History Film / TeenagersFromOuterSpace

''Teenagers from Outer Space'' is a 1959 SF CultClassic SnarkBait BMovie written, directed and produced by Tom Graeff. A pair of ... [[DawsonCasting "teenagers"]] from outer space land their spaceship on Earth, and they decide that this is the perfect planet to begin a ranch for [[strike:giant lobsters]] [[CallARabbitASmeerp gargons]]. The idealistic young crew member Derek makes a moral objection when he sees there is already life on the planet. Then he makes an armed objection, attempting mutiny; he fails, and has to escape the wrath of his crew (after all, the high court might have sentenced him to...never mind) and flees to a small town nearby. There he meets Betty - the most Fifties girl in that Fifties world. Meanwhile, the brash [[KickTheDog dog kicker]] Thor is sent to capture him -- alive; it turns out that Derek's secretly the son of "Our Leader". Meanwhile, the gargons have grown huge and have to be destroyed.

* {{BGM}}: Virtually all of the music used in the film is actually stock music from the Capitol production library, much of it composed by Spencer Moore.

* ShoutOut: Derek is clearly based on Klaatu (of "Barada Nikto" fame) from ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951''.

* DownerEnding:
** Derrick's HeroicSacrifice at the end of the film causes his death after the only remotely happy days of his life.
** Although near the end Derrick mentions there's a revolt brewing on the homeplanet, which would be triggered once they find out the leader's dead.

* HeroicSacrifice: Derek tricks the fleet bringing the Gargons to Earth into crashing to end the threat once and for all -- while he's at ground zero.

For the ''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' version, please go to the [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S04E04TeenagersFromOuterSpace episode recap page]].

* AxCrazy: Thor.

* BeardOfEvil: "Our Leader"

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Gargons, as you can guess.

* DownerEnding: Derrick's HeroicSacrifice at the end of the film causes his death after the only remotely happy days of his life.

* DullSurprise: Most characters.

* GiantEnemyCrab: The Gargon.

* HumanoidAliens: To an annoying extent.
* {{Jerkass}}: Thor.

* OffTheShelfFX: Again, that darn Atomic Disintegrator, which was a plastic toy with sometimes-visible label.

* SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl: Betty
* ShinyLookingSpaceships: The alien ships

* SpaceClothes: The alien uniforms

The movie is considered public domain and can also be unlocked in the game ''DestroyAllHumans''.

* DawsonCasting: ''Teenagers'' from outer space? To be fair, only ''one'' alien was supposed to be a teenager, and the title was a marketing gimmick common in the 50's to get high school students to come see your film (put "Teenage" in the title). The actor playing the "teen alien" is still too old.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The distributor picked the title ''Teenagers From Outer Space'', figuring that it would attract the widest possible audience -- the working title was ''The Boy From Out of This World''. The title change had the side-effect of retroactively making Derek and Thor {{egregious}} cases of DawsonCasting.

* HeyItsThatGuy: The spaceship captain would later become[[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald in the 1970s and 1980s]].
** Before that he was Siegfried's flunky in ''GetSmart'' - "Ve don't ''torchah' here!':

* RealLifeRelative: David Love, who played Derek, was the real-life boyfriend of the director Tom Graeff (who also played Joe Rogers in the movie, using the stage name Tom Lockyear).

* KickTheDog: The first thing Thor does is disintegrate a little puppy that was passing by.

* ShootTheDog: Thor, to ''everyone'', including a literal dog.

''Teenagers from Outer Space'' is a '50s era SF CultClassic SnarkBait BMovie about a pair of ... [[DawsonCasting "teenagers"]] from outer space. Their spaceship lands on Earth, and they decide that this is the perfect planet to begin a ranch for [[strike:giant lobsters]] [[CallARabbitASmeerp gargons]]. The idealistic young crew member Derek makes a moral objection when he sees there is already life on the planet. Then he makes an armed objection, attempting mutiny; he fails, and has to escape the wrath of his crew (after all, the high court might have sentenced him to...never mind) and flees to a small town nearby. There he meets Betty - the most Fifties girl in that Fifties world. Meanwhile, the brash [[KickTheDog dog kicker]] Thor is sent to capture him -- alive; it turns out that Derek's secretly the son of "Our Leader". Meanwhile, the gargons have grown huge and have to be destroyed.

* HeyItsThatGuy: The spaceship captain was [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald in the 1970's and 1980's]].

Shot for $14,000, which in technical film terms, is no money at all even by '50s standards. [[SpecialEffectsFailure It shows]].

The movie is considered public domain and can also be unlocked in the game ''DestroyAllHumans''.

* OneSceneWonder: King Moody as Spaceship Captain.

** Although near the end Derrick mention there's a revolt brewing on the homeplanet, which would be trigger once they find out the leader's dead.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The distributor picked the title "Teenagers From Outer Space", figuring that it would attract the widest possible audience -- the working title was "The Boy From Out of This World". The title change had the side-effect of retroactively making Derek and Thor {{egregious}} cases of DawsonCasting.

->---''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' In Unison: "TOR-CHAA!!!"

No relation to the {{Animesque}} [[Main/TeenagersFromOuterSpace role playing game]] of the same name.

* DownerEnding: Derrick's HeroicSacrifice at the end of the film causes his death after the only remotely happy days of his life.

* FakeDefector: Derek fakes a HeelTurn near the end when he learns of his heritage.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: the film's climax contains a massive invasion fleet of hundred upon hundreds of spaceships menacingly hovering over the town, descending and crashing simultaneously in a massive, cataclysmic fireball...offscreen. It's obvious that they only built one prop UFO and had no way of depicting an explosion, so we just get characters ''talking'' about the fleet and hiding from the blast.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: the film's climax contains a massive invasion fleet of hundred upon hundreds of spaceships menacingly hovering over the town, descending and crashing simultaneously in a massive, cataclysmic fireball...offscreen. It's obvious that they only built one prop UFO and had no way of depicting and explosion, so we just get characters ''talking'' about the fleet and hiding from the blast.

* ShoutOut: Derek is clearly based on Klaatu (of "Barada Nikto" fame) from TheDayTheEarthStoodStill.