TEEN WOLF - REVIEW


Watching Teen Wolf as a kid was a treat. I remember just waiting impatiently every time for the first full transformation scene with the dad showing up looking comically fluffy in the end. A fan of the cartoon series, watching the live-action feature was simply awesome.


And you know what? I still love that shit!

Is it dated? Of course! But that only adds RetroJoy to my RetroGasm.

You've got all the cliches of an 80's sports flick, the typical teen movie metamorphosis-as-puberty thing and, of course, a whole bunch of werewolfy events. Like Fright Night, Once Bitten or The Lost Boys, Teen Wolf was an attempt at taking the monster movie genre and making it teen-friendly, reinventing the old genre in a light-hearted horror/comedy setting rather than handling it in the usual gothic style we all know and love. This, of course, was hit and miss depending on the film but Teen Wolf is one that worked.

Michael J. Fox is Scott Howard, a regular kid for whom being what he calls "average" is a bit of a curse. The blonde bimbo in school treats him like shit, his basketball team (hilariously called The Beavers) sucks ass and his dull part-time job hardly makes him the coolest kid in town. That is, until the full moon makes an appearance. Little by little, Scott starts turning: red eyes, hairy hands, growing nails... you know: puberty! The build-up to the full An American Werewolf In London-style transformation is well paced and very funny. You just can't wait until that big moment.


It really is.

Not only are the effects classic but it's Michael J. Fox! Seeing Marty McFly turn in this way is simply loltastic. Great music accompanies the whole scene as well. I love the film's approach to its silly premise: it never takes itself seriously yet enjoys playing with the audience's expectations and somehow, despite all the cliches, it still manages to be a cool movie.

The basketball stuff is the most predictable of the bunch but it does crescendo to an entertaining climax and... some guy showing his cock in the background. Make of that what you will but that's one way to end a movie! I like showing my ass, personally, but hey, we're all different, right?

On the whole, Teen Wolf is still a lot of fun and, for me at least, it still holds up as a good comedy. It's a charming little film and, as corny and dated as it is, it's pretty irresistible. Always an enjoyable watch.

Check it out ;)

Comments

  1. Great to read your take on this one Razorhead! Going to add a link, to this review, on my blog. Funny thing about Teen Wolf is I know it's a bad movie but I still like it.

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  2. Ha! Thanks for the update on your blog! Yeah I mean I can't call it a bad movie because I think it achieves exactly what it meant to. Doubt they thought at any point that they were making something serious and deep n any way lol Teen Wolf Too is next :S

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