#126: Teen Wolf

Release Date: August 23rd, 1985

Format: Streaming (Max)

Written by: Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman

Directed by: Rod Daniel

2 Stars

Teen Wolf shot into the public consciousness in August of 1985 for two reasons: A silly premise (a small-town teenage boy becomes a werewolf and gets really good at basketball) and because Back to the Future (also starring Michael J. Fox) was a smash hit, in its 8th week at number one at the box office, when Teen Wolf debuted.

Watching it this morning, I was surprised at how little there is here. Even at a scant 92 minutes, this movie is a series of montages, then a musical sequence, then another montage.

And that’s without bringing up the basketball scenes (more montages). I wonder, on the set of bad sports movies, isn’t there a sound guy or someone on set who played a little basketball growing up who knows how the game is played? When Michael J. Fox’s character is shooting his game winning free throws at the end of the movie, the movie’s antagonist, a stock ‘80s jock bully, is just standing under the hoop. 

In the key. 

After he’s fouled out.

It’s pretty silly stuff, and maybe that’s enough for Teen Wolf fans. I like plenty of silly ‘80s movies too, but this one is just so shallow. 

The best part of the movie is the ridiculous logic of the plot, that an entire town accepts that their high school’s point guard is a werewolf and this isn’t a global media story. That is pretty funny, but it’s not a good sign for a movie when a silly plot point is one of the best things about it.

Woof. 

Postscript: Okay, I should tip my cap on the costume design. It is an iconic werewolf look, and it’s pretty damn cool seeing that wolf show up to prom in a white suit.