I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) User Reviews

Terrible title, good movie

[preppy-3 · 6/10 · 29 May 2001]

Tony (Michael Landon) is a teenager with a serious temper problem. He goes to a doctor (Whit Bissell) to get help. Unfortunately, the doctor (for a truly ridiculous reason) makes Tony a werewolf occasionally with a combo of hypnosis and drugs. But then Tony starts changing with no help from the doctor...

This was the first of AIP's (American International Pictures) long line of horror movies with teenagers and for teenagers. It's one of their best and was a huge hit. Film starts slowly (it's almost a solid hour before you see the werewolf!) but the acting is good. The movie is short (70 min) and the werewolf makeup is great! Landon looks very scary and convincing with all that hair on him. The film has its shortcomings--the low budget hurts (the sets look very chintzy); the "science" in the film is beyond silly; and there is some very obvious day-for-night shooting when a teenage boy is being followed through the woods. Still worth seeing. Just keep your expectations on low until the werewolf shows up. Also look for Guy Williams (all tall and handsome) as a cop.

Actually not bad

[nightroses · 6/10 · 10 July 2021]

This is a cool 50's horror flick. I would have it with popcorn. I actually felt sorry for the main character, the teenage werewolf, played by Michael Landon. It wasn't his fault that this happened to him, and he was basically a scientific study by a mad doctor, who experimented on the teenager without his consent. In a way, if it wasn't for the cheesy youth club and the silly dialogue between the teen and his girlfriends parents, this could've been a much more sinister film instead of its funny reputation.

"I'm going to TRANSFORM him, and unleash the savage instincts that lie hidden within"

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 8 October 2007]

Tony Rivers (Michael Landon) is a troubled teen. His quick temper has way of getting him in trouble. At the insistence of teachers and his girlfriend, he agrees to see a psychiatrist. Unfortunately for Tony, his doctor isn't interested in helping him as much as he is in using Tony as part of his experiments. He sees Tony as the perfect specimen to test his theories on hypnotic regression. But his experiments have a dramatic and horrific effect on Tony, turning him into a snarling werewolf.

Despite what I consider to be a ridiculous name, I Was a Teenage Werewolf is quite an enjoyable movie. In fact, it's much better than I ever expected for a Teen Angst / Horror movie starring Michael Landon. While a lot of the film is terribly predictable with some very obvious foreshadowing, it's still a lot of fun – much more fun than its 3.9 IMDb rating would indicate. There are some surprisingly effective scenes in the woods once the werewolf makes his appearance, including one vicious attack on a dog. And, I Was a Teenage Werewolf is easily my favorite thing I've seen Michael Landon appear in. I've never been much of a fan, but he gives a nice performance. In fact, everyone involved gives a good accounting of themselves. So despite the incredibly awful song "Eeny Meenie Minie Moe" (someone should be flogged for that abomination), I'm giving I Was a Teenage Werewolf a slightly better than average rating of 6/10.

Surprisingly successful horror camp flick.

[bux · 29 October 1998]

Even the makers of this picture must have been surprised at the success of this horror camp film. Landon is the troubled teen, Bissel the mad doctor that transforms him into canine terror. Later in his career, Landon admittedly blushed at the mention of the picture, but this one did kick off the start of the "I Was a Teenage Whatever" craze. This one moves along quite well and is still watchable by today's standards.

Landon the lycanthrope.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 29 May 2023]

I Was a Teenage Werewolf is probably the best known movie from American International's '50s teen horror cycle, but that doesn't makes it any better than the others (Blood of Dracula, I was A Teenage Frankenstein, How to Make a Monster).

Michael Landon plays volatile teenager Tony Rivers, whose anger issues keep on getting him into hot water. Eventually, the lad turns to psychiatrist Alfred Brandon (Whit Bissell) for help; instead of solving Tony's problems, the doctor uses the hotheaded teen as a guinea pig in an experiment, hypnotising him and injecting him with a serum that regresses the boy both mentally and physically, causing him to transform into a hairy, snarling, blood-thirsty beast.

Films about disaffected youths were all the rage in the '50s, as epitomised by James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause: being an emotionally troubled outcast of society was cool. I Was A Teenage Werewolf was clearly designed to cash in on the craze, but Michael Landon's Tony is such an obnoxious tool that I fail to see how any young movie fan could have identified with him. I certainly don't understand how the character managed to keep a circle of friends, and a girlfriend, with the terrible way he treats them all. Tony's toxic personality irritated me so much that I was glad when he was gunned down in the end. That'll teach him to be such a jerk.

As with Blood of Dracula and How To Make a Monster, this film features a rock and roll song and dance number-Eeny Meeny Miney Moe-and it's awful!

5/10. I guess if you've enjoyed the other AIP teen horrors, there's no reason why you shouldn't dig this one too - it's virtually the same.

Made for the Drive in!

[mhorg2018 · 5/10 · 26 August 2018]

An ok movie with Michael Landon as a rage filled kid who a doctor turns into werewolf with psychiatry, unleashing his inner wolf. While the makeup is corny, this is a fairly fun movie that's a different take on werewolves. Better to see this than the worthless An American Werewolf in Paris!

An Experiment Gone Horribly Wrong

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 7 December 2021]

This film begins with a hot-tempered teenager named "Tony Rivers" (Michael Langdon) exhausting the patience of everyone around him due to his inability to control his anger and subsequently being referred to a psychologist named "Dr. Alfred Brandon" (Whit Bissell) to work things out. At first, everything seems to be going well with him but what he doesn't know is that Dr. Brandon has an ulterior motive involving a research project which takes priority over everything else-to include the well-being of his patient. To that effect, he has been injecting Tony with an experimental drug while under hypnosis which is designed to bring out the most primal forces within him. What Dr. Brandon doesn't realize, however, is that by doing so he has created a werewolf which he is unable to control and soon begins to terrorize the entire community. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a fairly standard horror movie for this particular time period and is quite dated as a result. One other item worth mentioning is the fact that, because of the manner involved with Tony's transformation, his turning into a werewolf wasn't dependent on the phases of the moon--or even the presence of night for that matter. Regardless, I thought Michael Langdon performed reasonably well and having a beautiful actress like Yvonne Lime (as his girlfriend "Arlene Logan") certainly didn't hurt either. That being said, while this is not an outstanding werewolf film by any means, it wasn't bad by any means and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Freaked me out!

[jeff-51847 · 7/10 · 8 November 2008]

A group of us guys were discussing the scariest films we'd seen as kids. I was 10 in 1957 when I saw this film while spending a week on Catalina Island. The theater was at the landmark "Casino" which was about a half mile walk from the small port village of Avalon. I was heavily absorbed in war, sci-fi, and western action films, with a special appreciation for stunts and special effects but unfamiliar with the horror genre in general and werewolf lore in particular. I was also the runt tagging along with a trio of cool eleven year old friends. It could've been a scene out of "Stand By Me". Four smart-ass kids walking at night down a dirt road to see "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" for my first and only time.

As an aspiring artist, I remember being fascinated by the opening titles where a make-up artist sketched the monster's face but when the actual transformation took place in the film it freaked me out, to say the least. Maybe it was the collective scream of a hundred other kids, but I covered my eyes until brave enough to slowly glimpse the monster. The scenes shot in Griffith Park looked too much like the dark, tree lined path we had walked to the theater. That half mile walk back to town was the longest, creepiest walk of my childhood.

A few months later I saw "A Man of a Thousand Faces" and became completely fascinated by the art of make-up and dove into everything I could find on Lon Chaney Sr. Later I finally saw Chaney Jr. in "The Wolf Man". By then I was too cool to be scared but still reading anything I could find on werewolf and vampire lore and probably first in line to see "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein".

Whit Bissell Gone MAD!

[BaronBl00d · 5/10 · 1 February 2000]

Michael Landon portrays a troubled teen who is easily angered and quickly moved to thoughtless violence. He has been in trouble in school, and a police officer suggests psychiatric help. Because of constant badgering from his gal, and an incident where he beats on a buddy for no apparent reason, Landon(playing Tony) seeks the professional advice of one Whit Bissell. Bissell sees the tensions within the young man and decides that he now has found his human guinea pig with which to test his serum that will bring mankind back to its primitive roots. Landon regresses so far that he becomes a werewolf, apparently a forerunner of mankind as we know it. Of course, Landon goes on a killing spree killing a couple of teenagers, before being hunted like the animal he is. The film has a pretty tight story, and the acting is pretty good. Landon is very good as Tony with his "problem" and pent-up anger. The real sight to behold is mild-mannered Bissell playing a mad scientist who forsakes life for the end result of knowledge.

Drive-In bagatelle actually generates mood.

[BrentCarleton · 7/10 · 5 December 2006]

Despite its apt but risible title, "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," surprises in both the sincerity of its playing, as well as by its accomplished technical credentials. Campy confessional title nothwithstanding, there is nothing about the screenplay that is deliberately parodic.

Effectively photographed by distinguished cinematographer Joseph La Shelle, and bolstered by an excellent musical score, the film thus provides a solid showcase for both its scenario and the performances of its young principals.

More importantly, (and this is what gives the picture a leg up on others of its ilk) the film is moodily under-lit, giving much of it a film noir ambiance. This is most evident in the hypnosis sequences, (the best in the film) which are staged and photographed in a way very reminiscent of Lewton's "Cat People."

Anyone doubting the value of the change purse aesthetics at work here need only consult the negligible results attained in such schlock as "Blood of Dracula" or the pre-Poe Corman films, which make "Teenage Werewolf" look like David Lean by comparison. Here the sincere effort of the technical crew shows: an unsettled, fatalistic brooding mood is generated, taking equal measure from the sense of doom hanging over the protagonist and expressed in shadows everywhere, even in mid-day living rooms and psychiatrist's offices.

Mr. Landon brings a sensitive intensity to the role that is wholly convincing, and he is ably abetted by all in support. Mr. Sokoloff is fine in his masculine reprise of the Maria Ouspenkaya role from Lon Chaney's "The Wolfman," and a pre Zorro Guy Williams shows up effectively as a policeman.

While admittedly done on a modest budget, this limitation is actually an asset, inasmuch as it prevents the art direction from going over the top in its very effective depiction of proletariat domestic interiors, (Miss Lime's character even has Archie and Edith Bunker type parents.) Thus, the homes, teen club, principal's office etc. are "right on the money."

Even so, sharp eyed viewers will note that a leather sofa does double duty in both the police detective's and Miss Fergusan's office. Similarly, Dr. Brandon's and Miss Fergusan's respective office's are the same set, re-arranged, and re-dressed.

For his part, Mr. Landon, flush with his TV western success, and (equipped with accompanying footage), lampooned his role in the film in a 1969 guest appearance on the Jerry Lewis TV show.

He Went from Here to the Ponderosa

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 13 December 2016]

This is a decent fifties horror movie. Its selling point today is that Michael Landon appeared in it. He plays your basic delinquent and parent's nightmare (that is if they had a daughter). He is under the gun because he has a hair-trigger temper and has been getting into fights his whole life. He finally seeks help when he beats up a guy at a party; the guy just startled him with a trumpet. Unfortunately, of all the counselor he could have gone to, he picks a nut who wants to send people back to their primitive selves, to release the id so so speak. Of course, Landon becomes a werewolf and the rest is pretty clichéd. The special effects are right out of all the Universal wolf man movies. He is a sad victim who only wanted to change. Unfortunately, what he changed into was a werewolf.

A classic of its kind

[baronlibra · 9/10 · 25 February 2002]

You really had to be a teenager in 1957 to appreciate the effect this movie had on teens back then. Elvis was just starting out and there are similarites to the reactions of adults and teenagers to both icons. (In fact Yvonne Lime was "dating" Elvis (pictures of Elvis and Yvonne together were in movie magazines back then) when this film was made and from what I understand, he even visited the set. Too bad they couldn't have had him sing a song in it!) There is an amazing backstory AMC could make about the senate hearings on juvenile delinquency and this film; the senators mentioned the bad effects this film had on teenagers even though none of them had seen it!

Anyway, Gene Fowler Jr (who had edited Academy Award films like LAURA) was chosen to direct this, his first film and although he at first had second thoughts about doing it, his wife convinced him "no one would see it anyway." Boy, was she wrong! His background as an editor helped him be a better first-time director than most and helped make this picture, made on a shoe-string budget in only 7 days, better than all the other teen horror films back then. The camera angles on the fight at the beginning, Dawn Richard's gymnist seeing the werewolf upside down at first (and therefore the audience too), showed that he had good ideas in setting up shots.

Michael Landon, contrary to what some believe, never downplayed his connection to this film for it gave him his start in show business. He may at first have had doubts about being connected with it with the initial uproar, which is why he turned down the chance to play the werewolf a second time, but after that, he never bad-mouthed the film. In fact, he paid homage to it on a Halloween episode of "Highway to Heaven."

Anyway, the acting is good all around with standout performances by Landon and Whit Bissell. The "science" used to turn Tony into the monster may be silly today, but in the 1950's, there were a lot of talk and film plots about past-life regression following the Bridey Murphy newspaper accounts (also used in THE SHE-CREATURE). Again you had to live in the 1950's to understand all this. Philip Scheer's werewolf makeup is one of the better pre-Howling/American Werewolf ones in movie history and while the transformation scene isn't as good as in THE WOLF MAN or THE WEREWOLF, the director did not have a lot of money or time to work with and did a good job considering.

A film has to be pretty good, even with a low budget, to be as successful as this one was...and to remain a cult favorite 45 years later. It has stood the test of time and deserves to be considered a classic of its kind.

The One That Started It All

[twanurit · 7/10 · 11 May 2001]

Made for a paltry sum in 1957, this horror film grossed over 2 million dollars in a week. Its combination monster and teen angst struck a chord with audiences, especially the core teen-agers. Dozens of related films followed in the late 1950s. Michael Landon is handsome and brooding, in the James Dean mold [in fact he wears a stripe-lined dark baseball jacket almost as good as Dean's red one in "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955)], who seeks help for his violent tendencies. Yvonne Lime is lackluster as Landon's girlfriend, but Whit Bissell is compelling as a demented psychiatrist who transforms Landon into a part-time werewolf. Two set-pieces are masterfully constructed: in the first attack a teen boy is walking home through the woods, and suddenly hears footsteps behind him. Shot day-for-night, we hear no music, just see branches, brush and meadows, and hear crunching sounds. It's terrifying. The second sequence begins with Landon watching a girl practice on a parallel bar in a gym. The bell rings and he is transformed. This is our first look at the werewolf makeup and it's effective. But the girl is hanging and sees him upside down and so do we for a short while, set to a magnetic musical score, and it's thrilling. Later the monster hunt becomes a bit drawn-out, aided by a janitor from "the old country" who speaks of werewolf legends, a replacement for the gypsy woman from "The Wolf Man" (1941). This is undoubtedly Michael Landon's most famous and best screen performance, since he got lost to TV.

Not the biggest man on campus; but the most feared.

[michaelRokeefe · 4/10 · 18 May 2001]

A young man(Michael Landon)flirting with juvenile delinquency is advised to see a doctor(Whit Bissell) to help him with rage managment. The doctor using hypnotherapy transforms the teen into a werewolf.

This cult classic still fares well despite its crude special effects. Time has not hurt this movie at all. It is still very watchable. Fun to watch for all ages. This is only a start of things to come for terrified teens on a campus.

Supporting cast includes:Barney Phillips, Guy Williams and the ever so cute Yvonne Lime still make ME howl!!

Teenage Angst at it's best

[lejendmi · 3 January 2007]

I first saw this when I was about 14 and I immediately felt it was one of the best horror movies I had ever seen! Forget that- I thought it was one of the best MOVIES I had ever seen. I saw it again at around 50 and couldn't believe I felt that way! But I do recall that I totally related to the "angst" and mental torment Michael Landon's character expressed- the alienation from everyone, especially parents and older people, the intensity, loneliness and longing for...something. Landon's moodiness and range in something other than "Little Joe" or "Little House on the Prarie" romanticized optimism roles showed he had more to offer than we typically saw. It definitely was one of the best of the "I was a teenage..." genre.

I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF (Gene Fowler, Jr., 1957) **

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 23 January 2010]

I recall watching (and enjoying) Herman Cohen's production of I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957) several years ago in the wee small hours on Italian TV and I thought of finally acquiring it and its follow-up/companion piece (the film under review) for this Halloween Challenge; not being familiar with the latter and coming at the tail-end of the month, I will only have time to get to the second entry. I am not sure but, on a preliminary viewing, I would say that WEREWOLF was less enjoyable than the campier FRANKENSTEIN. Whit Bissell returns in the role of the mad doctor who, over the meek protests of his long-suffering assistant injects brilliant juvenile delinquent(!) Michael Landon with a regressive serum that, unaccountably, turns him into a lycanthrope (when a simian creature would have been more conducive to his argument)! True to formula, Landon has an ineffectual widowed father, does not see eye-to-eye with his prospective authoritarian father-in-law and is also frequently picked up by the Police for brawling with his fellow students; like the same film-makers' equally lackluster BLOOD OF Dracula (1957) – that I caught up with earlier this month – the action here is virtually confined to the college campus. Landon's first transformation is not even shown so that when we first see the ludicrously hirsute creature (donning a hip track-suit, no less), the film is more than half over. However, they make up for this by keeping Landon almost exclusively 'in character' for the rest of the film (i.e. even during daylight hours). The climactic confrontation – where a foaming-at-the-mouth Landon metes out poetic justice upon Bissell and is cornered by the Police in the latter's lab – is quite effectively done and, for the record, as with the afore-mentioned and similarly teen-oriented Dracula flick, we are treated to the dubious pleasure of a rock'n'roll number by Jerry Blaine sporting the heady title of "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo". Apart from late, beloved TV star Landon (whose big-screen highlight, strangely enough, this remains), there are also two actors worth mentioning in the cast (albeit in subservient roles): Vladiimir Sokoloff (as the Transylvanian[!] janitor of the local Police precinct) and future TV Zorro, Guy Williams (as the junior cop who terminates Landon's mild 'reign of terror').

Michael Landon.

[AaronCapenBanner · 4/10 · 30 October 2013]

Gene Fowler Jr. directed this famous hybrid of horror and juvenile delinquency that stars a young Michael Landon as troubled teenager Tony Rivers, who is ordered to undergo therapy to control his anger issues(he gets in a lot of fights at high school) Unfortunately, his doctor(played by Whit Bissell) is quite unscrupulous, using Tony in his hypno-regression therapy that causes him to become a murderous werewolf! Barney Philips plays the investigating detective looking into the murders. While by no stretch a good film, Michael Landon gives a sympathetic performance, and there is some effectively tense direction and good makeup, though this never quite manages to rise above its silly title. Not yet on DVD either, which is a shame.

"Classic" Fifties Horror flicks: I Was A Teenage (blank).

[Captain_Couth · 2/10 · 22 August 2005]

I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957) was one of the many budget films that were cranked out during the fifties. The only note worthy item of interest to come from this film (besides the ruthless parody of the movie on S.C.T.V.) was an early starring role for t.v. maven Michael Landon. The rest of this movie is pretty forgettable.

Michael Landon stars as a very mean and aggressive teenager. He's always getting in scrapes and in trouble. Seeking help for controlling his angry, he sees a crazy psychiatrist who uses an experimental therapy on the kid. The end results are terrible. He de-evolves into a raging beast (wearing a letterman jacket and caterpillar eyebrows). Mayhem and chaos is in order until this bad dog is put to sleep. There, I saved you the trouble of trying to watch this howler. Waste your time elsewhere.

Not recommended.

A classic werewolf movie

[Teknofobe70 · 7/10 · 8 May 2005]

Tony Rivers is a teenager who has a real problem with anger. He's always ready for a fight and explodes at even the slightest provocation. A sequence of unfortunate events lead him to seek help with a psychotherapist, who turns out to be a mad scientist obsessed with the possibilities of reverting man to his animal state. After a few sessions which seem to be helping, brutal animal-like killings begin to occur in the town and Tony fears that he has become ... a werewolf! Although it was made for an extremely low budget by a brand-new production company called American International Pictures, this movie became very successful very quickly. Whether or not somebody actually sat down and figured out that teenagers should be the target audience for movie theatres now that the older folk stayed at home to watch TV is uncertain, but it was definitely a winning formula. Of course, the authority figures at the time were quick to damn the movie, saying it was psychologically damaging the kids who watched it. What a bunch of squares.

The werewolf aspect here is a metaphor for common teenage mood swings, with the anger of Tony being eventually channelled into the beast. There are hints of a darker subtext, particularly in a scene where he watches an attractive, partially-clad female gymnast doing her moves, right before changing into the wolf and attacking her. Overall the movie fails to notice the other similarities between the werewolf myth and adolescence, at least not to the same extent as "Ginger Snaps" or even "Teen Wolf". It tries very hard to be hip to the teenagers of that time, with fifties slang and a completely out-of-place extended music number and dance sequence thrown in. Unfortunately, it isn't really as thrilling or as fun as it really should be in places ... it's quite slow moving, takes a long time to get started and a lot of the scenes in the second half of the movie seem thrown together and lacking in narrative flow. Obviously it isn't perfect (it was given the "Mystery Science Theatre" treatment), but hey -- it's a B-movie.

Michael Landon is a real star in this movie, giving a performance that is both intense and convincing. Rather than setting his sights on movies, from here he went on to become a popular face on television, with major roles in series such as "Bonanza" (for over a decade), "Highway to Heaven", and later starring in "Little House on the Prairie". Nobody else on the cast really stands out, although everyone is competent. Tony's girlfriend is played by Yvonne Lime, who was actually dating Elvis while this movie was being made (how cool can you get?).

The notable writing team here, although originally credited as "Ralph Thornton", were in fact Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel who also wrote the sequels "I Was A Teenage Frankenstein" and "How To Make A Monster", then credited as Kenneth Langtry. Aben Kandel also did some earlier uncredited work on the "Werewolf Of London" screenplay. Unfortunately none of these movies were particularly strong in terms of story or dialogue, but nevertheless they did contribute a great deal to werewolf movie history. Director Gene Fowler Jr made his career in B-movie horrors and westerns, with this being his most well-known work (although "I Married A Monster from Outer Space" has to rank highly).

Werewolf movie fans really have to see this movie, not only because it was so popular and so influential, but because it was one of the most interesting werewolf movies of it's time.

They never saw nothing like this on the Ponderosa or in Walnut Grove!

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 25 October 2018]

The future star of three hit TV series ("Bonanza", "Little House on the Prairie", "Highway to Heaven") needs an instant shave from his usual clean shaven self in this drive-in classic from the early days of American International. Michael Landon is a troubled teenager with an attitude who finds the wrong help in psychiatrist Whit Bissell who uses his private experiments to help Landon get revenge on those he believed have wronged him. Mysterious injections take the anger that is already there and make it beast like, turning the future Pa Ingalls into a distant cousin of Lon Chaney Jr.'s. Girlfriend Yvonne Lime notices strange changes in his personality, and so do her stuffy parents, and Landon's father (Malcolm Atterbury) realizes in horror (perhaps remembering what Claude Rains did in "The Wolf Man") what he must do.

This is a decent, if predictable, update of that 1941 Universal horror classic, and a few scenes seem like they've been taken from that film verbatum. There are some extremely tense moments, particularly the attack of a girl doing gymnastics who sees wolfie approaching her while her head faces him upside down. Another scene shows one of Landon's teen rivals walking through the countryside hearing strange voices and calling out in panic demanding to know who's there. The music is creepy and the atmosphere affecting, but sadly, there's little detail about Landon's character of Tony Rivers that explains why he's so troubled beyond getting into fights at school and seemingly being the schoolyard bully. Those who know Landon only from his heroic TV parts will be surprised to see him playing a basically unsympathetic kid. A rock musical number entitled "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo" is enjoyably campy. For a co-feature, I recommend American International's "How to Make a Monster" which parodied the making of this film by including a poster of it, but having another actor stand in for Landon.

Star making vehicle for Michael Landon

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 4 April 2019]

The influential "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" marked the starring debut of 20 year old Michael Landon, still two years away from TV's epic Western BONANZA. The sad fate of the late James Dean would inspire a number of copycat versions of "Rebel Without a Cause," so the intervention of new AIP producer Herman Cohen to combine teenagers and terror would quickly become a staple of drive in fare for many years (the shooting title was the very straightforward "Blood of the Werewolf"). Veteran film editor Gene Fowler Jr. (working steadily from the early 40s into the 80s) made his feature directorial debut, directing another six cult films and a number of TV episodes over the next five years before returning to the editing room for the remainder of his career. He was at the helm for Gloria Talbott's classic "I Married a Monster from Outer Space," plus a pair of early starring roles for Charles Bronson, in "Showdown at Boot Hill" and "Gang War," typically displaying more savvy than more experienced pros. Just as Alfred Hitchcock graduated from the editor's chair, Fowler benefits from a solid script and characterizations, instantly grabbing the audience with an opening fistfight that demonstrates the short temper and mistrusting nature of our protagonist, Tony Rivers (Landon), whose past run ins with the law have mounted to such a degree that he is now required to seek psychiatric help. Unfortunately (or fortunately, since we wouldn't get a monster), the MD turns out to be the less than ethical Alfred Brandon (Whit Bissell), who sees his latest patient as the perfect 'disturbed' subject to undergo hypnotic treatment coupled with a serum that is supposed to prove than mankind's future depends on the savagery of his past (another topical nod to Bridey Murphy). The first attack is masterfully staged, the intended victim walking home alone through the woods, unable to see whatever it is that's creeping up on him yet too terrified to escape (even the music is effectively scary). We first watch him transform into a sweater clad werewolf at the 45 minute mark when the school bell rings in his ear, his gymnast victim played by Dawn Richard, Playboy's May 1957 Playmate of the Month, who sees her attacker approach upside down in a nice touch. The remainder of the film keeps him in hirsute form, until his human self seeks help from the doctor who betrayed him, earning his justified reward. Landon takes full advantage of the part and always cherished his lone horror vehicle, paying tribute as a middle aged werewolf on his last TV series HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN. The transformations are done by lap dissolves, Landon's snarling, drooling creation one of cinema's best, going on to play a multitude of villains prior to the phenomenally successful BONANZA. From the teens to the cops the entire cast performs admirably, only the oddball scientist is cliched to the point of ridicule (we could of course do without the token musical number). Whit Bissell took the top slot in the even more outrageous "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" before returning to supporting roles, while James Best ("The Killer Shrews") surprisingly pops up unbilled as a record spinner who gets slapped for being fresh. Both the Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein would be teamed in "How to Make a Monster," Gary Clarke replacing Landon under the makeup. One of AIP's biggest moneymakers, earning $2 million on a budget of $82,000, theatrically double billed with Robert Gurney's "Invasion of the Saucer Men."

A little Scapallomine a little hypnosis

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 12 January 2014]

I guess we all have to start somewhere and this is the film that launched Michael Landon. If he hadn't been picked up for Bonanza I Was A Teenage Werewolf might have been the summit of his career.

Actually Landon gives a good performance as a misunderstood youth with issue who apparently has never adjusted to his mother's passing or so we are led to believe. Sadly enough it's wasted in a film that can only be described as sheer claptrap and not even in keeping with Hollywood werewolf tradition.

Landon's behavioral problems cause him to be sent to Dr. Whit Bissell who's supposed to be a behavioral psychologist. Actually he hides it well because he's been looking for a perfect subject for some experiments into regressing man into the primitive. According to him man must regress and then evolution must start again with of course Bissell guiding it in the proper direction. A little scapallomine, a little hypnosis and some secret drug and Landon's a teenage werewolf. Proving that it doesn't take the bite of another werewolf to do the job.

Bissell can't quite hide the embarrassment and he must have cursed his agent for signing him for this role. The rest of the cast looks equally pained and they all must have envied Landon because at least for half the movie he's got werewolf makeup on.

low budget classic

[baronlibra · 9/10 · 15 May 2007]

This is one of the best low budget horror movies ever made. Directed by one of the top film editors of his day, Gene Fowler Jr, with cinematography by academy award winner Joseph LaShelle (for LAURA) raises this movie above many other low budget films of it's kind. The werewolf makeup is one of the better ones from pre-Howling-American Werewolf days. The acting is uniformly good all around with Landon and Bissell standouts. Some critics complaint about having actors in their 20's and 30's playing teenagers in IWATW are baseless since in critically praised films like WEST SIDE STORY the same thing occurs. Only weak part of the film is the "rock song" by Kenny Miller. AIP should have had a real rock song in the movie and since Yvonne Lime was dating Elvis about this time, it would have made the film more famous if it had included an Elvis song.

After so many years, I finally watched I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I'm glad I did!

[tavm · 7/10 · 26 June 2018]

After so many years of only knowing about it, I finally watched this on YouTube just now. Michael Landon plays the title character as Tony Rivers, who is rebellious because...well, just because as it takes a while before some kind of explanation is provided. Yvonne Lime is his girlfriend and Whit Bissell is the shrink who provides the "solution" that causes his changes. Among the people who crosses the werewolf's path is one Dawn Richard who would become a Playboy Playmate a few months before this movie's release. I'll just now say while there were some exciting scenes, some of the tone was uneven as we go from Tony's frustrations to his being more joyful during a party scene to his being more behaved after his visits to his shrink. And you have to wonder if the shrink really thought his experiments straight through. Still, this was quite a thrilling ride despite the obvious low-budget and short filming schedule. (Only seven days!) And Michael Landon seemed never to have been shamed by his appearance in this movie as he's spoofed himself over this part of his past on shows like "The Donny and Marie Show" and his own "Highway to Heaven". So on that note, I'm glad to have finally seen I Was a Teenage Werewolf and recommend it with no reservation!

Typical 50's teen horror.

[Aaron1375 · 2/10 · 3 March 2003]

This one doesn't appeal to me much. For the most part I think the movie takes itself too seriously, considering it is called I was a teenage werewolf. You just expect the movie to be more fun, less drabby. Landon does a rather good job, but his character is thoroughly unlikable. So is much of the cast. The plot revolves around Landon as a troubled teen who gets into a lot of fights at school. He goes to a doctor to treat him and for some reason this guy can turn you into a wolf for some reason. Why does he do it? Who knows, he says it is for science...I just think he has too much time on his hands. We get to put up with a lame teen party in this one where some guy sings badly, and then another party after Tony's (Landon's character) treatment where he kills this guy who walks through the deep woods for a shortcut. Then the police are involved and so is a janitor who is rather pointless in the movie. Wolf kills gal in gym, and now the police know they are after a werewolf. They go into the woods to track him, but you know the doctor is going to be in the finale.