"Teen Wolf" is an 80s teen movie....with many of the usual 80s teen movie cliches. However, I must admit that it IS unusual because its leading man is a werewolf!

Scott seems to be a pretty ordinary teen. He plays basketball for his school team and they are terrible. However, when Scott suddenly realizes he's a werewolf, suddenly he's super popular and an amazingly good basketball player. Not surprisingly, he soon becomes cocky and full of himself. What's next for this oddball teen?

The usual 80s teen movie cliches include: MOST of the cast playing high school kids are nearing their 30s, there is a kooky (and VERY inappropriate) best friend, sex and crude stuff parents really did NOT want their teens seeing. And, like so many of these pictures, the marketing was squarely towards teens and adults would have avoided the films like they were plague-ridden. Despite all this, the movie made money and spurred on a sequel.

So is it any good? Generally, yes but overall it's a time-passer. The only thing I really did love was how people reacted to Scott becoming a werewolf. No one was scared and they thought he was pretty cool! Strange...but a nice twist on the whole lycanthropy angle. Unfortunately, the rest of it is pretty ordinary and predictable...especially the 'big game' near the end.







By the way, Michael J. Fox apparently hated making this film....so much that he refused to appear in the sequel. This was a GREAT decision in hindsight, as the film bombed and has an overall rating of 3.2....placing the sequel at number 62 on IMDB's infamous Bottom 100 List (featuring the 100 worst rated major release films).

Teen Wolf is not a perfect film by all means, some of the editing could have flowed better, the story while having some great nice and starting off with very few problems is basic and meanders a bit towards the end and the film could have been longer(just). That said, the film apart from some lacking editing looks good, with nice scenery and lighting, while the soundtrack is superb. There may be the odd cheesy line, but overall the script is solid, and while somewhat predictable the ending is nice. The characters have a certain charm about them, and while the actors are not award-worthy perhaps they all do very likable jobs especially Michael J.Fox. All in all, not a masterpiece, but I liked it. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Michael J. Fox got one of his iconic roles in Teen Wolf which spawned a far less successful sequel and a TV series. This was certainly a new kind of werewolf for the 80s. No hint of the dilemma Lon Chaney, Jr. had in his many incarnations as werewolf Lawrence Talbot.

I'm still trying to figure why someone as short as Michael J. Fox would be going out for basketball. Still there he is on his losing high school team the Beavers.

But there have been some strange things going on with Fox's body and not all attributable to puberty. It's then that his father James Hampton shows him that there's a werewolf strain in the family genetics.

Sure enough it comes out under pressure during a basketball game as Fox wolf's out and immediately becomes popular. That sure wasn't the way folks reacted to Larry Talbot when he did his thing.

No full moon or anything like that to trigger the inner wolf. Hampton and Fox almost have it under control. It's a werewolf for the Reagan years.

Michael J. Fox really makes this film. From his role on TV's Family Ties he had a nice persona that fans could identify with. It's such a shame that he has the Parkinson's Disease and that has severely cut down his working.

Teen Wolf is pleasant and really goes over well because of Michael J. Fox.