An old archeologist ventures out into the desert to find his daughter. The two seem to be rather estranged and not to friendly with each other. He tells her that he has a brain tumor and can die at anytime, but, wants her help in discovering what he believes to be the fountain of youth threw the local native tribes. The two do find the fountain witch the old man drinks from, and to there surprise he is young again, but, only for a short time. He then discovers that a sacrifice must be made to hold everlasting life from the fountain, but, with dire consequences. I'm not going to say this was a masterpiece or anything but I'm not quite sure why the other reviewers thought this was really bad, I mean three star ratings really?? On the down side they put star Leif Garrett in some bad looking old man makeup, and the fact that the ending sorta cops out without showing you the main characters fate did kinda irritate me. However the acting is better this time around and I did like the old Native American wise man. As for the complaints that there wasn't any monster in this episode maybe you need to watch it again because I'm pretty sure the monster here was human.
5 Reviews
A really bad episode.
poolandrews31 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Monsters: Half as Old as Time starts as Professor Miner (Leif Garret) admits to his daughter Jacquline (Valerie Wildman) that he is dying from a brain tumour & begs her to help him find the fountain of youth from native American legend that they have both studied. Wanting to help her dying father Jacqueline agrees & takes him to where she believes the life giving waters to be, once there & despite warnings from a local native American (Nick Ramus) the Professor drinks the water & his youth & health are restored but the price of eternal youth is high, much higher than Professor Miner ever thought. The only question is whether the price is worth it...
Episode eleven from season two of Monsters this originally aired in the US during December 1989, directed by Christopher Todd this is a pretty bad episode all round from the dull sounding title to the lack of any horror or monsters to a throughly lacklustre ending to the very cheap looking production values. The whole episode is a build-up to the ending which is fairly forgettable & has little impact because even though we are told what will happen to Professor Miner we don't see it & as it's rather obscure it's difficult to visualise or relate to in any meaningful way. There's zero horror content here & the episode plays out like a moralistic warning about not being able to turn the clock back & just accepting the fact that 'time waits for no man' as it were. To be honest I am not really sure who this would or was indeed meant to appeal to. There's only three character's in this, only two locations & very little of any interest happens, even at only twenty odd minutes Half as Old as Time drags. With this & the previous episode The Mandrake Root (1989) which was also a stinker Monsters has gone into a mid-season lull, hopefully things will pick up again soon.
Unusally this episode of Monsters looks pretty cheap, maybe they had to throw this very cheap looking thing together because they were running out of money having used it on some of the better episodes. The cave set looks cheap as does the main Snake like statue prop & there's no monsters or gore or special effects expect some old age make-up applied to actor Leif Garret. The acting isn't that good, Leif Garret playing a very old version of himself seems to be too self conscious & all the mannerisms seem very forced.
Half as Old as Time is one of the poorest Monsters episodes, it's right down there as far as I am concerned. In fact I can't really think of anything positive to say about it other than at least it's short.
Episode eleven from season two of Monsters this originally aired in the US during December 1989, directed by Christopher Todd this is a pretty bad episode all round from the dull sounding title to the lack of any horror or monsters to a throughly lacklustre ending to the very cheap looking production values. The whole episode is a build-up to the ending which is fairly forgettable & has little impact because even though we are told what will happen to Professor Miner we don't see it & as it's rather obscure it's difficult to visualise or relate to in any meaningful way. There's zero horror content here & the episode plays out like a moralistic warning about not being able to turn the clock back & just accepting the fact that 'time waits for no man' as it were. To be honest I am not really sure who this would or was indeed meant to appeal to. There's only three character's in this, only two locations & very little of any interest happens, even at only twenty odd minutes Half as Old as Time drags. With this & the previous episode The Mandrake Root (1989) which was also a stinker Monsters has gone into a mid-season lull, hopefully things will pick up again soon.
Unusally this episode of Monsters looks pretty cheap, maybe they had to throw this very cheap looking thing together because they were running out of money having used it on some of the better episodes. The cave set looks cheap as does the main Snake like statue prop & there's no monsters or gore or special effects expect some old age make-up applied to actor Leif Garret. The acting isn't that good, Leif Garret playing a very old version of himself seems to be too self conscious & all the mannerisms seem very forced.
Half as Old as Time is one of the poorest Monsters episodes, it's right down there as far as I am concerned. In fact I can't really think of anything positive to say about it other than at least it's short.
Another junk episode
Leofwine_draca9 April 2015
MONSTERS seems to be getting worse and worse. These season 2 episodes - I watched this at the same time as HABITAT - seem to be missing any real monster action and instead feature dull characters in dull story lines. HALF AS OLD AS TIME sees an elderly man searching for the fountain of youth, which he discovers thanks to some Native American mythology.
Unfortunately to regain his younger years the old man must make a terrible sacrifice, and the entire episode hinges on whether or not he'll go through with it after all. Sadly it's nowhere near as dramatic as it sounds, the cheesy production values giving it a pantomime feel instead. For some reason a young actor plays the old man in makeup, which is hardly convincing, and the acting is very poor.
Unfortunately to regain his younger years the old man must make a terrible sacrifice, and the entire episode hinges on whether or not he'll go through with it after all. Sadly it's nowhere near as dramatic as it sounds, the cheesy production values giving it a pantomime feel instead. For some reason a young actor plays the old man in makeup, which is hardly convincing, and the acting is very poor.
Excellent
hrdvd-0573927 January 2019
Fine episode
Woodyanders27 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Dying old man Dr. Miner (a strong and credible performance by Leif Garrett) asks his archeologist daughter Jacqueline (ably played by Valerie Wildman) to reveal the location of a forbidden Native American fountain of youth that's rumored to be protected by a powerful snake god.
Director Christopher Todd relates the absorbing story at a constant pace as well as maintains a somber tone throughout. Thomas Babe's intriguing script poses a pertinent and provocative central question pertaining to how far a person is willing to go in order to obtain immortality. 70's teen idol Garrett makes for a surprisingly convincing ailing elderly man; he really nails the raw desperation of this character. Nick Ramus lends sturdy support as the sage Saspondo. The grim ironic ending packs a brutal punch. An on the money show.
Director Christopher Todd relates the absorbing story at a constant pace as well as maintains a somber tone throughout. Thomas Babe's intriguing script poses a pertinent and provocative central question pertaining to how far a person is willing to go in order to obtain immortality. 70's teen idol Garrett makes for a surprisingly convincing ailing elderly man; he really nails the raw desperation of this character. Nick Ramus lends sturdy support as the sage Saspondo. The grim ironic ending packs a brutal punch. An on the money show.
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