Teen Wolf Too (1987) Atlantic/Comedy-Horror RT: 94 minutes Rated PG (language, suggestive material) Director: Christopher Leitch Screenplay: R. Timothy Kring Music: Mark Goldenberg Cinematography: Jules Brenner Release date: November 20, 1987 (US) Cast: Jason Bateman, Kim Darby, Jon Astin, Paul Sand, Stuart Fratkin, Mark Holton, Estee Chandler, James Hampton, Beth Ann Miller, Robert Neary, Rachel Sharp, David Burton, William H. Burton, Kathleen Freeman. Box Office: $7.9M (US)
Rating: *
Teen Wolf Too is something you see every day, a sequel that absolutely nobody asked for. A follow-up to the so-so 1985 comedy-horror about a teenage werewolf, it tells the same basic story with a few minor changes. It replaces high school with college, basketball with boxing and Michael J. Fox with Jason Bateman (Silver Spoons, The Hogan Family). Other than these small details, it’s the same damn movie only not as good. Actually, it stinks.
Todd Howard (Bateman), the cousin of the original teen wolf, is attending Hamilton University on a boxing scholarship despite never having set foot in a ring in his life. Scott’s former basketball coach (now played by Paul Sand) changed jobs; he’s now the boxing coach at Hamilton. He recruits Todd hoping he inherited the family curse. Having a werewolf on his losing team would certainly turn things around for them. All Todd wants to do is study veterinary science and get to know Nicki (Chandler, Avenging Angel), a sweet, intelligent girl who likes the shy, awkward Todd.
The last thing Todd wants or needs is to be a werewolf. But you can’t hide from who or what you are. Sooner or later, it comes out. For Todd, it first comes out during an important reception that naturally descends into chaos replete with a large green Jello mold landing squarely on a deserving person’s head. Ha, ha, hoo boy. ANYWAY, Todd becomes an instant BMOC after transforming during a match and winning it by a knockout. Suddenly he’s surrounded by girls, getting unearned top grades and having his ass kissed by the college dean (Astin, The Addams Family). Predictably, he becomes a dick.
For whatever reason, the makers of Teen Wolf Too have Todd going to school with two of Scott’s old friends, Stiles (Stuart Fratkin of Ski School replaces Jerry Levine) and teammate Chubby (still played by Mark Holton of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure). It makes about as much sense as making a sequel to some mediocre comedy without its original lead (Fox refused to reprise his role). Then again, they managed to squeeze out three more Police Academy sequels after Steve Guttenberg left. In any event, it’s a desperate attempt to make something out of this flea-bitten dog of a teen comedy.
It’s bad enough they even made Teen Wolf Too to begin with. It’s compounded by its wastefulness where a few cast members are concerned. Kim Darby (Better Off Dead) has some good moments as Todd’s biology professor and faculty adviser. She, of course, has her reasons why she’s so concerned with the choices he’s making. No, she doesn’t have a thing for him. Chandler is endearing as a nice girl, the one Todd should be with. Instead, he sets his sights on the stuck-up Southern mean girl Lisa (Miller, Gimme an F) whose boyfriend Gus (Neary) is the psycho he’ll have to face in the big championship match at the end. I’ll personally arrange a free brain scan for anybody who can’t correctly guess the outcome.
Fratkin, a comic actor I really like, is pretty good as Stiles. Bateman, on the other hand, needs to go back to TV where he belongs. Unlike Fox, he can’t carry a feature film. I’m amazed he still has an acting career. In all fairness, he did improve with age. Astin is simply embarrassing as the faculty antagonist, a bullying jerk who doesn’t go anywhere without his vicious dog, the best actor in the movie btw.
The one and only time Teen Wolf Too sort of comes to life is when Todd-Wolf lip-synchs a rendition of “Do You Love Me?” accompanied by sexy girls and back-up dancers while an annoyed Nicki looks on in disgust. It’s almost fun. Well, it’s slightly better than any other given scene. Directed without a hint of style or individuality by Christopher Leitch (Border Cop), it’s bad. I’ll concede that I’ve seen worse, but this one still ranks somewhere in the bottom 20. It’s definitely one of the most unnecessary sequels ever made. On that, I stand firm.
Isn’t it interesting that Teen Wolf Too opened the same day as the dreadful rom-com Date with an Angel? The latter title lasted a grand total of five days in theaters before being yanked by the studio. It’s a wonder the same fate didn’t befall the howlingly terrible Teen Wolf Too. I went to see it the day before Thanksgiving. What can I say? I wanted my turkey a day early. It is a true gobbler. Some movies come from the heart; this one comes from the end of the turkey that goes over the fence last.
