''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' is a 1957 American
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
directed by
Gene Fowler Jr., and starring
Michael Landon
Michael Landon Sr. (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on th ...
as a troubled teenager,
Yvonne Lime, and
Whit Bissell
Whitner Nutting Bissell (October 25, 1909 – March 5, 1996) was an American character actor.
Early life
Born in New York City, Bissell was the son of surgeon Dr. J. Dougal Bissell and Helen Nutting Bissell. He was educated at the Allen-S ...
. Co-written and produced by
cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...
producer
Herman Cohen, it was one of the most successful films released by
American International Pictures
American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...
(AIP).
[Arkoff, pp. 61–75]
The film was originally released as a
double feature
The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...
with ''
Invasion of the Saucer Men
''Invasion of the Saucer Men'' (U.K. title: ''Invasion of the Hell Creatures''; working title: ''Spacemen Saturday Night''), is a 1957 black-and-white comic science fiction/ comedy horror film produced by James H. Nicholson for release by Amer ...
''. The release included the
tagline
In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...
, "We DARE You To See The Most Amazing Motion Pictures Of Our Time!"
Plot
Tony Rivers, a troubled teenager at Rockdale High, has a short temper that gets him into numerous fights. Local police Detective Donovan advises Tony to talk with a psychologist who works at the local aircraft plant, Dr. Alfred Brandon, a practitioner of
hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy, also known as hypnotic medicine, is the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy is generally not considered to be based on scientific evidence, and is rarely recommended in clinical practice guidelines. However, several p ...
. Tony declines, but his girlfriend Arlene, as well as his widowed father Charles, show concern about his violent behavior. At a
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
party at the "
haunted house
A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...
", an old house at which teenagers hang out, Tony attacks his friend Vic after being surprised from behind. After seeing the shocked expressions on his friends' faces, he realizes he needs help and goes to see Dr. Brandon.
Brandon concludes that Tony's troubled history makes him an excellent subject for his experiments with a
scopolamine
Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, or Devil's Breath, is a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting. It is also sometimes used before surgery to decrease saliva. When used by injection, effects begin a ...
serum he has developed that regresses personalities to their primitive instincts. Although Brandon's assistant, Dr. Hugo Wagner, protests that the experiment might kill Tony, Brandon injects Tony with the serum, telling him it is a sedative to prepare him for hypnosis. During a series of hypnosis sessions, Brandon draws out Tony's traumatic childhood memories and suggests to Tony that he was once a wild animal.
After a party at the haunted house, one of Tony's buddies, Frank, is attacked and killed as he walks home through the woods. Donovan and Police Chief Baker review photographs of the victim and notice that the fatal wounds look like fang marks, but there are no wild animals in the area. Pepi, the police station's janitor and a native of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
, where werewolves are common, recognizes the marks in the photos.
After another session with Brandon, during which Tony tells the doctor that he feels that something is very wrong with him, Tony reports to Miss Ferguson, the principal of Rockdale High. She tells Tony that Brandon has given him a positive report and she intends to recommend him for entry into State College. As Tony leaves the school, he passes the gymnasium where a woman, Theresa, is by herself. A school bell behind his head rings, triggering his transformation into a werewolf, and he attacks and kills Theresa. Tony flees the high school, and witnesses identify him by his clothing. Baker issues an
all-points bulletin
An all-points bulletin (APB) is an electronic information broadcast sent from one sender to a group of recipients, to rapidly communicate an important message.Reiter, E. (1970). Police strive to provide protection machines lend valuable assist ...
for his arrest.
In the morning, Tony reverts to his normal appearance, heads to Brandon's office, and begs for help. Brandon wants to capture Tony's transformation on film in order to prove that his procedure works and injects him with the serum again. Following the transformation, a ringing telephone triggers Tony's instincts, and he kills Brandon and Wagner, breaking open the camera in the process and ruining the film. Alerted that Tony has been seen nearby, Donovan and another officer break in and shoot several times as Tony advances toward them. When Tony dies, his normal features return, leaving Donovan to speculate on Brandon's involvement and on the mistake of people interfering in the realms of God.
Production
Samuel Z. Arkoff wrote in his memoirs that he got a lot of resistance for producing a film portraying a teenager becoming a monster, an idea that had never been exploited in film before.
[Arkoff, pp. 61–75]
Dawn Richard, who plays a teenaged gymnast in the film, was a 21-year-old ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' centerfold model at the time, appearing in the magazine's May 1957 issue, which hit the newsstands a month ahead of the movie.
Pepe, the
Romanian janitor at the police station, was played by the
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
-born
Vladimir Sokoloff
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, he began his professional film career in Germany and France during the Silent era, before em ...
, a character actor who appeared as ethnic types in over 100 productions, his most famous being the old Mexican man in ''
The Magnificent Seven
''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay, credited to William Roberts, is a remake – in an Old West-style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself init ...
'' three years later.
Tony Marshall is the only other male actor to receive billing in the trailer for ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'', in addition to Landon and Bissell; however, he made only one other motion picture, the obscure ''Rockabilly Baby'', for
Twentieth Century-Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Com ...
, which was released in October of the same year.
Shooting began 13 February 1957. The movie was shot in seven days.
This film was the first of four "teenage monster" movies produced by AIP during 1957 and 1958. All four films highlighting a theme of innocent teenagers being preyed upon, transformed, and used by corrupt adults for selfish interests. ''
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'' (U.K. title: ''Teenage Frankenstein'') is a horror film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway, released by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957 as a double feature with '' Blo ...
'' and ''
Blood of Dracula'' were both released in November 1957 and feature a teenage boy transformed into a
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...
and a teenage girl transformed into a
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...
-like
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
, respectively. ''
How to Make a Monster'', released in 1958, features two young actors being hypnotized to kill while in make-up as the monster characters "Teenage Werewolf" and "Teenage Frankenstein" of the 1957 films.
Cast
Release and reception
''
Variety'' reported: "Another in the cycle of regression themes is a combo teenager and science-fiction yarn which should do okay in the exploitation market
..Only thing new about this Herman Cohen production is a psychiatrist's use of a problem teenager
..but it's handled well enough to meet the requirements of this type film.
..good performances help overcome deficiencies. Final reels, where the lad turns into a hairy-headed monster with drooling fangs, are inclined to be played too heavily." ''Variety'' went on to say that Landon delivers "a first-class characterization as the high school boy constantly in trouble." ''
Harrison's Reports
''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City–based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publish ...
'' was fairly positive, writing, "This horror type program melodrama should give pretty good satisfaction in theatres where such films are acceptable. The story is, of course, fantastic, but it has been handled so expertly that it holds the spectator in tense suspense." ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin
The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...
'' in the UK was negative, declaring, "A piece of old-fashioned and second-rate horror, the transformations are very badly done, the scientific background is shaky in the extreme and the monster looks like anything but the usual idea of a werewolf. It all seems rather hard on poor Tony, who is quite a pleasant boy when he's himself."
According to Tim Dirks, the film was one of a wave of "cheap teen movies" released for the
drive-in market. They consisted of "exploitative, cheap fare created especially for them
eensin a newly-established teen/drive-in genre."
The film was very profitable, as it was made on a budget of $82,000 and grossed as much as
US $2,000,000.
Released in June 1957, it was followed five months later by ''
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'' (U.K. title: ''Teenage Frankenstein'') is a horror film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway, released by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957 as a double feature with '' Blo ...
'' and ''
Blood of Dracula'' and by the sequel ''
How to Make a Monster'' in July 1958.
[Arkoff, pp. 61–75]
AIP's female "teenage vampire" companion piece
Less than four months after the release of ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' and coinciding with the release of ''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'', AIP released ''Blood of Dracula'', a film which bears more than a passing resemblance to their summer box office hit.
[Arkoff, pp. 61–75] More or less a remake, and with the hero and villain roles now both played by females, ''Blood of Dracula'', with a story and screenplay credit by ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' writer Ralph Thornton (a pseudonym for AIP producer
Herman Cohen and
Aben Kandel
Aben Kandel (August 15, 1897 – January 28, 1993) was an American screenwriter, novelist, and boxer. He was screenwriter on such classic B movies as '' I Was A Teenage Werewolf'', Joan Crawford's final movie '' Trog'', and one of Leonard Nimoy's ...
), features many other similarities to ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'': for instance, both have (among other things) a teenager with social behavior problems, an adult
mad scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...
who is searching for the perfect guinea pig under the guise of helping troubled youth, an observer who can tell the killings are the work of a monster, a disbelieving police chief afraid of the press, a song written by
Jerry Blaine and
Paul Dunlap accompanied by a choreographed "ad-lib" dance number, hypnosis as a scientific medical treatment, drug injections, specific references to
Carpathia, hairy transformation scenes and even some of the same dialogue. In addition, two prominent actors from ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' are also featured in ''Blood of Dracula'',
Malcolm Atterbury and
Louise Lewis, with Lewis' villain, 'Miss Branding' a practically perfect female version of Whit Bissel's 'Dr. Brandon'. However, few critics have drawn a connection between the two films and while most reference works consider ''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'' and ''How to Make a Monster'' as direct follow-ups to ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'', not even critic
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
speaks of ''Blood of Dracula'' as being related to the trilogy.
Legacy
After ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf,'' its star Landon became a regular on ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'' (1959–73). Another actor from the film,
Guy Williams, played Zorro in the Disney TV series ''
Zorro
Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
'' (1957–59), and Professor John Robinson on the TV show ''
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. Lightly dramatic, sometimes comedic in tone, the series was inspired by the 1812 J ...
'' (1965–68). In ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'' Williams and Landon appeared together in some episodes. Another star from the film,
Whit Bissell
Whitner Nutting Bissell (October 25, 1909 – March 5, 1996) was an American character actor.
Early life
Born in New York City, Bissell was the son of surgeon Dr. J. Dougal Bissell and Helen Nutting Bissell. He was educated at the Allen-S ...
, played Gen. Kirk on the short-run TV series ''
The Time Tunnel
''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science-fiction television series written around a theme of time travel adventure; it starred James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction televisi ...
''.
Although today the film is largely regarded as a source of "
camp" humor, and while at the time of release the idea of an adult human turning into a beast was not new, a ''teenager'' doing so in a movie was considered
avant-garde
In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
—and even shocking—in 1957.
[Arkoff, pp. 61–75] ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' likely paved the way for
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
to do his version of a
Felix Salten
Felix Salten (; 6 September 1869 – 8 October 1945) was an Austrian author and Literary criticism, literary critic. His most famous work is ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', which was adapted into an animated feature film, ''Bambi'', by Walt Disne ...
shapeshifting novel, ''The Hound of Florence''. Featuring Disney favorite
Tommy Kirk as the hapless teenager, and A-lister
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...
as the answer to B-lister Whit Bissell, it was released in 1959 under the title ''
The Shaggy Dog''. The film betrays its successful forebear with Murray's classic bit of dialogue: ''"Don't be ridiculous — my son isn't any werewolf! He's just a big, baggy, stupid-looking, shaggy dog!"''
[Arkoff, pp. 61–75]
Pop culture impact
The film's ''
Police Gazette''-style title (which had already been used by Hollywood previously with pictures such as 1949's ''
I Was a Male War Bride'' and 1951's ''
I Was a Communist for the FBI'') with the inclusion of the adjective "teenage" was used again by AIP for their sequel ''
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'' (U.K. title: ''Teenage Frankenstein'') is a horror film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway, released by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957 as a double feature with '' Blo ...
'', and the original working title for their 1958 sci-fi film ''
Attack of the Puppet People'' was ''I Was a Teenage Doll.'' Due to the success of ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'', this convention was satirised by others, for instance, the 1959
Dobie Gillis novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
''I Was a Teenage Dwarf'' by
Max Shulman.
[Published 1959 by B. Geis Associates, distributed by Random House in New York. Library of Congress PZ3.S56264 Ib, PS3537.H9919 Ib]
Film
Over the years, the ''"I Was a Teenage..."'' title was played on by several unrelated films, usually comedies, wishing to make a connection with the cult AIP hit, including ''
Teenage Caveman'', the 1963
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
''
I Was a Teenage Thumb'', 1987's ''
I Was a Teenage Zombie'', 1992's ''I Was a Teenage Mummy'', 1993's ''
I Was a Teenage Serial Killer'' and 1999's ''I Was a Teenage Intellectual.''
The script title for 1985's ''
Just One of the Guys
''Just One of the Guys'' is a 1985 American teen comedy film directed by Lisa Gottlieb and co-written by Dennis Feldman and Jeff Franklin. It is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night''. The film stars Joyce Hyser, C ...
'' was ''I Was a Teenage Boy'', a title that used a year later as an alternate for 1986's ''
Willy/Milly''. A working title for the 1995 hit ''
Clueless'' was ''I Was a Teenage Teenager''.
Scenes from ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' were included in the 1973 "fifties nostalgia" concert film ''
Let the Good Times Roll'', featuring
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
performances from
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
and
Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...
.
Television
Episode 2.19 (1963) of ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show'' was entitled "I Was a Teenage Head Writer".
Episode 1.18 (1967) of ''
The Monkees
The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...
'' was entitled "I Was a Teenage Monster".
The July 16, 1982 episode of ''
SCTV'' ("Battle of the PBS Stars") featured a comedy skit of the movie called "I Was a Teenage Communist", mixing horror with the politics of
red-baiting
Red-baiting, also known as ''reductio ad Stalinum'' () and red-tagging ( in the Philippines), is an intention to discredit the validity of a political opponent and the opponent's logical argument by accusing, denouncing, attacking, or persecuting ...
during the 1950s.
In 1987, the NBC-TV series ''
Highway to Heaven'' featured "I Was a Middle-Aged Werewolf" (episode 4.5), written and directed by
Michael Landon
Michael Landon Sr. (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on th ...
. Landon, as angel Jonathan Smith, transforms himself into a werewolf, initially to scare off some teenage bullies. During the earlier scenes, Jonathan's buddy, Mark Gordon (
Victor French) watches the original film, remarking: "You know, the guy in this movie reminds me a lot of you", adding, "when he's a regular guy, not when he's got fuzz all over his face."
An episode of
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
's ''
The Ren & Stimpy Show
''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...
'' titled "
I Was a Teenage Stimpy", showcases
Stimpy
Ren Höek and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat are the title characters in the Nickelodeon animated series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' and its 2003 spin-off '' Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"''. Series creator John Kricfalusi created the characters ...
going through puberty in a manner parodying the film.
In April 1997, the movie was mocked directly when it was featured in episode 809 of ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000
''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...
''. The host segments, however, parody the film ''
Alien.''
The October 28, 1999 episode of ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'' is titled "I Was a Teenage Gary" and features SpongeBob transforming into a
snail
A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...
after a hypodermic injection.
A ''
Phineas and Ferb
''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...
'' episode in 2010 was titled "I Was a Middle-Aged Robot". It involves Phineas' dad, Mr. Fletcher, having his imagination sucked away and the O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) replacing him with a robot controlled by Phineas & Ferb's pet platypus, Perry, also known as Agent P.
An episode of
The Owl House
''The Owl House'' is an American animated fantasy television series created by Dana Terrace that aired on Disney Channel from January 10, 2020, to April 8, 2023. The series features the voices of Sarah-Nicole Robles, Wendie Malick, Alex Hi ...
in 2020 is titled "I Was a Teenage Abomination". It follows
Luz as she sneaks into the local magic school and pretends to be a magical abomination to help her new friend, Willow, pass abomination class.
Music
Starting in 1975 and known as the first Horror Punk band,
Sid Terror's Undead has given nods to this movie a couple times, on their self-titled first album SID TERROR'S UNDEAD (1978) with the song
I Was A Teenage Vampire (words and music written by Sid Terror), and again with the song "Awkward" (words and music written by Sid Terror reference the I Was A Teenage Werewolf sequel,
I Was A Teenage Frankenstein
''I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'' (U.K. title: ''Teenage Frankenstein'') is a horror film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway, released by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957 as a double feature with '' Blo ...
(1957)) as recently as 2020 on their album
Pandemic Garage.
John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet and comedian who styled himself as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums and performed on stage with punk and post-punk ...
's 1978 album, "
Disguise in Love
''Disguise in Love'' is the second studio album by John Cooper Clarke, first released in 1978. (It followed '' Ou est la maison de fromage?''). Most of the tracks are spoken over musical accompaniment provided by Clarke's band The Invisible Gir ...
" features the song "Teenage Werewolf", the song goes on to feature in Clarke's 2015 album "Anthological".
The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...
, whose songs routinely reference horror and sci-fi films, have a song titled "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" on their 1980 album ''
Songs the Lord Taught Us''. Anarchist vegan punk band
Propagandhi wrote a song titled "I Was a Pre-Teen McCarthyist" and is featured on the 1996 album ''
Less Talk, More Rock''. Rock band
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated as QOTSA or QotSA) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1996. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme shortly before he returned to his native Palm Desert, California. ...
have a song on their 1998
self-titled debut album with the title, "I Was a Teenage Hand Model". Australian rock band
Faker released a song in 2005 entitled "Teenage Werewolf." Punk band
Against Me!
Against Me! is an American punk rock band, formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...
released a song in 2010 titled "
I Was a Teenage Anarchist". Pop punk artist Lil Cam'Ron's debut album ''I Was a Teenage Cameron'' also references the title. American Musical Theater Composer
Joe Iconis wrote a song titled . Brazilian rock band
Legião Urbana
Legião Urbana (Portuguese for Urban Legion) was a Brazilian rock band formed in 1982 in Brasília, Federal District (Brazil), Distrito Federal. The band primarily consisted of Renato Russo (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards), Dado Villa-Lobos ...
has a song called "Eu Era Um Lobisomem Juvenil", title of the movie in Portuguese. Australian band
Magic Dirt's 2000 song "Teenage Vampire" is a reference to the film's title.
Publishing
In
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
's 1986 novel ''
It'' (and its
made-for-TV film adaptation), several of the characters watch this movie. Afterward, Pennywise takes the form of a real teenage werewolf to frighten them, particularly Richie. When the Losers Club first attacks Pennywise, it takes the form of the teenage werewolf. In 2002,
Last Gasp published ''I Was a Teenage Dominatrix'', a memoir by Shawna Kenney. In 2015, the anthology ''Killer Bees from Outer Space'' (KnightWatch Press) featured a story, "I Was a Teenage Mummy Girl," by Amelia Mangan.
See also
* ''
Teen Wolf
''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is changed when he discover ...
''
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:I Was A Teenage Werewolf
1957 horror films
1950s teen films
1957 films
American International Pictures films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Gene Fowler Jr.
1950s monster movies
American teen horror films
American werewolf films
Films scored by Paul Dunlap
Teensploitation
Films about hypnosis
Films shot in Big Bear Lake, California
1950s English-language films
1950s American films
English-language science fiction horror films
Mystery Science Theater 3000