Teen Wolf Too (1987)

A sequel to Teen Wolf? Is Scott Howard going to have all kinds of hairy issues all over again? Of course not. It's a completely different plot this time around. Todd Howard (Jason Bateman) is Scott's cousin and he is trying to study hard and do well in life while sharing a room with 'Stiles' (this time played by Stuart Fratkin). He also has to man up and start winning when he's thrown in to do a bit of boxing. Boxing is tough, it's a lot of pressure and a lot of pain. But it's easier when you can turn into a werewolf. Oh, never mind that nonsense about boxers not being allowed to have too much facial hair, it doesn't apply to any teen wolf. And 'Chubby' (Mark Holton once again) is a team mate. Estee Chandler is the lovely Nicki, James Hampton pops onscreen to reprise his role as Harold Howard for a few minutes and the cast also includes Kim Darby and the great John Astin. You see how different it is from the first movie?

Oh.

Okay, maybe it's almost exactly the same but just not as good. Thank goodness that the writer, Tim Kring, went on to produce the superb TV show "Heroes" because nobody would want to be remembered just for this film. Director Christopher Leitch, sadly, doesn't have the same good fortune and this film remains one of his few relatively well-known projects.

Thankfully, the cast try their best with material that struggles to reach even a level of mediocrity. Bateman is an appealing lead as Todd Howard but in the wolf make-up he doesn't seem quite as cute or likeable, especially when compared to Michael J. Fox in the first movie. Estee Chandler is a decent love interest and Mark Holton does exactly the same act he did in the first movie, which was just fine anyway, but Stuart Fratkin is a lot less enjoyable than Jerry Levine was in the role of 'Stiles'. James Hampton, Kim Darby and John Astin are all pretty good.

It's a real shame that this sequel starts off poorly and just keeps sliding down and down until the end credits roll. The first film holds up well and viewers who grew up in the 80s will have a lot of goodwill for the character but that goodwill starts to ebb away quickly. It usually disappears at about the same time Jason Bateman is made to lip-synch and dance to a bad rendition of "Do You Love Me?"

4/10

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Teen Wolf (1985)

Michael J. Fox stars in this enjoyable 1980s comedy that shows a highschooler discovering that the hairs on his palms aren't just from that hobby he's not supposed to have. Nope. He's a werewolf. Which is going to make life at high school either a LOT tougher or a LOT easier.

Despite many other actors taking on similiar roles, it's hard to argue against the fact that Michael J. Fox was the everyday teenager to a generation who grew up with him throughout the 80s. In real life, he was already a bit older and wiser than the teenagers he so often portrayed but onscreen he was Alex P. Keaton, Marty McFly and, in this movie, Scott Howard. And the big plus for Teen Wolf is that it has a great central concept but also fills the movie with the standard scenes of a teenager going through . . . . . . . . . . changes. So the whole thing is a fine analogy for puberty, the various rites of passage that teenage years bring and trying to fit in at high school? Not to oversell the thing but, well, yes. Kind of. Of course, when I first saw the movie at the age of 9 or 10 the movie was about a teenage werewolf and "surfing" on the roof of a van. So it has something for everyone.

Director Rod Daniel keeps things nice and simple. It's a teen movie, it comes in at just under the 90 minute mark and it has Michael J. Fox. All is good. Add in a great supporting cast (James Hampton as Harold Howard, the lovely Susan Ursitti as the lovely 'Boof', Jerry Levine having a blast as 'Stiles', Lorie Griffin as the shallow Pamela Wells, Mark Holton as 'Chubby', Jay Tarses grabbing most of the best lines as the coach and Jim McKrell as Rusty Thorne), some decent practical effects and the main achievement that the characters are striving for - to win a basketball championship - and you have a movie that remains as easily entertaining today as it was over 25 years ago.

Jeph Loeb, Tim Hayes and Matthew Weisman put together a decent script and a number of scenes are accompanied by decent, inoffensive tunes in line with the sound of the decade (admittedly, the special dance moment is quite cringeworthy). There are many other teen movies with sharper dialogue but it's easy to forget just how many great lines and little moments this film has.

Give it a visit some time, you may just be surprised to find that you enjoy it.

7/10

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NB - it's worth noting, for anyone who may not have heard the news yet, that Teen Wolf has been "reimagined" for an ongoing TV show that launched in the USA in 2011.