In Teenagers Battle The Thing (1958), archaeology students uncover a prehistoric manster… part man, part monster, and all bad attitude with a cheap costume.
Review
In all seriousness, Teenagers Battle the Thing isn’t that bad. Yes, that’s damning with faint praise, but it’s true. I’ve seen far worse films (Plan 9 from Outer Space, The Yesterday Machine) to name two. That doesn’t make it a great film by any stretch, but it’s … watchable.
Positives
- It’s only 60 minutes long.
- The cast, not trained actors, do a decent job. Not great, but decent.
Negatives
- The monster looks really bad.
- It’s far too much dialog, compared to far too little action.
- The conclusion seems very rushed.
Editorial review of Teenagers Battle The Thing courtesy of Amazon.com
On an archaeological field trip, high school students discover a cave with a bizarre mummified body. But the “mummy” is actually a hulking, hairy monster in suspended animation, and it soon comes back to life and wreaks havoc.
Editorial Reviews
When Lincoln County Museum curator Dr. Bill Wyman (William Simonsen) recruits a team of five high school students and their teacher to help excavate an historis Indian site, the kids uncover much more! Turns out that the stone tablet cleverly conceals the entrance to a mysterious tomb containing a huge, mud-covered mummy! Nobody wants to miss out on the discovery of all time, so they decide to take it along to study it. Unfortunately, neither the kids nor their advisors watched enough monster movies at the Saturday matinees back in the 50’s.
Trivia
- This film was completed in 1958 but the only theatrical release it received was in the director’s hometown. The movie remained unreleased until 1975 when the director used the footage in CURSE OF BIGFOOT.
Cast of characters
- Bob Clymire … Johnny
- Bill Simonsen … Dr. Bill Wyman
- Jan Swihart … Sharon
- Dennis Kottmeier … Bob
- Ruth Ann Mannella … Linda
- Ken Koepfer … Norman
- Mary Brownless … Woman Victim
Trivia
- This film was completed in 1958 but the only theatrical release it received was in the director’s hometown. The movie remained unreleased until 1975 when the director used the footage in CURSE OF BIGFOOT.
- Body count: 2 (including the monster)