Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)
An alien landing party arrives to prepare Earth as grazing range for their monstrous livestock, the Gargons. When young crewman Derek discovers the planet has intelligent life and refuses to go along, he goes on the run with a local girl, hunted by his shipmates' disintegrator ray as an escaped Gargon swells to enormous size.
Teenagers from Outer Space was almost single-handedly the work of Tom Graeff, who wrote, produced, directed, edited, shot, and — under a pseudonym — co-starred, on a budget of around twenty thousand dollars, with the alien “Gargon” menace rendered as a photographically enlarged lobster. Distributed by Warner Bros. and a commercial flop, it contributed to Graeff’s public breakdown later that year and lived on through television and Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Background
Teenagers from Outer Space was essentially a one-man production: Tom Graeff wrote, directed, produced, shot, and edited it, and also appears in the cast under a pseudonym. Made on a very small budget, its most memorable special effect, an enlarged monster menacing the cast, was created by photographing an ordinary lobster and projecting it onto the scene at a larger scale. The film struggled to find distribution and was a commercial failure.
What to watch for
Watch for the disintegration ray, which the aliens use on both animals and people, leaving behind only a glowing skeleton effect achieved with simple in-camera tricks. The film’s earnestness, much like other extremely low-budget science fiction of the period, is part of its appeal: it takes its story completely seriously despite the limited resources on screen. It has become a staple of bad-movie retrospectives and comedic riffing shows for exactly that reason.
