Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Hitchcoc We just lost Robert Vaughan a few weeks ago. He was a great character actor and is best remembered for "The Man from UNCLE." In this one he plays the title character who longs to find out what is beyond the place where the ancestors and the priests have forbidden him and his peers to go. He, of course, is going there. This movie, done by Roger Corman, and marketed strictly to the drive-in set of the fifties, is pretty bad, and I am very patient with the B-movies of this time. Someone mentioned the Twilight Zone and this idea has been used there, but the thing was done on an extremely low budget with most likely single takes over a very short period of time. The only reason to watch it would be to see what Corman was doing at the time. And, of course, to see the young (though not that young) Robert Vaughan.

MartinHafer This is a strange caveman movie, as the men are mostly clean-shaven or sport very well-trimmed beards and look nothing like we'd assume cave people would look like. The worst example is young Robert Vaughn, who looks almost exactly like Napoleon Solo from his "Man from UNCLE" show! And, to further confuse the audience, these people also sound an awful lot like everyday folk, while Vaughn sounds like some tortured poet. They must be the most well-spoken and literate group of troglodytes in existence.When the film begins, Vaughn is apparently very angst-ridden--sort of a goth caveman. He questions EVERYTHING. In fact, it's silly because that's ALL he does--again and again and again. It's obviously a clumsy job of exposition for the audience's sake. Well, this questioning has him eventually asking why the tribe does not go into the "forbidden land". He's told that's because it's forbidden and no one else in the tribe other than Vaughn seems to recognize the circular logic. So, after he recruits a few others, they head into the forbidden land. Even though most of them return and the forbidden land isn't bad, Frank DeKova demands that Vaughn be killed because "it is the law". In fact, DeKova spends all the movie demanding that this person or that person be killed! In one scene, a stranger comes on horseback. He says "peace", at which point DeKova kills him! What a nut case! This sort of stuff goes on for a while until the end. At that point, a surprise ending is unleashed that ALMOST works--at least until you think about it. Then, it makes absolutely no sense and is very sloppy, indeed. You find out that these cave people are actually from the future, as they find a book with 20th century things in it--including a picture of the United Nations building. But then, oddly, the narrator tells that this is from the past and that this sort of thing has happened again and again due to nuclear bombs. Yeah, but are they meaning to say that there was ANOTHER United Nations building many millenia ago?! Huh?! What?! Overall, dumb from start to finish. If the ending hadn't been a jumbled mess, perhaps the film might have worked a bit better, but nothing could overcome the costumes, modern hair and language as well as craptastic special effects. For example, a scene from an earlier crappy film, KING DINOSAUR , is spliced into TEENAGE CAVE MAN. It's the cruel scene where an alligator with fins glues to its back fights for real with a giant iguana or monitor lizard. It's obviously NOT two dinosaurs and it's unimaginable that the film people would really let these poor creatures tear each other to pieces for our entertainment! This sort of schlocky borrowing also occurs when they take clips directly from SAGA OF THE VIKING WOMEN. Sloppy and stupid and a cynical attempt to pad the film without spending extra money! By the way, if you see DeKova and wondered where you've seen him before, he'd done many movies and TV shows--including an unfunny recurring role as a stupid American Indian on "F Troop" as well as a mobster on "The Untouchables".

lemon_magic "Teenage Cavemen" was obviously intended to be a cheapo "exploitation" film (in the manner of "I was A Teenage Werewolf" and "I Was A Teenage Frankenstein") and indeed, its origins as a Corman "3 Day Wonder" are obvious - it's so shabbily made and so obviously hacked out that it barely holds together as a movie at all. But still, there is just a bit of an edge to this one, a little more depth and interest.I've always liked Robert ("Man From UNCLE") Vaughn. He's a fine,if limited, actor who manages to pack a certain sinister, vulpine energy and intelligence into even the silliest and most badly conceived parts. (I don't blame him for "Superman III", either - he did what he could with that one). His presence adds an extra point to the ratings, since he is obviously a 'real' actor, even in this early role. However, the "teenage caveman" role is not a role that calls for these qualities, so this is a pretty tough part for him. With his narrow, refined features, skinny physique and elegant hairstyle, he looks less like a caveman - or a teenager, for that matter - than almost any male actor over 25 you can name. And the script makes him (and everyone else) talk in the affected, unconvincing, plodding Pidgin English speech that all "primitives" in movies seem to use, and these lines are incredibly unconvincing coming from this obviously civilized and educated person. I'll give him this, though - in spite of the affected dialog and speech mannerisms he is forced to adopt, Vaughn does a decent job of portraying the restlessness, unhappiness and chafing of an original "thinker" trying to escape the confines of a closed traditional society. And even though the special effects, scenery, costumes, dialog and acting are all badly underpowered, and the use of borrowed stock footage is really jarring and annoying, the movie does manage to incorporate a sense of youth vs. authority, tradition vs. innovation, and yes, a puzzle with a "surprise twist" at the end which actually sort of works. ***SPOILER FOLLOWS*** By this I mean that the post-apocalyptic denouement actually does play fair with the viewer within the limits of the film, and the ending does give me a little shudder, even now.Like most Corman movies, this one is mostly of historical interest, but it does pack a bit more punch than most of his output, even if only by accident.

JoeKarlosi Even dependable ace director Roger Corman wasn't able to turn this dud into something steadily worth watching. It stars THE MAN FROM UNCLE's Robert Vaughn as a 26-year-old "boy" who defies his tribe's law by daring to venture forth "beyond the river" to the other side, where he is met by quicksand and a few silly creatures. It's an hour or so of tedium, but we do get a hearty laugh in seeing Robert Shayne looking ridiculous as a bearded caveman in sheepskin and sporting a Shemp Howard haircut. The ending of the film is at least interesting, though it's not worth the trip to make it that far. * out of ****