Teenage Zombies

Teenage Zombies is a 1959 American science-fiction horror film written and directed by Jerry Warren and starring Katherine Victor, Don Sullivan, Chuck Niles, and Warren's then-wife and production manager Brianne Murphy. Warren even wrote the screenplay for the film under his pen name Jacques Lecoutier (which he frequently misspelled in the credits).[1][2] Film historian Bill Warren wrote "This dreadful, leaden and depressingly cheap film does have one unusual aspect... it was actually made by Jerry Warren in its entirety."[3]

This article is about the American horror film. For the 2008 Nintendo DS game, see Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys!
Teenage Zombies
Promotional release poster
Directed byJerry Warren
Produced byJerry Warren
Written byJerry Warren
StarringKatherine Victor
Don Sullivan
Chuck Niles
Brianne Murphy
CinematographyAllen Chandler
Edited byJerry Warren
Distributed byGovernor Films Inc.
Release date
1959
Running time
73 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film is about a group of teenagers who are marooned on an island inhabited by a female mad scientist, her pet gorilla and a zombie slave named Ivan. She traps the kids in a cage down in her laboratory, plotting to use them as subjects for her zombie-making experimentation, so she can test out a drug she is working on for an unnamed foreign nation.

Although the film's credits include a 1957 copyright statement for G.B.M. Productions, the film was never registered for copyright.[4]

Plot

While taking their boat out for some water-skiing, a quartet of teens named Reg (Don Sullivan), Skip (Paul Pepper), Julie (Mitzie Albertson), and Pam (Brianne Murphy) accidentally discover an island run by a mad scientist named Doctor Myra (Katherine Victor) who, backed by foreign agents from "the East", intends to turn everyone in the United States into mindlessly obedient zombies.

The teenagers are captured by the hulking, bearded zombie Ivan (Chuck Niles) and imprisoned in cages down in Myra's basement, but the boys manage to escape, planning to find a way off the island and then come back to rescue the girls. When a couple of their young friends arrive with the local sheriff to save them, he turns out to be in league with Myra and has been supplying her with victims for her experiments.

A complicated fight scene serves as the climax, in which a previously zombified gorilla arrives just in time to attack Myra's henchmen and allow the teens to escape. They find Myra attempting to steal their boat and manage to capture her for the police. After they are safely back on the mainland and the proper authorities informed, it is implied that the teens will receive a reward for discovering the island and will have an audience with the President of the United States.

Cast
  • Don Sullivan as Reg
  • Katherine Victor as Dr. Myra
  • Steve Conte as Whorf
  • Brianne Murphy (Bri in the credits) as Pam
  • Mitch Evans (aka Evan Hayworth)[5] as the Gorilla
  • Chuck Niles as Ivan the Zombie
  • Paul Pepper as Skip
  • J.L.D. Morrison as Brandt
  • Mitzie Albertson as Julie
  • Jay Hawk as Morrie
  • Mike Concannon as Sheriff
  • Nan Green as Dotty
  • Don Neeley as Maj. Coleman

Production

Actress Katharine Victor said Jerry Warren "discovered" her when they met by chance as he was preparing Teenage Zombies in mid-1957. She was surprised that he gave her almost no directorial help while they were making the film.[5] Evan Hayworth (listed in the cast as Mitch Evans) said he played the gorilla wearing a cheap rental costume.[5]

Famed L.A. disc jockey Chuck Niles appeared as Ivan the Zombie in the film.[6] He later said ""I was just walking around like Frankenstein, that's all, no lines, just 'gluergugluergu,' and I'm pretty good at that.....the movie was just terrible".[6] Bruce Eder of Rovi wrote that lead actor Don Sullivan also appeared in two other 1950's cult films, The Giant Gila Monster and The Monster of Piedras Blancas.[7]

The film's poster promised "Young Pawns Thrust into Pulsating Cages of Horror in a Sadistic Experiment", but film historian Bill Warren said "It's doubtful anyone expected much more than the dreck they got....it's not just bad, it's terrible".[8]

Release

While the American Film Institute states that the film was released in April 1960 at the same time as The Incredible Petrified World[9], Bill Warren in his book Keep Watching the Skies states that the film was released in December, 1959 on a double bill with The Incredible Petrified World.[10]

References
  1. Warren, Bill (2017-01-12). Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, the 21st Century Edition. ISBN 9781476625058.
  2. Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. ISBN 0-89950-170-2. Page 767
  3. Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. ISBN 0-89950-170-2. Page 445
  4. "Teenage Zombies". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  5. Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. ISBN 0-89950-170-2. Page 446
  6. Landsberg, Mitchell (17 March 2004). "Chuck Niles, 76; Voice of L.A.'s Jazz Radio" – via LA Times.
  7. https://www.fandango.com/people/don-sullivan-652826/biography
  8. Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. ISBN 0-89950-170-2. Page 447
  9. "Teenage Zombies". American Film Institute. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  10. Warren, Bill (2009-10-19). Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, The 21st Century Edition. McFarland. p. 922. ISBN 0786442301. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
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