Michael_Elliott Teen-age Strangler (1964) * (out of 4) Lt. Anderson (John Ensign) is investigating a string a woman who were murdered and he comes across Jimmy and his girlfriend Betty. It appears then two were together moments before Betty's friend was murdered and the suspect is Jimmy. Soon more bodies are turning up and a twist in the story happens.TEEN-AGE STRANGLER (the title on the Something Weird Video print) is a pretty awful movie from start to finish and its 61-minute running time feels almost triple that. The film is a complete failure but at the same time there are moments that are bad enough to where you can find yourself being entertained. I'm not sure what the filmmakers of this were thinking as it came about a decade too late.Even by 1964 standards this thing is kinda lame and shallow. There's certainly no shock value or exploitation moments going on so basically we're watching a bad and predictable mystery with a couple murders sprinkled throughout the running time. I must say that I did like Ensign in the role of the tough cop and I did have some fun watching him bully around some gang members. John Humphries is also memorable as the brother who has some sort of "issue" that will certainly give the viewer some laughs.These bad moments are thankfully bad and campy enough to add some entertainment value to the picture. Still, the horror, mystery and "hot rod" aspects of the film are rather boring so it's too bad but there's really not much here.

mtckoch This film is, without a doubt, one of the oddest, campiest, and most enjoyable I have ever come across. It isn't a teen movie, a thriller, or a true crime film, however it tries to be all three at once. Teen-Age Strangler(the title I saw it under on Mystery Science Theater 3000), is one of those films you watch, and say "So this is where that horror/crime cliché came from!" From the creepy janitor, the shower kill covered up by a turned-up rockin' radio, to the lipstick-marked victims, this movie runs like a thriller paint-by-numbers. All this being said, Teen-Age Strangler is a good popcorn film, great for the times you need a good dozen laughs. One thing I found off-putting was the killer's reveal and explanation for their crimes. There was a chance for a great creepy speech dripping with venom, but the actual one sounds vague and tired. Why did he use a stocking as his garrote? What did the lipstick mean? Did he really "touch" that girl years ago? Watch and see if you can guess the truth, and have a killer time doing it!

ronfrankl Yes, it's amateurish, but this movie is also a lot of fun. It's a teen-age gang movie and a strangler movie all in one package. And "Yipes Stripes," the film's big musical production number, will stick in your head for days. It probably cost about $500 to make this movie but don't worry, they got every dollar on the screen. The violence is more implied than shown, and while there's not a lot of action, the story moves fairly quickly. Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 may remember their take on this picture, but it's entertaining even without Mike and the robots. Somehow there's a sweetness to this movie, and for fans of trashy movies, this is a must-see.

Dextrousleftie Totally and utterly lame-o, with such a high cheese factor that it makes for hysterical viewing. 'Teenage' Strangler(never understood this one, as the killer isn't a teenager nor is he exclusively killing teens), is a vastly awful film, not quite on the level of Manos but pretty close. To start with, the 'actors' are all rejects from the local community theater. The worst example is not the over-dramatic Betty or the incredibly whiny Mikey, but actually the woman playing Betty's Mom. She is laughing and upbeat the entire time she is talking about the tragedy that saw her daughter's friend strangled right in front of her eyes, and she is so chipper to the cop that's come to talk to her traumatized daughter that one wonders what she had been smoking or popping just before she came on set. The dialog is horrible and wooden, and there are weird sound affects here and there. Not to mention that someone is clearly heard giggling in the background when the cop is standing over the dead body of a strangled girl while solemnly talking about the murder. Just who, one wonders, thought that this death was so funny? The police station looks like it's in the boys' bathroom of a gymnasium, with pink tiles on the walls. The guy who comes to haul the first body away is dressed like a milkman. And what's with the girl dressed like a Swedish barmaid who introduces the horrid song 'Yipes Stripes'? The sets and clothing aside, the dialog ignored, we come to the tragic excuse for a plot. Some guy is strangling girls and women with pantyhose. Its obvious from the get go that it's the creepy janitor - I mean, come on, people! So the director decided to forgo all suspense, I guess. The only other suspects are the world's most mousy, politest 'gang', consisting of five respectful, well-mannered boys whose only claim to being bad is that they wear leather jackets with bulldogs on the back. And something tells me that they made those jackets themselves in Home Ec. I mean, the oh-so-bad Jimmy actually respected the grounding his Dad gave him! And he was polite to the cop, too. What kind of bad ass is this guy?There's a hysterical drag race in which Grandmas on walkers could have outrun the cars, not to mention the sound of squealing tires on dirt. And the best part of the film, if Jimmy would have just hit and done in the horrible little Mikey, just didn't come about. Dammit! It's a toss-up as to who had the best histrionics, Betty or Mikey. The scene where they both whine and wail at the top of their lungs in the police station makes one want to rip one's hair out in sheer agony. When you're not laughing your butt off, that is. I feel sorry for the guy playing the cop, to have to be in the same room with those two while they were both 'emoting'. The janitor finally gets it in the end, before he can finish off the annoying Betty. Double Dammit! When he gets shot, there's no blood or bullet hole. Maybe the sounds of the gun shots scared him into a fatal heart attack? And then there'a a painfully long closing scene of people dancing very, very badly. All in all, this film just didn't work on many, many levels. Not as a morality tale, not as a suspense thriller, not as a drama, not as a teen movie, and not as a film with a good soundtrack. And what was with the opening credits that looked like somebody had made them in wood shop? Teenage Strangler is good for many belly laughs, and should be must-see viewing as an MST3K episode.