I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)

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

6/10