There just isn't anything like the sweet, sweet taste of 50s Roger Corman. Teenage Cave Man is much like Corman's other monster movies from the era, except that it takes place in the distant past. A tribe of cavemen live in a desolate wasteland near a forest rumored to contain a deadly god. But one day a young man decides to break his tribe's laws forbidding passage to the forest. During his quest, he invents the bow and arrow and learns to ride on horses. He also encounters a giant, deformed monster. Now, Corman has made films with some absurd looking monsters before. Who can forget the fanged ice cream cone from It Conquered the World (1956) or the bug-eyed kelp monstrosity from Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)? The monster from Teenage Cave Man easily ranks among the most ridiculous beasts from Corman's filmography. But what makes the creature even more memorable is its pathetically cliched origin. For you see, Teenage Cave Man doesn't take place in the past. It is actually set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by the remnants of mankind and great mutated beasts (like an alligator with a giant dorsal fin glued to its back). The monster is a scientist in a radiation suit who somehow managed to survive for eons after the bombs dropped. If that twist doesn't turn you off from the film, then you might enjoy Teenage Cave Man for its schlock value. It's poorly acted, features terrible special effects, and over-utilizes stock footage. So, y'know...it's a standard Roger Corman film.
4/10
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