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      “During the late 1950s, American International Pictures made a series of ‘teenage monster’ movies aimed at a youth audience (see posters above). For me this was something truly momentous. Up until that time my amateur horror movies featured teenagers playing adult characters. Now, with teenage werewolves and Frankensteins in vogue, I had the opportunity to try something more ‘believable’ – have my teenage actors actually play monsters their own age! As I was going through a black-leather jacket/motorcycle/teenage rebel phase at the time, nothing could be cooler for this teenage movie-maker.

The Fantasys (Tom "Duane" Werner, Paul "Buck" Klug and Don) ca. 1961 in Don's Chicago basement, a setting for 19 of his amateur movies. Tom acted in Monster Rumble (as the Teenage Werewolf) and The Invisible Teenager, Paul (a Vandal, too) in I Was a Teenage Vampire, Return of the Teenage Werewolf, The Teenage Frankenstein Meets the Teenage Werewolf (as the latter), Revenge of the Teenage Werewolf and The Age of Reptiles. .

Poster for Roger Corman's TEENAGE DOLL

      “The casts featured in this new series of movies mostly guys I was either hanging around with the Chicago Vandals (a name lifted from the Roger Corman cult movie Teenage Doll) or playing in rock ‘n’ roll bands (e.g., the Rumbleites , Fantasys , Bel-Aires and Servels ) at the time. Although 'The Teenage Frankenstein' was the first ‘teenage monster movie,’ that film really belonged more in my ‘Classic Monster’ series as it was mostly about the old traditional characters.
      “In the tradition of those older Universal Pictures horror films, I eventually began to team up my stable of teenage monsters. Following are brief plot synopses of all my amateur movies in this series.”

“THE TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN” (1959, black & white) See: Don Glut's Classic Monster Movies

“THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF” (1959) Using hypnosis, mad and scarred Dr. Macabre (Ray Strezewski) transforms young Tony Rivers (Don Glut) into a Teenage Werewolf. The creature attacks Macabre, apparently killing him, then leaves the scientist’s laboratory to kill a teenager. Climbing a garage wall, the creature is knocked down by teenagers hurling snowballs, falling to an apparent death. (Note: Don's Teenage Werewolf makeup in this film was inspired by those used in "Werewolf Of London" and "Blood Of Dracula.")

“I WAS A TEENAGE APEMAN” (color, 1959) Dr. Macabre creates a Teenage Apeman by transplanting a teenager’s brain into the skull of a gorilla, then energizing the monster using Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory apparatus. The Teenage Apeman attacks Macabre, who shoots his creation before dieing (inspired by the movie "Dr. Renault's Secret").

“THE DAY I VANISHED” (color, 1959) Griffin (Don Glut), an insane teenager, invents an invisibility serum. When his teenaged Guinea pig escapes, he injects himself, vanishes and then runs the boy down with a car. Briefly Griffin dons clothes and bandages and attacks another teenager (Wayne Moretti). Later this teenager manages to find the unseen Griffin and stab him to death, returning him to visibility.

“I WAS A TEENAGE VAMPIRE” (color, 1959) Dracula’s teenaged son changes into a bat, then travels by steamship from Transylvania to America seeking new blood. There he preys upon members of the Vandals, a teenage gang. As the sun starts rising, he escapes the gang by transforming into a mist. When the Vultures, a rival gang, attacks the Vandals, the Teenage Dracula steals a Vandals motorcycle and flees to the cemetery where his coffin is hidden. The sun destroys the Teenage Vampire as he crashes into the cemetery gate.

“RETURN OF THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF” (color, 1959) Tony Rivers (Don Glut) shambles down an alley seeking help. He encounters members of the Vandals who give him a hard time. Transforming into the Teenage Werewolf, Tony kills them (one played by Paul Klug), and then attacks one of their girlfriends. Two other Vandals save her from the monster, then chase him in a car, running him down and apparently killing him.

“THE TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF” (color, 1959) Tony Rivers (Paul Klug), not dead after all, rises from his grave and kills one of the Vandals. Later, Tony, himself now a Vandal, and other members of the gang, beat up an ugly hunchback (Wendell Tillman), not knowing that he is Gregore Frankenstein , descendant of Dr. Frankenstein. Vowing revenge, Gregore goes into the woods where, in a coffin, the Teenage Frankenstein Monster (Don Glut) is hidden. Reviving the Monster, Gregore sends him to kill off the Vandals members. Tony, meanwhile, transforms into the Teenage Werewolf. The two teenaged horrors meet and fight. During their battle a dropped cigarette starts a forest fire. The Teenage Frankenstein Monster dies in flames as the Teenage Werewolf takes refuge in the river.

“REVENGE OF THE TEENAGE WEREWOLF” (1960) Tony Rivers (Don Glut) transforms into the Teenage Werewolf and resumes his killing spree. Later, in human form, he happens upon a rumble between rival gangs. Watching, he waits until the fight is over, then transforms again and kills a couple of the gang members. Human again, Tony tries to keep his cool until another teenager sneaks into his car and blares the horn, the sound being a catalyst for another metamorphosis. Once again the Teenage Werewolf begins attacking teenagers. One of his victims escapes and is joined by the one who had hit the horn. Together, using wooden stakes, bricks and bullets, they apparently kill the beast in an alley.

I have devoted a full page to Don's next Horror Classic. "MONSTER RUMBLE" (1961)

“THE INVISIBLE TEENAGER” (1962) Mad as ever, Griffin (Don Glut) escapes from a psychiatric hospital, steals a car and resumes his career as an Invisible Teenager. He wants to kill his former friend, a teenager whose testimony in court resulted in Griffin being institutionalized. The victim stalls his demise by talking the unseen Griffin into a strange game of pool. The game over, Griffin briefly dons clothes and bandages. Unable to escape, Griffin’s would-be victim shoots him, with death returning Griffin to visibility.

“DRAGSTRIP DRACULA” (1962) A curious teenager finds the staked skeleton of the Teenage Dracula (Don Glut) and revives him, becoming the vampire’s next victim. The vampire, briefly assuming mist and then bat form, seeks out more blood, inadvertently attacking a teenager who had been eating garlic. Dazed from the garlic on the kid’s breath, the Teenage Dracula pays no attention to the time and is destroyed by the rising sun.

Don Glut's Teenage Horror Movies    The Teenage Frankenstein   The Teenage Werewolf I Was A Teenage Apeman   The Day I Vanished     I Was A Teenage Vampire   Return Of The Teenage Werewolf    The Teenage Frankenstein Meets The Teenage Werewolf      Revenge Of The Teenage Werewolf Monster Rumble    The Invisible Teenager      Dragstrip Dracula     Sitemap

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