At the beginning of my foray into “b” movies, Kevin decided to introduce me to the 1959 film Teenagers from Outer Space. Now, all I had to go on was the title of the movie, and so I was expecting something a little more Leave It to Beaver with laser guns. And while some may argue that is exactly what Teenagers from Outer Space is, I disagree. Instead, what I watched was a fun, albeit silly, story about aliens wanting to take over Earth as their own personal Gargon farm. In fact, did you know the UK title for the film is The Gargon Terror?
About the Film
The film begins with aliens landing in Bronson Canyon, er, I mean, the middle of nowhere U.S.A. Immediately upon exiting the totally realistic spacecraft, alien Thor (Bryan Grant) encounters Sparky, a small domestic dog, barking at the craft. Naturally, Thor pulls out his disintegrator ray gun and turns little Sparky into a skeleton.
Poor little Sparky. But his death is not all in vain. Thor’s crewman, Derek (David Love), discovers Sparky’s name tag, which leads him to rebel against his Leader and crew. Derek states that the metal disc with inscriptions proves there is an intelligent lifeform on Earth and it is therefore not a suitable place to farm their thousands of Gargons. The aliens consider themselves a superior race and are not concerned with foreign beings. Derek is totally old school, though, and believes in family and friendship, both banned on their planet. His fellow crew arrests him for treason, but he escapes when they become distracted by a sickly Gargon. This leads old dog killer meanie Thor to go after Derek while the rest of the crew heads back to their home planet. Oh, and the Gargon is left behind, too. Hmmm, I wonder if that will be important to the plot.
And exactly what, pray tell, is a Gargon? It is a large, crustacean-like creature used as livestock by the aliens. See?
Behold my lobst—Gargon glory!
Okay, okay. It’s a lobster. But a mighty large one without the aid of its Expandable Leg Bands! These rubberband leg bands ensure the Gargon cannot grow in size. Essentially, it is a way to control the creature.
Left behind in an abandoned mine shaft, the Gargon breaks out of its expandable leg bands and wanders off to feast on the inhabitants of Earth. Meanwhile, Derek encounters pretty Betty Morgan (Dawn Bender) and her grandfather (Harvey B. Dunn) who live in small-town Los Angeles U.S.A. Betty and her grandpa offer lodging to Derek immediately, because 1950s American high-trust society. Derek explains Sparky’s being a skeleton now to Betty and she doesn’t believe him. Sparky had skin, after all! After Derek shows her the skeleton, explains the ray gun, and informs her of the situation, Betty is like, “Okay, no prob, I’ll help you out.” Throughout the day, they run from old dog killer meanie Thor as he turns pretty much everyone he encounters into a cheap skeleton, while simultaneously trying to stop him.
After briefly successfully capturing Derek and Betty, old dog killer meanie Thor is finally captured by pesky Earth cops. His ray gun, however, is undiscovered by authorities, and so Derek and Betty race to find it and take down the ever-growing, voracious Gargon terrorizing small-town Los Angeles U.S.A.
They find the weapon, but not before having a moment. Derek finally confesses to Betty that he is, indeed, an alien. Betty is not surprised, but she doesn’t want him to leave. He agrees that he will stay on Earth and they share a romantic smooch.
But then, the Gargon appears in all of its screaming glory! Did I mention it has a human scream for a roar? Betty is terrified, but Derek finds the ray gun under a rock. Their savior fails to fire, however, and Derek tells Betty to make a run for it and get to the car. Trying the ray gun again without success, Derek heaves the biggish rock at the Gargon, temporarily pushing the creature off screen. He joins Betty at the car and they escape.
As our dynamic duo work on a plan of action, a group of men are searching for the man-eating monster. Unfortunately for them, the Gargon has just had a rock hurled at it and it is not too pleased. So, when it encounters the search party, the Gargon attacks! The survivors report the monster is much larger than they thought it would be. It is later spotted near town and the citizens are told by their TV news reporter to seek shelter.
While Betty is deciding to go into the cellar with Grandpa, Derek suddenly has an idea of how to use the broken ray gun on the Gargon. He and Betty drive off and find the Gargon. Derek springs into action, climbing the powerline pole as Betty reminds him he cannot cut live wires (idiot!). Luckily, Betty is not an idiot and finds a phone box to call the electrical generating plant engineer to turn the power off until they are ready. The engineer isn’t quite convinced but does as he is instructed, diverting enough electricity to restore the ray gun and take down the Gargon once and for all.
The Gargon now defeated, Derek senses his people are almost back to Earth with the herds of Gargon. He tells Betty he must go and she reluctantly lets him. Grandpa and Joe (a reporter and Betty’s friend, played by Tom Graeff) show up, and Betty explains everything to them before the three of them return to the house just in time to see Derek leaving the house. Derek is back in uniform and demands Joe take him to where Thor is being held, resorting to pointing the ray gun at him when Joe initially refuses. Betty is frantic and doesn’t believe Derek would break his promise to her, so she and Grandpa head to the cave while Derek and Joe get Thor. Betty is vindicated when Derek, Joe, and Thor show up at the cave site. Derek and Betty have one last moment together as the main spacecraft lands. To Derek’s surprise, the Supreme Leader—his father—is also on the craft. They discuss Derek’s wrong-doings and he then convinces his father to allow him to give the instructions to the rest of the space crafts for landing. But he has duped them! Derek does navigate the spaceships to land. . . crash land! All ships are destroyed, and Thor, the Supreme Leader, the Captain, and Derek are all killed, as well. Betty, Grandpa, and Joe emerge from the cave unscathed, and Betty now fully understands Derek’s plan. Angel Derek appears in the sky to remind her of his promise to make the Earth his home and to never, ever leave it. Our remaining heroes walk off screen and . . . THE END.
Betty’s Quick Review
Teenagers from Outer Space was one of the first “B” movies I was introduced to in my cheesy movie tutorship under Kevin. He thought I would find it terrible and silly, but I was truly entertained by the film. The prop quality isn’t great, the acting is cheesy, and the Gargons are, well, lobsters. BUT, it is a solid story and lots of fun. And it may or may not have had quite an influence on me . . .
