Teen Wolf
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| Teen Wolf | |
|---|---|
| Image:Teen Wolf.jpg Theatrical release poster capitalizing on actor Michael J. Fox's then-recent box-office success, Back to the Future. | |
| Directed by | Rod Daniel |
| Produced by | Mark Levinson Scott M. Rosenfelt George W. Perkins |
| Written by | Jeph Loeb (as Joseph Loeb III) Matthew Weisman |
| Starring | Michael J. Fox James Hampton Scott Paulin Susan Ursitti Jerry Levine Jay Tarses |
| Music by | Miles Goodman |
| Cinematography | Tim Suhrstedt |
| Editing by | Lois Freeman-Fox |
| Distributed by | Atlantic Releasing Corporation |
| Release date(s) | August 23, 1985 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Teen Wolf Too |
| IMDb profile | |
- This article is about the film. For the television series, see Teen Wolf.
Teen Wolf (first released on August 23, 1985 by Atlantic Releasing Corporation) is an American film starring Michael J. Fox as Scott Howard, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual heritage when he finds himself transforming into a werewolf. The film was directed by Rod Daniel based on a script co-written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman.
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[edit] Plot summary
High school basketball player Scott Howard is sick of being average and wishes he is special. Then he discovers that he is a werewolf (like his father before him), and soon everybody else knows too after an accidental public transformation on the basketball court.
He subsequently learns to control his family "curse" to gain popularity at school, becoming the star basketball player. Becoming the Wolf gives Scott increased confidence and ability on the basketball court. He is able to transform at will between his normal self and the wolf. His basketball team goes from worst to first, and Scott begins spending most of his school time as the wolf. The story was told in a typical coming of age format. Scott pined for the blonde bombshell Pamela (Lorie Griffin), while ignoring the affections of his best friend Boof (Susan Ursitti). The moral (made clear by the requisite big speech at the end) was to be true to yourself. The werewolf angle was used to explore this theme.
Scott's best friend 'Styles' (Jerry Levine) is a party animal with an entrepreneural streak, quickly cashing in on Scott's new found popularity by selling Teen Wolf T-shirts and other merchandise.
In the film's most famous scene, Scott attempts to buy a keg of beer, causing the crotchety liquor store clerk to begin yelling at him. Scott's eyes glow red and in a demonic voice, he says, "Give me a Keg of Beer," leading the horrified man to quickly comply.
[edit] Film's history and legacy
Although Teen Wolf was filmed before Robert Zemeckis' picture Back to the Future, it wasn't released until after the Universal blockbuster. By the time Fox finished Teen Wolf, Eric Stoltz had been released from the Zemeckis film and Fox was hired in his place. With this huge success for Fox, there were rumors that Teen Wolf would not be released at all, however, ARC won out and the film was released about two months later and actually made a profit. For its Italian release, Fox's character name was even changed from Scott to Marty in order to capitalize on the success of the Universal film. (With the success of a major production like Back to the Future, American audiences were puzzled to see Fox 'follow up' by doing such a cheap film as Teen Wolf.)
The movie was followed by a cartoon spin-off in 1986, and a sequel in 1987 titled, Teen Wolf Too, with Jason Bateman starring as Todd Howard, Scott's cousin. The general theme and title were used in the ultra-low budget film Teen Vamp - 1988. Directed by Samuel Bradford and starring Karen Carlsen, Clu Gulager, Angie Brown and Beau Bishop. This was then followed up in 1989 with Teen Witch starring Robyn Lively. On August 27, 2002, both Teen Wolf films were released on a single-disc DVD by MGM Home Entertainment, the current rights holders of the films.
[edit] Trivia
- In the film release, rumors spread about an extra in the final scene who noticed that his fly was open when he started to celebrate. He quickly zipped his fly back up. The rumors turned out to be true, and the shot even remains in the DVD, starting at 1:28:48. The "actor" in question is in the top left of the screen, wearing a red sweater and jeans.
- The animated television series Clone High parodied Teen Wolf with a werewolf basketball player.
- Totally Awesome parodied Teen Wolf, along with many other 1980s movies.
- The street Scott walks along with Boof is the same location used in Back to the Future for the scene when Marty gets hit by his Grandfather's car. (Marty was played by Fox)
- Small-time actor Douglas Burton was originally cast to play Scott Howard in Teen Wolf. However after several disputes with the director, Rod Daniel, Michael J. Fox was given the role.
- In his 2006 Halloween special, Homestar Runner's costume was Scott in wolf form.
- In episode five of the Internet Flash series College University, Styles and Scott (in wolf form) make cameo appearances.
[edit] Precursor
The basic premise for Teen Wolf was inspired by the 1957 Michael Landon cult movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Michael Landon played a teenager with an uncontrollable temper that lead him into the hands of a devious doctor (Whit Bissell) out to make a name for himself. The doctor uses Tony for an experiment and gives him a shot that regresses him so far back in time that he turns into a werewolf. The idea of an adult human turning into a beast was nothing new, of course, but in 1957, the idea of a teenager doing just that was considered avante garde and even shocking. It was also an interesting “werewolf as puberty” metaphor. The film was a huge hit for the studio that made it, and immediately became a classic of pop culture history. Today the film is regarded by most critics as a cult classic, and a source of camp humour, eventually getting roasted on television's Mystery Science Theatre 3000. An unsuccessful comedy on the teenage werewolf theme came three years earlier with Full Moon High. The trend continued in the sitcom Big Wolf on Campus, which was more visibly inspired by the Teen Wolf cartoon spin-off than by the live action film.
