Teen Wolf
Director: Rod Daniel
Stars: Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Susan Ursitti

Teen Wolf Too
Director: Christopher Leitch
Stars: Jason Bateman, Kim Darby, John Astin

Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons

A double dose of 80s nostalgia, both on Blu-ray from the BD masterminds at Scream Factory. No, neither one is really scary despite their hair-raising premise, both are played for laughs and nothing but, but you knew that already, right? I mean, who hasn’t seen, or at least heard of Teen Wolf? Maybe not the sequel, but at least the original, right? Right? Well in case you haven’t, keep on reading for the nickel tour for both. So grab your industrial strength hair gel and let’s get to it.

Teen Wolf has Michael J. Fox as a kind of nerdy every-kid in your average high school with all the trials and tribulations that entails. To make matters worse, one day out of the blue he discovers a terrible family secret: he comes from a long line of werewolves and just like puberty, those hormones and strange new hair have just kicked in. But things aren’t that bad, I mean he’s not stalking peasants on the moonlight moors or anything. No, he’s kicking butt while playing basketball for his high school team and suddenly he’s cool. By the end of the movie he learns some life lessons, gets the girl, eats his Wheaties, and all is right in the world.

In Teen Wolf Too the cousin of Fox’s character gets an athletic scholarship to a university despite not being very good at sports. He’s also *gasp* a vegan! The local college coach knew about the first Teen Wolf and so he’s hoping this kid will get the family curse too and help his failing boxing team. Wouldn’t you know it, he does and yeah, it’s pretty much the same thing as the first movie, only with college replacing high school and boxing instead of basketball. Titular wolf (is he still a “teen” in college? Maybe technically for a year or so… ) Jason Bateman is an okay actor but he’s a pale shadow of what Michael J. Fox did with the part. That said, the movie as a whole is just lesser, too much “been there, seen that” instead of trying new things, but hey, it’s a sequel so I guess that’s to be expected.

Let’s get to those extras on these two new releases from Scream Factory. First, for Teen Wolf, there is a featurette called “Never. Say. Die. The Story of Teen Wolf” that is broken into many smaller parts with interviews and behind-the-scenes bits, but all together runs an impressive two hours and twenty-three minutes. That’s nearly an hour longer than the actual movie. The original theatrical trailer and a still gallery are also found here.

For Teen Wolf Too, there are five featurettes and interviews about all manner of things, such as the 80s clothing in the film, an interview with Stuart Fratkin who played best buddy Stiles in the sequel, and more. All together the five extras total 56 minutes. In addition to them there is a still gallery here as well.

Teen Wolf is a must-have for fans of retro 80s cinema. It’s fun, funny, silly, a time capsule for the decade, and a showcase of why Michael J. Fox became a star. Teen Wolf Too is a far lesser offering but there’s still some charm and fun to be had there. Consider the original highly recommended and the sequel a moderate one of werewolf comedy enthusiasts, you know who you are.

About Brian M. Sammons

Brian M. Sammons has penned stories that have appeared in the anthologies: Arkham Tales, Horrors Beyond, Monstrous, Dead but Dreaming 2, Horror for the Holidays, Deepest, Darkest Eden and others. He has edited the books; Cthulhu Unbound 3, Undead & Unbound, Eldritch Chrome, Edge of Sundown, Steampunk Cthulhu, Dark Rites of Cthulhu, Atomic Age Cthulhu, World War Cthulhu and Flesh Like Smoke. He is also the managing editor of Dark Regions Press’ Weird Fiction line. For more about this guy that neighbors describe as “such a nice, quiet man” you can check out his infrequently updated webpage here: http://brian_sammons.webs.com/ and follow him on Twitter @BrianMSammons.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This