Teen Wolf

1985 "He always wanted to be special... but he never expected this!"
6.1| 1h31m| PG| en
Details

When a shy teenager's new-found powers help him score at basketball - and with the popular girls - he has some pretty hairy decisions to make.

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Also starring Susan Ursitti

Reviews

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story
GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.
Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation
Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Leofwine_draca TEEN WOLF is one of those films that was a hit of the '80s but hasn't dated very well since then. Some might get a kick out of the 'timeless' '80s atmosphere it offers up, full of house parties, discos, kids drinking, and basketball games; the truth is, this isn't a very good film and it just doesn't stand up next to Michael J. Fox's true classic, BACK TO THE FUTURE. The main problem is the script, which takes the simple premise – a high school student is a werewolf – and never takes it anywhere other than a few lame gags. Sure, there are the usual themes here – how a student can become popular and leave his old-time friends behind – but it's nothing that wasn't done in about a billion other movies of the period.So, is there any reason to watch? The '80s atmosphere aside (and you really will love it or hate it), we get another good-natured turn from Michael J. Fox, a cheap and cheesy werewolf costume, some okayish turns from supporting characters (Susan Ursitti is sweet as Fox's faithful love interest) and a fun play-to-the-finish climax at a basketball game which I enjoyed, despite not caring for basketball one bit. Funnily enough, the '50s high-school-werewolf movie, I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, hasn't aged nearly as much as this. A sequel inevitably followed.
richspenc Michael J. Wolf, I mean Fox is a wolf! wolf wolf wolf . I always liked the parts in the classroom when Fox starts hearing wolf being said everywhere. Wolf wolf wolf wolf. "Thomas J Wolf!" Yells one of his teachers during Fox's hallucinations. Fox keeps desperately trying to keep from changing into the wolf in school. He runs through the hallways bathroom to bathroom, trying to find a place where no one will see him. Then he runs into his arch nemises, the principal. The principal does not see him turn into the wolf, well not that time. He does a little while later, along with many other of his student peers during basketball practice. Fox is on the basketball team. Like in most 80s high school movies, there is the bully that the hero keeps getting pushed around by. And the hot girl who the hero has an burning desire for, and the girl barely noticing he's alive. How many other highschool movies have we seen with the same formula? In "Teen wolf", the bully's name is Nick, and the hot girl's name is Pamela. And the two of them are (what a surprise!) going out together. And Pamela is (what a surprise) a blonde. Anyway, one night after a night out, Fox comes home and rushes to the bathroom, noticing something very strange is happening to him. That's his first time changing into the wolf, and it's when we see Fox's father has the same wolf problem. We also learn that the reason Fox's principal gives him a hard time is because Fox's dad, as the wolf, had previous problems in the past with Fox's principal. So the principal is taking it out on him now. Then Fox turns into the wolf during basketball and then decides to keep it that way because he realizes that he has extra powers as the wolf, he's suddenly able to really kick butt at basketball, and his popularity suddenly skyrockets. Personally, Fox looks a lot more like a hairy gorilla than a wolf. And in real life, girls would not be attracted to and want to touch someone that looks like that, no matter how strong it makes him. Fox's friends include a goofball named Styles and a nice "girl next door" type who Fox had been friends with but not intimate with. Fox had always had eyes for Pamala, and once he's the wolf, he does get intimate with her. In Pamela's dressing room after play rehearsal. She pulls off her shirt for Fox, but we only see her from the back. He's also able to defend himself from Nick now. I have one curious question: on a date with Pamela at the bowling alley, they run into Nick. And Nick tells Fox that his mother used to steal chickens from him, and he then shot her. Was Nick just talking s***, or was it true? Cause we never see Fox's mother during this movie, and nothing else is ever mentioned about her from anyone else. And also Fox's reaction is so angry to what Nick said.
Tsubahi I first saw it with my mother and sister back then, when I myself was a teenager (just in junior high school, BTW.) It was a hideous-looking movie that may actually teach young people to do bad things, like throw sleazy parties where kids wrestle nude in that nasty white goo, dance on top of the moving van, and young tramps get naked in front of the kid (no wonder we have a very serious problem with teen pregnancies, BTW.) But then again, I am hearing-impaired, so I really didn't hear the hidden message in the movie at the time. So oh, well - as long as young viewers aren't stupid enough to do stuff like that in some scenes! :P
david-sarkies This was one of those movies that I remember watching a few times back when I was a kid and back when Michael J Fox was still acting and I must say it is one of those eighties movies that I still have a fondness for, even though now I would probably not watch it again because despite all of the fondness that I have for the film, there is nothing really all that much about it that makes it stand out all that much. It's not as if it is The Terminator with a classic Arnold Schwartzenegger one liner, or any number of other classic eighties movies that I remember with fondness because, well, there isn't all that much about it that would make it a classic.Basically it is about a boy in highschool who suddenly discovers that he is a werewolf, and that it is something that runs in the family. After the initial shock, he suddenly becomes really popular, and is able to take on an opposing basketball team all by himself. In fact at the beginning of the film it is very clear that the schools basketball team basically blows, and it is not until one game when he finds himself at the bottom of a stacks on that he becomes the wolf, and then goes on to win the game – single handedly.Some have suggested that this is a subtle exploration of the nature of High School in your average American town (or suburb, or what not – it is not really made all that clear, but you could suggest that this could occur in any high school in any part of America – except for the fact that werewolves are creatures of myths and legend). Some have also suggested that it is about how, unless we are sporting heroes, or there is something important about us, that we are damned to spend our lives in obscurity. Yeah, I can see that in this film, and I can also see it as some form of subtle criticism of the American way of life (not that there is much that you can criticise), and that one is defined based not only upon how many people know who you are, but also how many people like and look up to you.It could also be considered some form of morality tale, in that we don't need magical powers to be able to win, all we need to do is to work as a team and believe in ourselves. Well, that is all well and good, but it suggests that by doing that then we can go from being a basketball team that blows to a basketball team that can win a championship – the problem is that it never actually works out that way. Still, this is a Hollywood movie, and in the end, the hero gets the girl – the right girl, not the snivelling bitch that leads you on because you are a famous person, and she can only define herself based upon what that famous person thinks of her, and that they win the basketball game, and the evil vice-principle (it is always the vice-principle that is evil, isn't it) is put into his place, and then the movie ends. I guess that suggests that everything is sorted and everybody lives happily ever after – until the make a sequel, that is.