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Teen Wolf

Play trailer Poster for Teen Wolf PG Released Aug 23, 1985 1h 28m Comedy Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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46% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 52% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
When high school nerd Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox) learns from his father, Harold (James Hampton), that being a werewolf runs in the family, he decides to take advantage of his freakish trait. With his newfound strength and agility, Scott quickly becomes the hero of his school's basketball team while winning over longtime crush Pamela Wells (Lorie Griffin). As he grows more popular, Scott worries he is being celebrated as a novelty rather than for who he is.
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Teen Wolf

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Critics Consensus

Though Michael J. Fox is as charismatic as ever, Teen Wolf's coming-of-age themes can't help but feel a little stale and formulaic.

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Critics Reviews

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Duane Byrge The Hollywood Reporter To his credit, director Rod Daniel has crafted an amiable teen film and gets a pleasing performance from Fox in the title role. Yet Teen Wolf, especially in the basketball sequences, loses its dramatic dribble. Sep 3, 2020 Full Review Rick Kogan Chicago Tribune The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous--have you ever seen a wolf break dance?--and a good deal of fun. Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Fox somehow survives on the sheer force of a pleasant screen presence, but those who remember The Shaggy Dog ought to stay away. Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Charles Cassady Common Sense Media This is a good-natured spoof of adolescent insecurities and image-consciousness in school, not Gothic shocks. Rated: 3/5 Mar 1, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Rather than a wolf in sheep's clothing, Teen Wolf is basically a standard 80s teen flick in werewolf's clothing. Rated: 2/4 Nov 1, 2021 Full Review Roger Hurlburt South Florida Sun-Sentinel The movie plods towards a predictable ending and misses all sorts of chances to be funny. Mar 26, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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CodyZamboni Z Found this slightly better than last time I saw this almost 35 years ago, Highlights : the positive message about self reliance, and Fox's super hot blonde girlfriend, But overall, movie is barely amusing, and has a mean spirited, bullying tone throughout. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/15/25 Full Review Lincoln B A MONSTROSITY of a movie. Could Teen Wolf have been a fun hiding a secret comedy? Sure! A satirical take on high school popularity? Maybe. A John Hughes inspired edgy teen comedy with some serious messages baked in? It WANTS to be. Yet in trying to be all of the above it succeeds at being none. The plot changes focus pretty quickly and randomly. The few enjoyable scenes (The kids trying to get beer and the. surfing scene) add nothing to the overall plot. The characters have no depth at all including Micheal J. Fox, but he can't really control the poor writing. There's also some slurs and implied sexual acts that nobody cares for. That said, I did enjoy making fun of it with my witty family and laughed (at the poor quality of the movie). It's my new example of 80's movies that don't hold up (my past was E.T.). Feel free to watch it, but don't expect anything actually good. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 08/06/25 Full Review Jace T Okay, so Teen Wolf is honestly a fine and solid movie. Much better than the critics of the time lead it one to be, and honestly better than audiences review it to be as well. I think that Back to the Future just overshadowed this movie so much that this Michael J Fox movie just doesn't compare. Teen Wolf isn't a perfect movie, but there is fun to be had here. The father and son scene with Scott and Harold absolutely killed me and honestly elevated the movie for me. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/02/25 Full Review Blu B It's so 80's lol. It's part basketball sports movie, part coming of age teen comedy, part horror movie and it really never makes it all work that well. It feels like 3 completely seperate stories the entire time. Sometimes it feels like the wolf is symbolic for puberty but it just kind of muddles that and honestly I don't really think that's it at all. I think it's just face value teen werewolf and funny gags happen. This isn't even remotely scary and is super light hearted. It really never attempts any scares at all. The design is alright. The edits feel a bit lazy how it's done but it looks fine. The acting is just chessy lots of times and Fox is jsut playing himself kind of even as the werewolf. There really isn't any conflict, scares, or much laughs. It's light hearted the entire time but never really laugh out loud funny either. And the direction is very basic stuff also. Some scenes drag also and the stupid surfin USA on the van just drags. It's harmless kind of and very much a product of it's time. Overall just mediocre but I guess I can kind of see why teens would like it kind of. Skip It though. Not much here beyond nostalgia. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/31/25 Full Review Jey D Everyone deserves a Boof in their life. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/21/25 Full Review Angelo G It's a classic and very similar to a Spider-Man story with the great power comes great responsibility line even being in this movie! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/12/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Teen Wolf

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Teen Wolf

Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Give Me a Keg of Beer Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Give Me a Keg of Beer 2:08 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Getting Worked Up Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Getting Worked Up 2:04 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - The Wolf Can Dunk Teen Wolf: Official Clip - The Wolf Can Dunk 2:05 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Surfing on the Wolfmobile Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Surfing on the Wolfmobile 2:02 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Fight at the Dance Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Fight at the Dance 1:20 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - I'm a Werewolf Teen Wolf: Official Clip - I'm a Werewolf 2:27 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Caught in the Bathroom Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Caught in the Bathroom 2:09 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - First Wolf-Out Teen Wolf: Official Clip - First Wolf-Out 2:39 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Bowling With Pamela Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Bowling With Pamela 1:49 Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Scott Growls for the Ball Teen Wolf: Official Clip - Scott Growls for the Ball 1:12 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis When high school nerd Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox) learns from his father, Harold (James Hampton), that being a werewolf runs in the family, he decides to take advantage of his freakish trait. With his newfound strength and agility, Scott quickly becomes the hero of his school's basketball team while winning over longtime crush Pamela Wells (Lorie Griffin). As he grows more popular, Scott worries he is being celebrated as a novelty rather than for who he is.
Director
Rod Daniel
Producer
Mark Levinson, Scott M. Rosenfelt
Screenwriter
Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Wolfkill
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy, Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 23, 1985, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 27, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$32.7M
Runtime
1h 28m
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