Teen Wolf: The Complete Collection
Directed by Rod Daniel/Christopher Leitch.
Starring Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti, Mark Holton, Jerry Levine, Lorie Griffin, Jason Bateman, Kim Darby, Stuart Fratkin, and John Astin.
SYNOPSIS:
Box set featuring the two Teen Wolf movies from the 1980s.
In 1985 there were two elements to put into your movie to guarantee success – set it in a high school and stick Michael J. Fox in it. Teen Wolf did both of those things and became something of a hit, albeit a bit of a sleeper hit bolstered by the success of Back to the Future.
Fox plays Scott Howard, a very average teenager whose high school basketball team have a reputation for being losers in every match they play. However, Scott is beginning to notice strange hairs growing in weird places and various parts of his body randomly changing shape at the most inopportune moments. Turns out that Scott is a werewolf and comes from a line of werewolves, something that his father Harold (James Hampton) neglected to tell him, just in case it missed Scott out, and this brings him all the attention he could ever need as he becomes popular with the girls, does better in all his classes, becomes the star basketball player and, most importantly for him, becomes the focus of attention for Pamela (Lorie Griffin), the school bitch who Scott has fantasised about for years.
But these things come at a price and as the wolf version of Scott becomes more popular, the real Scott seems to get forgotten about, except by his friend Boof (Susan Ursitti), who has always had a crush on him and wants him to stay as he was. It’s all very complicated being a teenager, you know?
Made before Back to the Future but released after that movie came out, the message of Teen Wolf is very obviously to be yourself and being the most popular student doesn’t always make you the nicest person, etc., and Michael J. Fox sells the whole Scott Howard/werewolf personalities brilliantly. Naturally, being nearly 40 years-old the movie has one or two elements that have dated – would a character get called Chubby in a modern high school movie? – but the jokes still hold up, the performances are charming and the movie whizzes by in a flash and never drags.
Helping Michael J. Fox along the way are some outstanding supporting performances from James Hampton, who is perfect as Scott’s equally-as-ordinary (to the outside world) father Harold, and Jerry Levine as Scott’s best friend Stiles, who spies a money-making opportunity in everything and cannot wait to exploit his buddy. Every teenage high school movie had that OTT best friend character and Stiles is probably one of the most memorable, especially with his van surfing antics.
All of which makes Teen Wolf a fun watch, either for nostalgic purposes or whether you have never seen it before, and coming off the back of Back to the Future it helped make Michael J. Fox a superstar at the time. That would mean a sequel would be inevitable, right?
Well, yes but Michael J. Fox was not returning. Instead, 1987s Teen Wolf Too starred Jason Bateman as Scott’s cousin Todd Howard, who is being driven to university by his uncle Harold (a returning James Hampton). Todd is aware of the werewolf curse – because this time Harold is quite open about it and transforms in the van whilst on campus, just for a giggle – but has so far not shown any sign of having it himself. As luck would have it, Todd’s new roommate is Stiles (now played by Stuart Fratkin) and Scott’s old basketball teammate Chubby (again played by Mark Holton) is also in the same classes but, much like with his cousin, Todd begins to draw the attention of people who wouldn’t normally have anything to do with him, and when the pressure to be the popular guy gets too much those Howard family traits come to the surface, resulting in Todd becoming the best at everything, pulling the wrong girls and basically being a bit of a show-off until he gets brought back down to earth in the university boxing match that replaces the basketball game from the first movie.
Yes, Teen Wolf Too is basically the same movie, with the same jokes, same plot and some of the same actors but what a drop-off in quality this movie is. Jason Bateman is fine as Todd Howard but, coming after Michael J. Fox, just being fine doesn’t really cut it, especially when the wolf makeup looks as terrible as it does. The presence of James Hampton and Mark Holton is welcome, but Hampton is not in it nearly enough, although Mark Holton does get a lot of (mildly) amusing gags when it comes to the boxing fights. However, these gripes pale into insignificance when it comes to the recasting of Stiles, probably the best character from the first movie. Stuart Fratkin does his best, and you could see him being a great comedy sidekick in another movie, but trying to replace Jerry Levine’s portrayal by toning the character down and replacing him with a younger actor – yes, all of the actors’ playing students in both movies are clearly around 30 years-old, as was tradition in the ‘80s – just does not work, and the energy that character had in the first movie just is not there, leaving it up to John Astin to be the best actor/character in this movie, playing the devious head of the university.
But if you treat Teen Wolf Too as an optional extra – or just a very long special feature – to sit alongside Never. Say. Die: The Story of Teen Wolf, the feature-length documentary included with the first movie, in which cast and crew (minus Michael J. Fox, unfortunately) go in-depth into the making of the movie, then there is as much 1980s Teen Wolf action as you could possibly want in this set. Mind you, the first movie is being released separately (including the documentary) so if the thought of sitting through the naff, inferior sequel is too much then there is that option.
Either way, the original Teen Wolf is still a good time and, despite the obviously comedic premise, sits alongside many other 1980s coming-of-age/high school movies – The Breakfast Club, Risky Business, The Goonies, etc. – as being a little more than just a thin plot built around a gimmick. For maximum effect, try putting it on with Back to the Future for a Michael J. Fox double-bill (or add The Secret of My Success to make it a triple-bill) and bask in the 1980s goodness.
Flickering Myth Rating – Teen Wolf – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Flickering Myth Rating – Teen Wolf Too – Film: ★ / Movie: ★
Chris Ward
