I Was a Teenage Werewolf

Well, initially, the plan was to start off at Midnight, the first of October, with The Wolf Man. I came home from work, and the dvd box for The Wolf Man was out in preparation for its viewing when my son noticed it, expressing an absolute interest in watching it. So the daddy in me decided to set it aside and watch it with my boy on Tuesday afternoon. So instead I decided on a very unusual choice, I Was a Teenage Werewolf. I had batted around Dracula’s Daughter as the first film because of its nostalgic value; it has started off October as the first film for the month for many years this last decade or so. I just felt like a change was in order, a difference from the norm. I remember Teenage Werewolf considered the aching teenage rebel without a cause of werewolf B-movies…as this printed on Word, I couldn’t help but grin. Michael Landon’s involvement, pre-stardom, and the whole “teen werewolf on the loose in a small town” make up some irresistible ingredients.

 

 

With Landon dealing with anger management issues and a short fuse that uncorks a rage that sends off into violent interludes, Barney Philips (The Twilight Zone) and Guy Williams (Lost in Space) as cops trying to find Landon once he’s turned werewolf and attacked a student gymnast, and Whit Bissell (Creature from the Black Lagoon) as the “headshrinker” using a concocted experimental serum [natch] to send Landon back to his primitive roots so that such a breakthrough will “cure the disease currently plaguing his society”, along with the beatnik “jive talk” carried on between the kids (and sometimes with the adults who seem exhausted with their teens; these kids are far from the unruly sorts you’d find in Class of ’84, but I digress…), all of this is perfect drive-in camp fit for B-movie fans’ consumption. Those fangs in Landon’s mouth are a riot, and I appreciated the furry face unkempt and mangled…seeing him in a jacket and jeans while on the lam, the locals trying to find him carrying lit torches [natch], was also such a treat. A nice way to kick off Halloween season. Can I say, I love the term, "booby hatch." The slang of the 50s is so much fun to listen to.