This nothing movie, a lackluster variant on I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF (1957), was released in August of 1985, a month after its headliner Michael J. Fox, while starring on TV’s FAMILY TIES, hit the big screen jackpot with BACK TO THE FUTURE. As Fox himself put it, “In the summer of 1985, with FAMILY TIES the second most-watched program in primetime, BACK TO THE FUTURE shot to number one at the box office, with TEEN WOLF inexplicably holding number two.”
TEEN WOLF was in fact shot prior to BACK TO THE FUTURE (which Fox joined after its initial lead Eric Stoltz was fired), with the presence of its star guaranteeing a lucrative theatrical run. That, however, doesn’t change the fact that it was, in the words of Mr. Fox himself, “a B-grade, high school werewolf comedy” whose makers, according to Wikipedia, sought to make a film “that would cost almost nothing (the production costs amounted to about $1 million) and take very little time to film.”
“a B-grade, high school werewolf comedy”
Michael J. plays Scott Howard, a diminutive teenage (Fox was actually well into his twenties) basketball player who finds himself undergoing odd physical metamorphoses. He discovers a long piece of hair growing out of his chest, sprouts impossibly sharp fingernails and teeth, and, in the film’s most famous scene, affects a very deep voice and glowing eyes when imploring a liquor store clerk to “give me…a keg…of beer!”
Scott is, as the title portends, a werewolf—an affliction he’s inherited from his father (although that particular narrative strand is never taken very far). After giving full vent to his animal instincts during a basketball game and finding that it helps his playing tremendously, Scott takes to being a wolf full time, which has the unfortunate effect of diminishing his non-wolf persona, and of sidelining his true love, a cute brunette named Boof (Susan Ursitti) in favor of the hot blonde Pamela (Lorie Griffin).
This being a grade B teen comedy from the eighties, you can guess how it plays: cheaply, with a highly derivative storyline (the film is essentially TOOTSIE with lycanthropy in place of cross dressing), a soundtrack that repeatedly blares the Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ USA” (the rights were evidently inexpensive) and an extremely predictable arc that hinges on the hero proving his worth in a sporting competition. Many an eighties comedy, let’s not forget, partook of the redemption-through-sports arc, whether it made sense or not. Rodney Dangerfield as a champion diver? Makes about as much sense as a werewolf basketball player.
This being a grade B teen comedy from the eighties, you can guess how it plays: cheaply, with a highly derivative storyline (the film is essentially TOOTSIE with lycanthropy in place of cross dressing)…
Another eighties teen comedy convention in which TEEN WOLF partakes is the standby love interest, i.e. a sweet-natured female companion who exists as a consolation prize when the hero gets rejected by his dream girl. Winona Ryder embodied that character in LUCAS, as did Mary Stuart Masterson in SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, as does Susan Ursitti as Boof in TEEN WOLF, who pines after Scoot even as he chases after the unattainable Pamela. Not to worry, though, because the title character, like those of those other films, ultimately makes the right choice and this dumb movie finally ends.
Vital Statistics
TEEN WOLF
Atlantic Entertainment Group
Director: Rod Daniel
Producer: Mark Levinson, Scott Rosenfelt
Screenplay: Joseph Loeb III, Matthew Weisman
Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt
Editing: Lois Freeman-Fox
Cast: Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, Matt Adler, Lorie Griffin, Jim MacKrell, Mark Arnold, Jay Tarses, Mark Holton, Scott Paulin, Elizabeth Gorcey, Melanie Manos, Doug Savant, Charles Zucker, Harvey Vernon, Clare Peck, Gregory Itzin, Doris Hess, Troy Evans