Teen Wolf [PG]

Scott is tired of being an average teen. He’s sick of being a dork, sucking at basketball, and being ignored by the popular girls. But when he discovers that he’s a budding young werewolf, everything changes. Suddenly, he’s got everything: skills on the court, popularity, the most popular girl in school, and more hair than he knows what to do with. But somehow, having everything isn’t what he expected it to be. 

This was a really silly movie, but you could not help but love it a little. Filled with memorable characters, comedy, romance, and lovely messages about acceptance, Teen Wolf is your typical 80s movie, great for the family. 

Scott is tired of being an average teenager. He’s sick of sucking at basketball, being a dork, and being ignored by the popular girls. But when he discovers that he’s a budding young werewolf, everything changes… literally. Suddenly, he has everything: skills on the court, popularity, the most popular girl in school, and more hair than he knows what to do with. But somehow, having everything is not all he expected it would be. 

Teen Wolf was pretty mediocre all around, but I think what made it special was its strong messages about acceptance. We saw drag queens being accepted by other outsiders in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and To Wong Foo, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film where the mainstream crowd fully accepts someone that’s different. Not only does the entire high school accept Scott when he’s the wolf, they all prefer it, which brings the inner conflict and drama to the film. 

I particularly like the idea that in those days, there were no big grotesque transformations like in Van Helsing or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, there was just run-off-screen-and-come-back-a-minute-later-covered-in-hair-and-claws. There were no computer effects, all you needed was to sit in the makeup chair for three hours. My God how times have changed. 

Starring Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, Matt Adler, Lorie Griffin, Mark Arnold, Mark Holton, and Kim McKrell, Teen Wolf is a silly, but fun family movie filled with comedy, romance, physical changes, 80s music, and messages of acceptance. I wouldn’t deem it good enough for the collection, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.