hard to believe I was 14 and he was 12 when the picture was released. We're of course now 68 & 66 living in Frisco, Texas with our families.

My father passed away many years ago and I don't believe he ever got to see the movie. I know he always took pride in his restaurant and the food he served. Truly a "family" restaurant with home-cooked food and portions that could feed two people, something my mother Georgia always complained about. Lots of great memories! Hope this review adds a bit nostalgia for those of us that remember those good old days!

If the fans of MST3K, such as me, can ever get together and create an MST3K Hall Of Fame, this movie might be inducted in as a charter member in the film category. John Humphries definitely will be inducted as a charter member in the actors category, along with such luminaries as Joe Don Baker, Ross Hagen, John Agar and...the guy...you know, the one who played Torgo.

Humphries made only one MST3K appearance, but it was a great one, playing a character so annoying that you're just begging the other characters to give him a swirley or rub his face in crunchy underwear.

Fortunately, Humphries seems to have a sense of humor and reality, as he didn't foolishly follow other MST3K actors into years of horrible films, thinking he'd eventually get his big break.