I Was a Teenage Werewolf

Plot synopsis:
We open with a fight at Rockdale High School. A crowd of onlookers quickly gathers. Tony Rivers (Michael Landon) and Jimmy (Tony Marshall) are trading blows. As Jimmy seems to be gaining the upper hand, Tony throws dirt in his face, temporarily blinding him. The police arrive and the crowd quickly disperses. Detective Donovan (Barney Phillips) cleans Jimmy up, then has a chat with both. He makes them shake hands, and Jimmy walks off. Donovan tries to talk some sense into Tony, but he refuses help. This isn't the first scrape that Tony has had that involved the police. Donovan suggests professional help, but this only infuriates Tony. Tony saunters over to see his girl, Arlene (Yvonne Lime), who waited for him. He takes her home in his car.Tony arrives home to find his Dad (Malcolm Atterbury) packing his lunch for work. Dad tries to convince his son that things would go better if he would just go along with people. That evening Tony arrives to pick up Arlene at her house. He honks the horn. This behavior reinforces for Arlene's parents, Bill Logan (S. John Launer) and Mary (Dorothy Crehan) that Tony is unsuitable for their daughter. They insist that Tony come in to the house to call on their daughter properly. They have a little chat with Tony, who is surly and petulant. Before they get in the car, Arlene insists that Tony see the doctor that Detective Donovan recommended--Dr. Brandon. Tony objects and refuses. The Halloween party is already under way at the clubhouse Tony was able to procure. We meet the rest of their clique. There's Frank (Michael Rougas) who arrived without a date, Vic (Ken Miller) the bongo player, and his girlfriend Pearl (Cynthia Chenault), who is dressed like a clown because she thought it was a costume party. A couple is making out on the couch, but he (James Best) gets a little too fresh with his date and gets his face slapped for his trouble. We are then treated to the vocal talents of Vic singing "Eene, Meeny, Miney, Mo". They exchange practical jokes, including the dead guy falling out of the closet gag, the bucket of water over the door jamb gag, and the stuff that jumps out of the candy box routine. When Vic blows a trumpet behind Tony, he attacks Vic and strikes Arlene when she tries to intercede. The assembled gang is shocked at this over reaction. At this point Tony realizes he must seek help.Tony is being examined by Dr. Alfred Brandon (Whit Bissell). He explains that "before we enter the mind, we must know the condition of the body." His assistant, Dr. Hugo Wagner (Joseph Mell) is a reluctant assistant and provides Tony a mild sedative. Brandon tells Wagner that Tony is the perfect subject for his experiment. Through hypnosis Brandon will regress Tony back to a more primitive past and release savage instincts. He expresses no regrets that this will probably end in Tony's death. He injects the formula into his subject then hypnotizes him. Tony returns for another session, and each time Brandon questions him while he's under, taking him back further and further in time.That evening at the clubhouse, Tony and Arlene decide to leave early. Frank, again dateless, refuses a ride with Tony and Arlene and decides to walk home, taking a short cut through the woods. Tony drops Arlene at home and drives away. Frank is walking through the woods and hears something. The rustling behind him is more noticeable and closer. He turns to confront it, but there is nothing there. He picks up the pace and then begins to run from the unseen menace. He then sees it and screams.At the police station, a photographer hands officer Chris Stanley (Guy Williams) photos of Frank's body. Stanley brings the photos to Chief Pat Baker (Robert Griffin). Detective Donovan is in with the Chief discussing the case of Frank's murder. After examining the photos, Donovan suggests fangs were the murder weapon. Pepe the Janitor (Vladimir Sokoloff) posits his own theory to Officer Chris Stanley. It is something from the old country--a werewolf. The death makes the newspaper's front page.Tony returns for another session. He suspects that something is wrong, and that he is somehow involved in Frank's death. The police continue their investigation. Tony meets with the principal (Louise Lewis) of his High School. She reviews Dr. Brandon's progress report and tells him he's doing very well. Tony exits the principal's office and heads down to the gym. He sees a gymnast practicing on the parallel bars and loiters to watch her. The school bell rings triggering a change in Tony. We see him transform into a werewolf. He attacks the gymnast, but she manages to scream for help and initially escapes his clutches. The commotion draws a crowd to the gym, including the principal from her office. He kills the girl and runs from the school and into the woods. The principal calls the police. When they arrive she tells them it was Tony. She recognized his jacket and trousers. Jimmy also confirms it was Tony.The newspaper sends a journalist, Doyle (Eddie Marr) over to interview the Chief of Police. Detective Donovan goes over to interview Dr. Brandon about the werewolf. Brandon is skeptical about the reports, and due to doctor/patient confidentiality won't tell Donovan anything about Tony. The journalist then interviews Arlene and her parents, then later talks to Tony's father. The police organize a posse. They comb the woods but are not able to find Tony, now a werewolf, wandering around. He is aware the mob is looking for him. He is attacked by a German Shepard, but the dog gets the worst of the encounter. The posse gives up for the night, but Donovan reports they did find a dead dog, so he must be in the woods somewhere.The next morning Tony awakes under a bush, but he has transformed back into human form. He heads out of the woods and into town. He spots a telephone booth at a gas station and calls Arlene at home. The police have staked out the house and want Arlene to keep him on the line long enough to trace the call. He never talks to Arlene and quickly leaves the phone booth and heads over to Dr. Brandon's office. He knows something is wrong and begs Brandon for help. He doesn't realize that Brandon is the cause of his transformations. Brandon wants to record on film the transformation and again engages Wagner in this final experiment. Brandon injects Tony and he transforms. The phone rings, triggering Tony's rampage. Tony first kills Wagner. He follows Brandon into his adjoining lab. He destroys the lab equipment before he kills Brandon. Donovan and Officer Stanley arrive and repeatedly shoot Tony. We see Tony lying motionless on the floor, but transformed back into his human form. We close with Donovan looking down on Tony's corpse and telling us that "it's not for man to interfere in the ways of God."

Tags: cult

Review:
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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".
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.
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..
I notice this was directed by Gene Fowler who did I Married A Monster From Outer Space (another great title)in which, like this movie, the monster gets attacked by a dog.
This movie is a lot better than the title would lead you to think, and it is in fact a lot better than many of the other monster movies produced in 1957.At the time this film was made, everybody in the industry knew teenagers liked monster flicks.
It seems obvious today, 53 years later, but when the creators of this film had the insight that the adolescent audience actually tended to identify with the monsters as persecuted, misunderstood, misfits, this was a revolutionary moment in cinema.The screenplay actually does a pretty good job of setting up a plausible troubled teen hero (Michael Landon) with anger-management problems, who is justifiably afraid of his own passions.
Within this context, Whit Bissell's character is truly subversive.The idea of hypnotic regression as means to monster-hood is used here to good effect, anticipating William Hurt in 'Altered States.' Besides the monster reflecting teenage anger, there are also indications that it personifies his sexual energies as well.This movie was a big hit when 1st released, and it was followed by a wave of teen horror-scifi cinema: Teenage Frankenstein, Teenagers from Outer Space, and Teenage Caveman, to name but a few.
But while the latter entries are clearly popular among the younger set, they make most adults roll their eyes at the excesses.Not so for 'Teenage Werewolf.' This is a tight, fast-moving, and unpretentious little movie that does the job quickly and efficiently, and doesn't stare back at you wearing a ton of eye shadow and a stupid blank expression.
Using hypnosis and a drug called "Scopalomine" he regresses a troubled teen (Michael Landon, in a role he actually had fond memories of) to a past, primordial life as a .
Oh well, it's an American International Picture so expects lots of thrills and almost no logic.Actually this is a fun film to watch even all these decades later.
When he finally saw the finished film he was shocked to hear the music a full 2 beats BEHIND his singing!Has anyone else noticed that in most of the AIP teenage monster movies there is always one character named "Rivers" and one girl named "Arlene"?
Memorable drive-in horror of the 50's is a golden oldie of the genre.When teenage boy starts having anger issues, he begins to see a doctor, who is slowly turning him into a werewolf!As delightfully hokey as it sounds, I Was a Teenage Wolf is a camp horror film that's really carried by its young star.
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.
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!
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.
A werewolf film for a new generation, Herman Cohen's I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF is an interesting addition to the lycanthrope genre: one part mad scientist monster movie and the other part teen angst picture (with a musical number to boot).
An ok movie with Michael Landon as a rage filled kid who a doctor turns into werewolf with psychiatry, unleashing his inner wolf.
After a disastrous Halloween party, Tony goes to see a psychiatrist named Dr. Brandon (Whit Bissell- I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN).
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.
(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".
Landon played Tony - a hot-tempered high school kid who's constantly getting himself into trouble.
(Incidentally, all the "teens" really seem to be actors in their early 20's, but that's a side point.) So Tony keeps getting into trouble - fighting and hurting people and just generally being rude, including to his strangely attractive and sweet girlfriend Arlene (played by Yvonne Fedderson, or, as she's credited in this movie, Yvonne Lime.) Now, what Arlene sees in this boor is a mystery - but good girls hook up with bad boys all the time I suppose - but they are a couple, her parents' obvious disapproval notwithstanding.
To overcome his anger issues and try to keep him out of trouble, the police send Tony to Dr. Brandon (Whit Bissell) - a psychiatrist who's actually working on a secret experiment to turn people into werewolves, which he thinks is going to save humanity.
How turning people into werewolves is going to save humanity I'm not sure - but this is a 50's horror/sci-fi movie and Brandon is a mad scientist, so this doesn't have to make sense.
All police departments should have janitors from the Carpathians, of course, because you never know when a werewolf might show up - but, alas, to this day so few police departments have learned that lesson!The second killing is of a young girl in Tony's high school.
The movie slows down a bit for while as the posse searches - and I thought the dog put up a surprisingly good fight against a werewolf, although he lost in the end - but it picks up again in the final confrontation between Brandon and Tony.It's a cheesy B-grade 50's movie.
A young man(Michael Landon)flirting with juvenile delinquency is advised to see a doctor(Whit Bissell) to help him with rage managment.
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) *** (out of 4) AIP classic about a troubled teen (Michael Landon) who goes for hypnosis to cure his anger but the crazy doctor (Whit Bissel) turns him into a werewolf.
This has many of the same elements of other "teen" horror films of the drive-in era including stupid music, dumb dialogue and dorky kids but the real key to this films success is the performance of Landon.
High school student Tony Rivers (Michael Landon) has a chip on his shoulder and seeks help from a psychiatrist.
"I Was a Teenage Werewolf" seems a little dated nowadays, but it's still a good way to pass the time.
On the surface, this is nothing more than one of dozens of cheap teen horror flicks synonymous with the 50's- until you realize several of director Fowler's films were subsequently lauded as harbingers of  the effects of technology induced teenage angst.
Unfortunately, casting Michael Landon in the lead was a mistake- he was far too good looking and sure of himself and resulted in the unintended demonization of the psychotherapist  A much better choice would have been Barry Livingston, the young actor who portrayed the confused and innocent Ernie Douglas in the 60's television series My Three Sons.
For the most part I think the movie takes itself too seriously, considering it is called I was a teenage werewolf.
Well before Michael Landon hit the big time with Bonanza he had to start somewhere.This AIP film is it.For years he tried to disavow this movie to no avail.
It was the first movie to use the dreaded word "teenage" in its title, and the first to depict a member of this despised minority transforming into a monster.Michael "Little House on the Prairie" Landon makes a more than adequate James Dean substitute as the morose, rebellious teenager.
With its great performance from Landon, superlative direction and photography, and willingness to use these things to bring us closer to some surprisingly realistic violence, I think the seeds were there to make a gutsier b-film to rival the overrated "Rebel Without a Cause".The lycanthropy isn't the only transformation in the movie that left me underwhelmed.
Well, "Teenage Werewolf" is in a similar vein as "The Werewolf" - a doctor has created *gulp* a werewolf out of Tony Rivers (Michael Landon) in order to prove his idea to the rest of the scientific community.
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.
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..
And the acting is not half bad either, Michael Landon stands out in an intense and heartfelt performance, quite probably the best aspect of I Was a Teenage Werewolf.
Its 1958 and American international strikes gold once again with a awesome drive in epic introducing Micheal Landon as a moody teen who visits a police shrink played by the great whit bissell,who also played a mad Doctor in i was a teenage Frankenstein.well the shrink makes him turn into a snarling werewolf that drools like a mad dog whenever he attacks.this made Micheal Landon a star way before little house on the prairie and highway to heaven.look for guy Williams(john Robinson of lost in space)playing a policeman.i personally like this film,as i like most of the American international monster flicks of the fifties.its fun,its an awesome drive in monster epic.kudos to a.i.p,Samuel z arkoff, and James h Nicholson for i was a teenage werewolf.8 out of 10.
This movie had its good points that it had Micheal landon and the other reason that it started the I was a Teenage whatever craze .
Its about a Young rebellious teenager who gets picked on at school and  sees a psycho doctor to try to make him better but ends up making him into a science experiment.
One thing I've noticed about monster movies with teenagers is that there is always a dance number in the middle of the film.
Tony Rivers (Michael Landon) is a troubled teen.
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.
And, I Was a Teenage Werewolf is easily my favorite thing I've seen Michael Landon appear in.
This is one of the better 1950's b-movies from American International.A teenager seeks help from doctor, but this doctor uses him as a subject for his experiments resulting him turning into a werewolf.
Then, a series of strange deaths occur, which are the responsibility of the werewolf.I Was a Teenage Werewolf is typical for a movie of this period: teenagers, rock and roll etc.Several familiar faces in the cast: a pre Bonanza Michael Landon, Yvonne Lime as the love interest, 50's sci-fi/horror regular Whit Bissell as the mad doctor (more or less the same role he had in I was a Teenage Frankenstein) and Lost In Space's Guy Williams.I quite enjoyed I Was a Teenage Werewolf, a must for fans of 50's horror/sci-fi.
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.
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.
The film has also dated badly which makes it a lot of fun, and the teenage cast uses words like "crazy" and "hip".
The classic werewolf story of THE WOLF-MAN is updated for a younger audience and includes themes of alienation to appeal to teenage viewers, which is why it was a big hit with the young audience.
has TV Bonanza's "Little Joe" Cartwright Michael Landon in his first big role as the troubled youth Tony Rivers who goes from bad to worse.
Tony not quit knowing what the so-called "Good Doctor" is doing to him soon , when he hears bells ringings, turns into a teenage werewolf-with a set of bad rotted and crooked teeth- attacking and killing anyone who gets in his way.It was Pepe, Vldimir Sokoloff,the police station janitor who soon realized who was responsible for a number of vicious attacks and killings by the on the loose Tony but was treated like some kind of nut for him daring to express his opinion on the subject.
With my dad being a fan of the TV shows Little House on the Prairie and Lost In Space,I was delighted to recently get news from a DVD seller that they had found a Horror movie starring Prairie lead actor Michael Landon and Space actor Guy Williams,which led to me excitingly getting ready to see Charles Ingalls transform into a werewolf.The plot:Fearing that he is about to get a police record thanks to constantly getting into fights at his high school, Tony Rivers decides to book an appointment with psychologist Dr. Alfred Brandon,in the hope that Brandon will cure his anger issues.Picking up on Rivers anger,Brandon begins to feel that he could use Rivers for an experiment that he has been desperate to do.Giving Rivers a sedative,Brandon gets Rivers mind to go back to the primitive,violent state of the cavemen.Leaving from his session with Dr. Brandon,Rivers gets endless praise from the residences of the town over his improved behaviour.
"Don't chew me out," Michael Landon advises at one point in I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF; very good advice, as it turns out...
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.
Landon plays a young man who becomes a werewolf.