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Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)

Invasion of the Gargon
Killers from Outer Space
The Boy from Out of This World
The Gargon Terror


Cast:

David Love is Derek
Dawn Bender is Betty Morgan
Bryan Grant is Thor
Harvey B. Dunn is Grandpa Morgan
Tom Graeff is Joe Rogers


What the box says:

Aliens invade Earth! And they plan to use the plaent as breeding ground for their herds of giant, flesh-eating creatures called garagons! But the pitiless plan begins to go wrong when one of their own - teenage alien Derek - protests. Derek objects to raising the ravenous gargons on a planet inhabited by intelligent life, particulary a world that's home to the pretty teenage Earth girl, Betty.

An interplanetary romance has begun! As the gargons wreac havoc, Derek and Betty vow to face teh evil aliens and their lethal ray guns...to save Earth! Will they succeed, and at what cost? Pop the corn, dim the lights, and sit back and enjoy this classic, sci-fi cult favoite!


Plot:

A spaceship lands on Earth.


No flying saucers around here...
Several humanoid aliens emerge and report to their leader. After taking readings, Derrick finds signs of intelligent life. He holds the captain hostage to keep from reporting that the Gargans can’t graze on Earth. Derrick won’t endanger humans.

Captain gets the drop on Derrick. Inspecting the Gargans, they discover the atmosphere has killed the Gargans. They’ll have to find another planet and execute Derrick. He manages to escape. .

Captain reports to the home planet and learns that Derrick is the leader’s son. Captain and Thor discover the Gargans aren’t dead but growing which makes Earth suitable for growing the animals.

The leader wants Derrick caught. Captain sends Thor to retrieve him.

Derrick wanders to the city. Betty and her grandpa meet him and think he want to rent their room.


The rent on the room is only a spleen every other week.

Thor heads into the city and his charming attitude leads him to disintegrating several guys.


Captain Kirk's phaser isn't anywhere as powerful as my laser disintegrator.

Betty takes Derrick swimming. He explains that her dog was killed. She goes to where Sparky was killed.

Grandpa mistakes Thor as a friend of Derrick’s and tells him where to go.

Betty isn’t sure what happened when she finds Sparky’s skeleton. Derrick convinces Betty to take him to talk with a college science professor, Simpson.

Thor finds Betty friend. Questioning her about Derrick, he disintegrates her.


A skeleton driving a car and not in a William Castle movie...

Betty and Derrick head on. Betty leaves a note for Grandpa telling him they’re going to the college. Grandpa tells Thor where they went.

At the college, Betty and Derrick can’t find Professor Simpson. Thor is able to find the professor and vaporizes him.

Thor wants to capture Derrick and have grandpa to help find him. Thor gets in a gunfight and vaporizes several cops. Derrick looks for Thor who is wounded and hides in a car. Thor forces Derrick and Betty to take him to a doctor.

Grandpa tells Joe, the reporter the story and that Thor kidnapped Derrick and Betty.

Thor forces the doctor to remove the bullets. Derrick learns he’s the son of the leader and that the Gargans didn’t die but grew bigger. While Thor passes out, Derrick, Betty, and the doctor escape.

Joe the reporter and a cop head to the mineshaft.

The nurse finds a passed out guy, Thor, in the doctor’s office. Bandaging him and revives him, he forces her to drive him to safety.

At the mineshaft, the Gargan attacks the cop. Thor arrives. Joe drives off. Thor chases and drives afterwards. He crashes the car. Joe tells the nurse and the monster in the cave. Thor is taken to the hospital before being taken to jail.

Betty and Derrick search for Thor’s weapon. She realizes that Derrick is an alien. He explains how his people are raised without families, etc…Finding the weapon, they discover it is broken and can’t be used on the Gargan. Derrick will have to fix the disintegrator to kill the Gargan and give the weapon to Earth to defend against invasion.

Later, Derrick thinks he can hook the disintegrator to the power lines to stop the Gargan.


Get me some melted butter, and we'll shut Red Lobster out of business.
He hooks up the lines. Max the power, he vaporizes the Gargan.

Grandpa, Betty, and Joe find Derrick who has Joe take him to Thor. Grandpa and Betty head to the old mineshaft. Derrick frees Thor from the hospital.

The newscast announces that flying saucers are approaching as people are panicking.

Mine, Grandpa and Betty see Derrick and Thor arrive as the guide ship lands. Captain and the leader greet Derrick who volunteers to lead the alien fleet to Earth. He orders the ships in too fast and crash.

Grandpa, Betty, and Joe see the wreckage as Derrick’s narration about making Earth his home.


What I say:

B-movies has so many sub-genres be they horror, sci-fi, Kung Fu, 80s action, Blaxsploitation, etc... The 1950s sci-fi has plenty of material. While we can mention movies in the 1950s sci-fi genre like the classics: Earth Versus the Flying Saucers, the Day the Earth Stood Still, and the Thing From Another World. However, beyond those quality 1950s sci-fi, there is still the low budget 1950s sci-fi movie. Any movie that has a shadow of a lobster as the giant monster deserves respect. However, Teenagers From Outer Space is more in line with Plan 9 From Outer Space.

The 1950s started to have a bigger call for "teenagers" in movies including movies like Teenage Zombies. What better way to make aliens besides the little green men from Mars than by having alien teenagers running around ray-gunning Earth teens on the way to the sock-hop?

Typically, all aliens are evil and want to destroy or enslave the Earthlings. We have Derek who isn't as bloodthirsty as his others. He's so swell to believe that humanity is worth saving and quickly falls in love with the laid back Earth lifestyle. Good thing he didn't land in New York City, he'd be letting the Gargons go himself. Though Gargons versus the alligators in the New York City sewers would be quality entertainment, it would have almost been a zombie versus shark quality battle.

The alien who decides to defend Earth at the expense of his own people is quite a leap from the typical aliens that wish to use Earth for their own purposes. Though, any alien race that can travel through space ought to be able to find a place to grow the Gargans for food. Though, Thor mainly insults humans who are obviously below his "Superior race." It is a shame that aliens have to get in their flying saucer to fly to Earth to use the land for farming.

Alien has a death ray and runs around to places some girls grandfather says to zap them into skeleton remains. It seems suspicious to anyone watching cop shows to not suspect that Gramps lacked having a ulterior motive. Well, since Betty was living with Gramps, her parents must have been dead. What kid wouldn't be living with their parents in the 1950s unless they were livingly-impaired? Obviously, Gramps was holding the insurance money on them in some sort of trust fund. He then got the idea to get rid of her after watching Double Indemnity.

Point to Ponder:
What kind alien race has both names like Thor and Derrick?



2 1/2 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

"Of none to you, Thor."
"Did you know your brother?"
"Somebody killedSparky?"
"You are not focused."
"When we return to our planet, the high court may well sentence you to *torture* and death for your treason. "
"I must resume radiovision contact!"


Morals of the Story

Flashlights will disintegrate people.
Lasers can't disintegrate bones.
All alien uniforms look like military uniforms.
Lobster Shadows are giants.


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