I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Director: Gene Fowler Jr.

Writers: Herman Cohen, Aben Kandel

Composer: Paul Dunlap

Starring: Michael Landon, Yvonne Lime, Whit Bissell, Charles Willcox, Dawn Richard, Barney Phillips, Ken Miller, Cynthia Chenault, Michael Rougas, Robert Griffin, Joseph Mell, Malcolm Atterbury, Eddie Marr, Vladimir Sokoloff, Louise Lewis, S. John Launer, Guy Williams, Dorothy Crehan

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The most amazing motion picture of our time!

Plot: A hypnotherapist uses a temperamental teenager as guinea pig for a serum which transforms him into a vicious werewolf.

My rating:

Will I watch it again?  No.

How about that hyperbolic tagline?  If this is true then we've got a serious teenage werewolf problem on our hands that's been festering in secrecy for 60 years.  This picture made a sweet bundle back then by capitalizing on the teenage market.  Now I'm sure this was a great picture to take your best gal to the drive-in because it's borderline boring enough to ensure she'd rather suck face and curl her bobbysox than to pay attention to what's on the screen.  It's a novelty to look back on this to see Landon in his first starring feature role.  It's a goofy picture but it doesn't lean enough on the culture of teenager or the things they dig, largely music.  It also doesn't have much that's fun in the way of werewolf horror.  It's OK but the filmmakers didn't try hard enough to make a good horror movie.  It's more of a picture that transforms the werewolf idea into some punk ass bitch with anger issues who recently went through puberty.  I didn't have any sympathy for anyone and I was hoping for more werewolf kills.  But then I should feel bad for not diggin' on the most amazing motion picture of our (or their) time.  If I suddenly stop updating this blog then you'll know it was werewolves that took my ass out.  Avenge me.