Teen Wolf

Infobox Film
name = Teen Wolf


caption = Theatrical release poster capitalizing on actor Michael J. Fox's then-recent box-office success, "Back to the Future".
director = Rod Daniel
producer = Mark Levinson
Scott M. Rosenfelt
George W. Perkins
eproducer = Thomas Coleman
Michael Rosenblatt
aproducer =
writer = Jeph Loeb (as Joseph Loeb III)
Matthew Weisman
starring = Michael J. Fox
James Hampton
Scott Paulin
Susan Ursitti
Jerry Levine
Mark Arnold
Jay Tarses
music = Miles Goodman
cinematography = Tim Suhrstedt
editing = Lois Freeman-Fox
distributor = Atlantic Releasing Corporation
released = August 23, 1985
runtime = 91 minutes
rating = PG
country = USA
awards =
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Teen Wolf Too"
amg_id = 1:48882
imdb_id = 0090142

"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.

Plot summary

High school student Scott Howard is 17 years old, sick of being average and wishes he were special. His father runs a local hardware store. Scott's a mediocre basketball player on a losing team. The girl of his dreams, Pamela Wells (Lorie Griffin), is dating Mick, a jerk from an opposing team. After one of the team's losses, Scott begins to notice strange changes to his body. While at a party, Scott keeps undergoing changes and eventually he returns home and undergoes a complete change and becomes The Wolf. Although he is initially keen to hide his condition from his father, Harold reveals that he too is a werewolf. Harold never told his son about the condition because "sometimes it skips a generation" and he was hoping it wouldn't happen to Scott. Scott first reveals his transformation to the public at one his basketball games. After momentarily stunning the crowd with The Wolf, Scott goes on to wow them with his basketball skills and he finishes the game with a quadruple double (double digits in points, rebounds, blocks and steals).

Scott subsequently learns to use his family "curse" to gain popularity at school, becoming the team's star basketball player. He is able to transform at will between his normal self and The Wolf. His basketball team goes from last to first, and Scott begins spending most of his school time as The Wolf. Scott also wins the heart of Pamela while ignoring the affections of his best friend, Boof (Susan Ursitti), who has loved him since childhood.

Meanwhile, Scott's best friend 'Stiles' (Jerry Levine), a party animal with an entrepreneurial streak, quickly cashes in on Scott's new-found popularity, selling Teen Wolf T-shirts and other merchandise. Stiles' "wolfmania" reaches such extremes that he trades in his own vehicle for a stepvan dubbed "The Wolfmobile".

Scott tires of The Wolf persona after a while, and wishes to be himself. During the final basketball game, Scott refuses to "wolf out" and insists on winning the game on his own. Coach Bobby Finstock tells Scott that the team is doomed to fail without The Wolf, but Scott is able to prove him wrong. In a dramatic ending set to the tones of musician Mark Safan, Scott is able to rally the team back to within a point as time is expiring. Scott is fouled by Mick on the final play and given two shots. In a clear violation of the rules, Mick is able to stand underneath the basket as Scott attempts his foul shots. Despite having to jump to complete the free throws, Scott makes them both and the Beavers win the game.

Film's history and legacy

"Teen Wolf" was actually filmed before Robert Zemeckis' "Back to the Future", shooting on the same Pasadena street that Zemeckis' film was scouting for. However, 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. 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. In Brazil, the film was released with the title "O Garoto do Futuro", which roughly translates to "The Boy from the Future", in another move to associate the film with the success of "Back to the Future".

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. A "Teen Wolf" remake is currently being worked on with a female as the main character.

Cultural references

* The line Scott's father says to him, "With great power comes greater responsibility," is taken from Spider-Man. The film's writer, Jeph Loeb, is a lifelong comic book fan and went on to become an established comic writer.
* 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.

Parodies and references

*The animated television series "Clone High" parodied "Teen Wolf" with a werewolf basketball player.

*"Totally Awesome" also parodied "Teen Wolf", along with many other 1980s movies.

*In an episode of "The Simpsons" titled "Behind the Laughter", an off camera Bart is seen holding everybody up and slowing down production as he is on the phone with his agent saying "Fine, I'll do "Teen Wolf 3", but only because I have fair-weather friends to feed."
* British comedy series "Bo' Selecta!" features a parody of "Teen Wolf". In it, the character Avid Merrion takes on Scott's role as a werewolf and part of an incontinent basketball team who fill their nappies frequently during games. Upon hearing that the show has been cancelled, Avid says, "But we've done this really elaborate "Teen Wolf" sketch! It's really self-indulgent, we've got nappies on and everything!"cite episode|title=Episode 5|series=Bo' Selecta!|serieslink=Bo' Selecta!|credits=Leigh Francis, Ben Palmer|network=Channel 4|airdate= 2004-07-16|season=3|number=5] The nappies are a running gag on the show; they appeared in an earlier episode worn by the characters of "Happy Days".cite episode|title=Episode 9|series=Bo' Selecta!|serieslink=Bo' Selecta!|credits=Leigh Francis, Ben Palmer|network=Channel 4|airdate= 2004-08-13|season=3|number=9]

*A Halloween episode of "X-Play" talked about two werewolves; the killing kind, and the kind that play electric guitar and basketball. The latter refers to "Teen Wolf".
*Homestar Runner dressed up as Teen Wolf in Homestarrunner.com's 2006 Halloween toon.

*In "The 40 Year-Old Virgin", Andy (Steve Carell) confides in Jay (Romany Malco) and asks if he considers him to be good-looking. Jay says that he does, and gives him some tips on health and grooming, telling him that he needs to have his chest waxed by saying, "...that whole "Teen Wolf" thing, that has to go".

*In the episode "The Aftermath" from the third season of the popular teen television series "The O.C." the characters of Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood are shown to be watching "Teen Wolf" on DVD. Seth points out "I know "Teen Wolf" isn't supposed to be a realistic movie...but I still don't see how becoming a wolf can make you a better basketball player."

*On an episode of "WWE Monday Night RAW", WWE Superstar Santino Marella, whose wrestling gimmick involves using malapropisms, says "Michael J. Fox isn't going back in time to become a werewolf," confusing "Teen Wolf" with "Back to the Future", another movie starring Michael J. Fox.

oundtrack

The music "Big Bad Wolf", featured in the school prom scene, was sampled by UK group the Audio Bullys in their track "We Don't Care."

Precursor

The basic premise for "Teen Wolf" was inspired by the 1957 Michael Landon cult movie "I Was a Teenage Werewolf". Michael Landon played Tony Rivers, 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, giving him an injection 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 fresh. The film was a huge hit for American International Pictures, 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.

References

External links

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* [http://www.michaeljfoxdatabase.com/ The Michael J. Fox Database]