Teenage Zombies

i just saw this movie yesterday, and to tell you the truth, I can't stop thinking about it. Every aspect of it was god-awful... the writing was painfully dull, the acting was nonexistent, and the plot was so thin and contrived it was hard to believe it wasn't an hour-long inside joke that I was regretfully unaware of. But strangely enough, it was so bad it was almost good. the man in the cheap gorilla suit? classic! the pseudo-sexual brawl between the voluptuous young teens and the evil scientists and politicians? Strangely arousing. While the corn level was high and the horror level as low as I've ever seen in a wannabe creature feature, there is something oddly appealing, and most definitely unforgettable, about this 1959 piece of crap

Are they going water skiing or are they going horseback riding? Are they going to be zombies or aren't they? I love these movies. The acting is so stiff. The characters deliver lines and then wait a second or two. The dialog is so pointless that it really doesn't matter. There's this huge island in a lake with a hugre research facility on it. But the people in the town don't seem to know it's there. Still a couple of kids can take a little rowboat with a ten horse and make it to the island. The research that is being done concerns a kind of nerve gas that will turn all Americans into blathering idiots (it's probably too late for that anyway). There's a gorilla running around, a couple of boring spies, and a kind of dragon lady scientist who locks the kids up for future research. The kids have the usual silly nicknames. The sheriff is on the take, so he won't help. My favorite scene is the last minute. I won't spoil it, but it's priceless.

If I were a millionaire, I would pay the staff of MST3K to reunite JUST to rank on this movie. It is perfect! It has everything!

Zombies 1950's teenagers A Gorilla Communist Spies Bad Rock and Roll Corny dialogue

This movie is so BAD it's GOOD. If you like "Plan 9" or "They Saved Hitler's Brain", you'll love this one!

Director Jerry Warren chooses to tell his story "Teenage Zombies" via the master shot. There are about two close ups in the entire film. This allows Warren to fully exploit and reveal the mise- en-scene of every scene. This technique also allows the actors to roam the frame and use their body language to develop their multi-dimensional characters. In particular, Chuck Niles is able to portray a fully fleshed out Ivan because of Warren's deployment of the master shot. It's a brilliant performance that overshadows all the other actors in the movie. Mitch Evans also gives us a subtle and nuanced performance as the gorilla. My one complaint about the film is that we don't see any water skiing. I like films with water skiing in them and I suspect Warren could have cut together an intriguing water skiing montage if he had been so inclined.

The film is the work of Jerry Warren a schlock king who churned out a bunch of low budget films over the years aimed at capitalizing on the hot horror market. Most of Warren's films are really bad, but they made money thanks to cheapness of cost, and clever titles (Teenage Zombies, Attack of the Mayan Mummy, Wild World of the Bat Woman) that often promised more than they delivered. Occasionally Warren would take an foreign feature, cut the heart of it out and replace it with long static scenes. Amazingly this is one of the few wholly original films that Warren unleashed and it it is almost unlike most of his other snoozers in that its actually watchable.

The plot has US agents searching for a gang of foreign agents are conducting mind control experiments on a small island. As the agents stumble around unable to find them, the bad guys end up battling a group of teens who stumble upon them and their lair.

Far from a great film this is a goofy little flick that was designed for the teenage drive in audiences. Its a low budget treat that has a sense of how ridiculous it all is. It doesn't take it self seriously, which helps a great deal. (Of course I could be wrong and be over praising it since its probably the one Warren film that doesn't stink completely.) Recommended if you're doing a multiple feature horror night at the movies of drive-in style fare.