Director: Gerald Seth Sindell
Stars: Andrea Cagan, Joe Warfield, Sue Bernard
Genre: Drama | Action
MPAA Rating:
Format: VHS
Running Time: 85 Mins
Tagline: "She is Ready To Try Anything"
THE MOVIE ITSELF:
It amazes me how many exploitation movies exist, the list is immense believe me. I had no plans to see an exploitation movie when I picked this movie up, in fact this was part of my 80's movie hunt. I came across "Teenager" on a VHS site solely dedicated to covers of different studios from the 80's.
The cover on my left has nothing to do with the actual film, neither does the tagline. In fact, the movie is not really about a teenager. There is a Teenager in the movie, and her character is somewhat important to the film, but it has little impact on the rest of the flick.The real story centers on a lunatic filmmaker who will do anything to get his crazy little film project completed. His film, which seems to be about a motorcycle gang, is going over-budget and he needs funding to complete the picture. We find out that the director is getting funding from a producer he is having an affair with; her contribution is the only means by which he can get the film released.
With the funding, the frenetic director chooses a location that results problematic. His intentions are to have all the actors portray their parts as they please, and to stay in character no matter what. This results in conflict and confusion with the townspeople; they believe the actors are in fact criminals coming in to sack the town clean. The director tries to convince and explain to them that it is all an act, and that if any damages are to occur the films production budget will cover all expenses and damages. Yet, all futile, one of the actors end up committing a heinous crime. Being left with little choice, the actor flees town before the authorities seek him out. However, the director will not stop until he gets his film completed, even if he has to track down a soon to be convict, his film will see the light of day...or will it?
So, with all the above mentioned, where does the "Teenager" aspect fit in to the whole mess? Well, the only teenager in the film is young girl named Carey, who is very much interested in the production of the film. She falls madly for the guy who ends up escaping the authorities. In all, her scenes sum up to about 20-30 min of the film. In fact, if her character was removed from the film, it wouldn't have made much of a difference, being that the real story of the movie is the film within the film. The real title of this movie should have been "Director" or "Going Over Budget"
The movie as a whole is kind of a mess, it tries being slick and fresh by presenting some of the problems that amateur directors face when in production for a picture; but the execution is rather poor and unsatisfying. The main issue with the movie, aside the false advertisement, is the actual story of the movie the director wants to film-we never get a sense of what type of picture he is dealing with other than being a bike gang related picture. At times the actual movie feels just as bizarre and pointless as the movie he is filming. And let me not get talking about the abrupt and idiotic ending...Lets just say that I have never seen such stupidity on screen. The ending tried to be moralistic, but all it did was show how not to complete or make a movie for that matter.
PICTURE QUALITY:
The copy I own of this movie is on VHS and it so happens that it is out of print. I paid about $ 5 just last year for it. Now, it goes for as high as $30. Listen, don't bother, the movie isn't worth it. The story is pathetic, the only credit I give the filmmakers is for trying to make a film within a film, but their final product is just a plain stinker. And speaking of stinker, the picture quality on this turd is god awful. I have seen plenty bad VHS tapes in my day, but this one really bites the dust. The colors are pale, their is grain, blemishes, scratches all over the screen. The quality looks like it was recorded in SLP Mode, even though it was recorded in SP Mode.
SOUND QUALITY:
The sound is just as trashy as the actual picture. Even though the VCR recognized Hi-Fi sound out of the tape, most of the dialogue was muddled and many times I had to raise the volume to get a clear understanding of what was going on. The issues with the sound and picture are more than likely problems coming from the actual source they used rather than the actual tape. Regardless, the sound was pure shit.
BOTTOM LINE:
I wouldn't recommend this flick to anyone, even to those who aspire to be filmmakers. You really won't get much out of this movie other than a jumbled mess that could have been avoided. If you really want to watch a better movie about film-making, take a look at The Auteur Theory which I reviewed some time back. Other than what I mentioned, I have nothing else to say about this tripe of a film. Avoid it, and since it's unknown and hard to find, it won't be that difficult to do so.
Stars: Andrea Cagan, Joe Warfield, Sue Bernard
Genre: Drama | Action
MPAA Rating:
Format: VHS
Running Time: 85 Mins
Tagline: "She is Ready To Try Anything"
THE MOVIE ITSELF:
It amazes me how many exploitation movies exist, the list is immense believe me. I had no plans to see an exploitation movie when I picked this movie up, in fact this was part of my 80's movie hunt. I came across "Teenager" on a VHS site solely dedicated to covers of different studios from the 80's.
The cover on my left has nothing to do with the actual film, neither does the tagline. In fact, the movie is not really about a teenager. There is a Teenager in the movie, and her character is somewhat important to the film, but it has little impact on the rest of the flick.The real story centers on a lunatic filmmaker who will do anything to get his crazy little film project completed. His film, which seems to be about a motorcycle gang, is going over-budget and he needs funding to complete the picture. We find out that the director is getting funding from a producer he is having an affair with; her contribution is the only means by which he can get the film released.With the funding, the frenetic director chooses a location that results problematic. His intentions are to have all the actors portray their parts as they please, and to stay in character no matter what. This results in conflict and confusion with the townspeople; they believe the actors are in fact criminals coming in to sack the town clean. The director tries to convince and explain to them that it is all an act, and that if any damages are to occur the films production budget will cover all expenses and damages. Yet, all futile, one of the actors end up committing a heinous crime. Being left with little choice, the actor flees town before the authorities seek him out. However, the director will not stop until he gets his film completed, even if he has to track down a soon to be convict, his film will see the light of day...or will it?
So, with all the above mentioned, where does the "Teenager" aspect fit in to the whole mess? Well, the only teenager in the film is young girl named Carey, who is very much interested in the production of the film. She falls madly for the guy who ends up escaping the authorities. In all, her scenes sum up to about 20-30 min of the film. In fact, if her character was removed from the film, it wouldn't have made much of a difference, being that the real story of the movie is the film within the film. The real title of this movie should have been "Director" or "Going Over Budget"
The movie as a whole is kind of a mess, it tries being slick and fresh by presenting some of the problems that amateur directors face when in production for a picture; but the execution is rather poor and unsatisfying. The main issue with the movie, aside the false advertisement, is the actual story of the movie the director wants to film-we never get a sense of what type of picture he is dealing with other than being a bike gang related picture. At times the actual movie feels just as bizarre and pointless as the movie he is filming. And let me not get talking about the abrupt and idiotic ending...Lets just say that I have never seen such stupidity on screen. The ending tried to be moralistic, but all it did was show how not to complete or make a movie for that matter.
PICTURE QUALITY:
The copy I own of this movie is on VHS and it so happens that it is out of print. I paid about $ 5 just last year for it. Now, it goes for as high as $30. Listen, don't bother, the movie isn't worth it. The story is pathetic, the only credit I give the filmmakers is for trying to make a film within a film, but their final product is just a plain stinker. And speaking of stinker, the picture quality on this turd is god awful. I have seen plenty bad VHS tapes in my day, but this one really bites the dust. The colors are pale, their is grain, blemishes, scratches all over the screen. The quality looks like it was recorded in SLP Mode, even though it was recorded in SP Mode.
SOUND QUALITY:
The sound is just as trashy as the actual picture. Even though the VCR recognized Hi-Fi sound out of the tape, most of the dialogue was muddled and many times I had to raise the volume to get a clear understanding of what was going on. The issues with the sound and picture are more than likely problems coming from the actual source they used rather than the actual tape. Regardless, the sound was pure shit.
BOTTOM LINE:
I wouldn't recommend this flick to anyone, even to those who aspire to be filmmakers. You really won't get much out of this movie other than a jumbled mess that could have been avoided. If you really want to watch a better movie about film-making, take a look at The Auteur Theory which I reviewed some time back. Other than what I mentioned, I have nothing else to say about this tripe of a film. Avoid it, and since it's unknown and hard to find, it won't be that difficult to do so.
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