Encino Man

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Encino Man

PG

1992

1h 29m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

18%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

California teen Dave Morgan (Sean Astin) is digging a pit for a pool in his backyard when he happens upon a caveman frozen in a block of ice. Aided by his goofy friend Stoney (Pauly Shore), Dave transports their discovery to his garage, where the Neanderthal thaws and is revived. When Dave and Stoney find the living and thoroughly bewildered caveman, they attempt to pass him off as a foreign exchange student named Link (Brendan Fraser), resulting in many misadventures.

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Critics Consensus

Encino Man isn't the first unabashedly silly comedy to embrace its stupidity and amass a cult following, but whether or not it works for you will largely be determined by your tolerance for Pauly Shore.

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Hugo Davenport

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Jun 6, 2023

The warp factor of Shore's customized Californian dialect goes well beyond Wayne's World. In fact I found it as inscrutable as the reason why anyone at all should go see this movie, save for Brendan Fraser's lumbering enthusiasm as Link.

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Sheila Johnston

Independent (UK)

Nov 13, 2017

The film, school of Bob and Ted and Wayne and Garth, but inferior in all regards, illustrates the Theory of Reverse Evolution.

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Lawrence Cohn

Variety

Apr 30, 2008

Low-budget quickie is insulting even within its own no-effort parameters.

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Branyan Towe

Loud and Clear Reviews

Jul 29, 2024

3/5

The plot is nonsensical, with more telling the audience rather than showing, especially when it comes to the arcs of the characters. With that said, I had quite a bit of fun with this nonsense

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

May 9, 2021

2.5/4

...watchable yet somewhat disappointing...

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Malcolm L. Johnson

Hartford Courant

Apr 10, 2018

The strongest contender imaginable for the worst picture of the summer.

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Jeff D

@Username99999 Oct 21, 2026

This movie is a 90s pop culture icon for a reason. Everyone watched it back in the day for a reason. It’s fun! It’s original and it makes you smile, what more could you want? Everyone said it was a stupid movie back then, everyone also recommended watching it back then. It’s just a silly movie designed to make you tune out with a grin on your face for an hour and half. It works too.

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Ryan T

@Astronautullis Sep 7, 2026

For it's time it had everything a family comedy needed, unique story, great actors and the 90s! Definitely deserved more love.

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Ola G

@Ollie1972 Aug 12, 2026

I haven't seen this film since I came out, and it was hardly a treat to re-see this stupidity channeling Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Wayne's World and Beavis & Butthead. The teen movie clichés are a plenty and the idea of defrosting a caveman and make him some sort of high school poster boy to win popularity is just beyond idiocy to me. Pauly Shore's performance won him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star at the 13th Golden Raspberry Awards. Well deserved. The only thing that does work for this film is the great soundtrack. The rest needs to be placed in the trash bin.

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Freddy V

@RT18427309 Aug 9, 2026

Still funny and charming

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Jamie-Lee L

@JLoveBuzz Aug 3, 2026

Scoring this 5/5 to annoy all the people who take life too seriously. Chill-ax and get wheezy greezy bu-u-dy! Stupid 90s comedy gold!! 100% bringing back Paulry Shores unique one liners

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Diana T

@RT74126296 Jul 6, 2026

This movie is such a classic with so many good one liners!

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Les Mayfield

Director

Sean Astin

Dave

Brendan Fraser

Link

Pauly Shore

Stoney Brown

Megan Ward

Robyn Sweeney

Robin Tunney

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Synopsis

California teen Dave Morgan (Sean Astin) is digging a pit for a pool in his backyard when he happens upon a caveman frozen in a block of ice. Aided by his goofy friend Stoney (Pauly Shore), Dave transports their discovery to his garage, where the Neanderthal thaws and is revived. When Dave and Stoney find the living and thoroughly bewildered caveman, they attempt to pass him off as a foreign exchange student named Link (Brendan Fraser), resulting in many misadventures.

Director: Les Mayfield
Producer: George Zaloom
Screenwriter: Shawn Schepps
Production Co: Hollywood Pictures, Encino Man Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 22, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $40.0M
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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