Teen Wolf is an American film released in August 23, 1985 by Alantic Releasing Corporation starring Michael J. Fox as Scott Howard, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual pedigree 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 seventeen years old, sick of being average and wishing he were special. His father runs a local hardware store. Scott's a 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 another 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 a wolf, while his father demands that he open the door. He tries to refuse, only to finally give in and obey, to find his father has also transformed into 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 of his basketball games, after getting pinned in a pile-up. 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.
Scott subsequently learns to use his family "curse" to gain popularity at school, becoming the team's star basketball player, and learns 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. He 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 other 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 "Wolfmobile."
After a freak encounter with Mick at the Spring Dance that almost turns violent, Scott 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, 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.
Pamela attempts to get Scott's attention after the game is over, but he passes her by to lift Boof in his arms, kissing her passionately.
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. 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.
In June, 2009, MTV announced that they would be adapting Teen Wolf into a television series "with a greater emphasis on romance, horror and werewolf mythology".[1]
Precursor
The basic premise for Teen Wolf was inspired by the 1957 Michael Landon cult movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf.[citation needed] Michael Landon played Tony Rivers, a teenager with an uncontrollable temper that led 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. 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.
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