Teenage Caveman

Teenage Caveman is an enjoyable Prehistoric adventure from Roger Corman and I taped this when BBC2 screened it during the early hours some years ago.

A young caveman goes against warnings and decides to explore the land beyond the river where his tribe live. There are plenty of dangers our there, including stock footage dinosaurs from One Million BC and Unknown Island, a pack of wild dogs and, best of all, a very strange looking "monster" that turns out to be a man in a radiation suit. We then learn that after a nuclear war, this part of the World went back to Prehistoric times.

Being made in the Atomic Age, this movie show was yet another theory what people thought could have happened in the event of any nuclear war. At the end, we also get to briefly see clips from other AIP movies including The She Creature.

The cast includes a young Robert Vaughn (The Man From UNCLE, The Magnificent Severn, Hustle) and sci-fi B movie regulars Jonathan Haze (Little Shop of Horrors, It Conquered the World), Ed Nelson (The Brain Eaters) and Robert Shayne (The Neanderthal Man, The Giant Claw).

Teenage Caveman is a good way to spend just over an hour one afternoon or evening. Low budget fun.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

It was made in two WEEKS, not two days as someone else's review stated. Please get the facts straight. Read Robert Vaughn's autobiography, he has some choice information about the background of the making of this movie.

Robert Vaughn recalled the filming of it. It took place entirely in Griffith Park in California and the animals involved refused to cooperate. Also, he was sent to the hospital twice. once when an animal bit him, and once when he fell off a log and stepped on broken glass. The glamor of show biz, it is intoxicating.

It was eventually released on a double-bill with the Michael Landon classic.....wait for it....."I Was a Teenage Werewolf."

Oh, Roger Corman, you've done it again!

Made during the "I was a teenage..." cycle, this is more thoughtful than those other teen exploitation films. The story is told simply and yet with a serious purpose that makes us look at our technology as the mixed blessing which it is.

Don't let the title put you off. This is better than average and has some surprises.

Made in the 50s to cash in on the unexpected success of the "I Was a Teenage.......", this entry at least dared to be different. Corman shows promise in this early directoral effort, and the story does have a neat twist at the end (if you make it that far), All that said, the slow, dragging plot and the non-existent production values make it a chore to watch. Notable also for an early screen appearance of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Robert Vaughn.

This is not meant to be high art, so don't get your hopes up. The costuming and animal special effects are minimal, maybe even very bad. But The twist ending makes it worthwhile though. The conflict between tribal leadership rivals and the use by one of the boy as a pawn is interesting- But the boy is a visionary who seeks to discover and know, and maybe overthrow his clans gods in the process. The Robert Vaughn character is a deep thinking revolutionary- too bad this film could not have gotten a more generous budget. In any event watch it and be forewarned of todays real military conflicts that could turn this movie into our reality. 4 +