Teen Wolf (1985) Atlantic/Comedy-Horror RT: 91 minutes Rated PG (language, innuendo, teen partying, drinking and drug use) Director: Rod Daniel Screenplay: Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman Music: Miles Goodman Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt Release date: August 23, 1985 (US) Cast: Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, Matt Adler, Lorie Griffin, James MacKrell, Mark Arnold, Jay Tarses, Mark Holton, Scott Paulin, Elizabeth Gorcey, Melanie Manos, Doug Savant, Charles Zucker. Box Office: $33M (US)/$80M (World)
Rating: **
I remember liking Teen Wolf more than I did when I rewatched it this past weekend. Of course, I was still in my teens the last time I watched it. Now it’s mediocre at best. An 80s update of I Was a Teenage Werewolf, it stars Michael J. Fox as the titular lycanthrope. At the time, the actor was riding high on the success of both a popular sitcom (Family Ties) and the summer’s number one movie (Back to the Future). It was originally supposed to come out in the spring, but the studio, correctly predicting that Back to the Future would be a huge hit, moved it to late August to capitalize on Fox’s increased popularity. $33 million may not seem like much now, but back then it was a nice chunk of change for a dumb PG teen comedy like Teen Wolf.
Fox plays Scott Howard, a 17YO high school student who’s average in almost every way. He works in his father’s hardware store. He’s a member of his school’s losing basketball team. He has a crush on the hottest girl in school Pamela (Griffin, Cheerleader Camp), a stuck-up you-know-what who won’t say two words to him. While he’s crushing on her, he doesn’t notice his best friend since childhood, a sweet girl named Boof (Ursitti, Zapped!), has a thing for him. He spends most of his time goofing around with his best friends Stiles (Levine, Iron Eagle) and Lewis (Adler, North Shore).
One day, all of a sudden, Scott starts undergoing certain changes. He finds long hairs on his chest. His voice deepens to a growl. His fingernails turn into claws. His eyes glow red when angered. Then he grows hair all over. It’s not puberty, but lycanthropy which Dad (Hampton, Hangar 18) explains runs in the family but sometimes “skips a generation”. It obviously hasn’t with Scott. Afraid of what others will think at first, his attitude changes when he transforms during a game and leads his team to their first win in three years. With his newfound b-ball skills, he becomes instantly popular among his classmates as “Wolf Fever” sweeps the school. Naturally, he lets it go to his head.
Directed by Rod Daniel (Like Father, Like Son), Teen Wolf follows the same plot trajectory as every teen comedy dealing with an average kid’s brush with popularity. All of it is absolutely predictable right down the lessons about humility and being true to yourself. Never once does it stray from formula. Take the romantic conflict. We know it’s not going to go down how Scott wants it too with Pamela. She doesn’t pay attention to him until he’s the wolf. Even then, she’s still mean and selfish. Their one date is actually a ploy to make her psycho boyfriend Mick (Arnold, Santa Barbara) jealous. On the other hand, Boof sends out every signal imaginable and Scott doesn’t get it until it’s almost too late. Between the two, even a blind person can see who Scott should be with. Don’t even get me started on the big game at the end. You know how these things normally go, right?
Predictability is NOT the main problem with Teen Wolf. No, that would be its failure to have fun with its central premise. What makes An American Werewolf in London work so well is how it goofs on clichés of the werewolf genre- e.g. silver bullets, full moons, surviving an attack, etc. In Teen Wolf, such things are mentioned only briefly in one scene and never expounded on. Instead, they’re cast aside in favor of the things we expect from teen comedies without elements of horror.
There are a few bright spots scattered throughout the movie’s 91 minutes. It has a better than average cast of actors too old to pass as high school students. Except for Fox, he was eternally young back then. He looked like a teen until he was close to 30. In any event, he’s a good leading guy. Hampton has some nice moments as a father who really does understand. He too is a werewolf, one with a history with the vice principal (MacKrell, The Howling) who’s been giving Scott a hard time for personal reasons. Ursitti, who left acting in ’97, is endearing as a nice girl next door type. Levine, doing his best Judd Nelson impression, has his moments as Stiles, always with a scheme up his sleeve. I wish they had done more with Adler’s character; we never really get to know the guy. He seems nice.
I’ll also faintly praise Teen Wolf for the transformation scene. It’s reminiscent of Lon Chaney in The Wolf Man. Other than that, there’s nothing exceptional about Teen Wolf. I neither like nor hate it. It’s watchable, but hardly memorable. It won’t have you howling with laughter or in pain. It’s just there and only barely.
