Teen Wolf (1985) Review

 

Teen Wolf (1985)

Teen Wolf follows high schooler Scott Howard, who after discovering he is a werewolf, takes advantage of his newfound popularity and powers to win over his longtime crush and lead the school’s basketball team to the championship. 

This mid-80s teen drama, released the same year as Back to the Future actually, has long been a favorite of mine. It had every opportunity to be a classic sort of horror, but takes more of a comedic route, a move that I think really complements just how zany and ridiculous of a film this is. I mean, a high school student suddenly turns out to be a werewolf and the first thing that happens is chicks wanna bang him and he goes from social outcast to king of the school!? WHAT? Regardless of how nuts that sounds though, boy is it fun! Especially in seeing Scott go full Peter Parker, where when he becomes the wolf, not only are his abilities enhanced but his confidence skyrockets. Seeing that disparity between the wolf and Scott’s human side, even after his popularity, is really interesting and it makes a lot of sense for his end of movie shift. 

That shift is also important because it’s all about people liking him for who he isn’t. They view the wolf as this novelty and not as Scott, who was pretty lame and unpopular prior to his animalistic revelation. When it comes out, there is one singular moment of shock (which I love) and then boom, king of the school. While he likes that popularity, it just isn’t him, and he must finally find that control that his father is constantly preaching about. Thus forcing people to like him for him and not as the wolf. 

We get a great cast, starring Mark Holton, Lorie Griffin, Jay Tarses, James Hampton, Mark Arnold, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, and Michael J. Fox. I love, love, love Levine as Stiles! He is hilarious, full of energy, and pretty much the perfect, cocky, troublemaker of a friend (with a hell of a fashion sense). Fox is also great here, creating a double-sided character that is both lame and popular, but at his core, inherently innocent as the change correlates with his going through puberty. 

Teen Wolf, directed by Rod Daniel, is a fun and energetic teen comedy that doesn’t take itself too serious, a facet that makes it just so enjoyable. It offers up a great message, in just being yourself, even when everyone else loves you for what you aren’t, a message that rings true even if you aren’t a blossoming werewolf. 

7.8/10