Van-surfing into theaters on August 23, Teen Wolf<\/em> came in second that weekend (to Back to the Future<\/em> in its eighth week) and held that spot until mid-September before slipping down the box office charts. Not bad legs for a film released during the dog days of summer \u2013 and its longevity continues to this day. How else to explain why Scream Factory\u2019s collector\u2019s edition<\/a> includes a retrospective documentary that runs nearly an hour longer than the film? Clearly, there are plenty of stories to tell about it and the franchise it spawned (a Saturday morning cartoon, a sequel, an MTV series that lasted six seasons and a movie), but the actual story of Teen Wolf<\/em> is as basic as you can get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The day we meet Scott Howard (a then-23-year-old Fox) is about the worst he could imagine. Taking up a full third of the 91-minute running time, the lead-up to Scott\u2019s first transformation (which naturally coincides with the full moon) establishes him as the prototypical put-upon protagonist who\u2019s \u201csick of being average.\u201d His high school basketball team is an embarrassment, the pretty girl he pines for won\u2019t give him the time of day, he works at his father\u2019s hardware store, and his best friend Stiles constantly ropes him into hare-brained schemes (like getting a keg of beer for the big party that night).<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of all that, though, are the changes Scott starts to notice, like the long strand of hair growing out of his chest, the fact that he can hear a dog whistle, and the sudden appearance (and just-as-sudden disappearance) of hair and claws on his hands and pointy ears. By the time he flees the party and races home to watch himself wolf out in the mirror, he may regret having said, \u201cI just want my life to change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The balance of the film covers Scott coming to terms with his new identity, and his changing social status when the athletic prowess it grants him makes him the most popular guy in school. Even his dream girl takes an interest in him, much to the chagrin of Scott\u2019s childhood friend Boof, who\u2019s nursing her own unrequited crush. While the 1957 B-movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf<\/em> used lycanthropy as a stand-in for juvenile delinquency, Teen Wolf<\/em> treats it as the equivalent of a growth spurt. Being \u201cThe Wolf\u201d doesn\u2019t solve his problems, though, and even creates a few new ones thanks to repeated run-ins with his jock rival and his school\u2019s suspicious vice principal. In the end, the lesson he learns is it\u2019s better to be himself \u2013 and not such a ball hog, so his teammates can share in the glory of winning when he turns their fortunes around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having cleaned up at the box office, a sequel was inevitable, but 1987\u2019s Teen Wolf Too<\/em> was too much of a carbon copy to mark its own territory. Set at college and starring Jason Bateman (as Scott\u2019s cousin Todd), Too<\/em> swaps out basketball for boxing, but otherwise repeats the original\u2019s story almost beat-for-beat; sensing the rehash, audiences stayed away. Such are the perils of following a success, something director Philippe Mora knew very well when he took the reins of Howling II<\/em>. \u201cThe choice is, do you make a completely different movie or do you copy the first one?\u201d Mora said on the commentary for Howling III<\/em>. \u201cI veered off into \u2018Let\u2019s make a different movie.\u2019\u201d Different is what he delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it starts out as a direct sequel to The Howling<\/em>, with the funeral of news reporter Karen White, Howling II<\/em> (which went out with multiple subtitles, including Your Sister Is a Werewolf<\/em> and Stirba \u2013 Werewolf Bitch<\/em>) shifts the focus to her brother, hotheaded Montana sheriff Ben (Reb Brown), and her previously unseen colleague Jenny (Annie McEnroe). This mismatched duo accompanies occult expert Stefan Crosscoe (top-billed Christopher Lee, classing up the joint as best he can) to the \u201cdark country,\u201d a.k.a. Transylvania (played by Czechoslovakia), for a showdown with immortal werewolf queen Stirba (Sybil Danning). Not a bad set-up, but Mora was beset by production problems tied to the decision to film behind the Iron Curtain, which at least gave it some local color. Coupled with the variable makeup effects and werewolf costumes (some of which infamously came from 20th Century Fox\u2019s Planet of the Apes<\/em> collection), Howling II<\/em> comes out looking much poorer than its predecessor, which had the benefit of a solid script and a game cast of familiar faces. It\u2019s also telling that Mora doesn\u2019t even attempt a transformation scene, although he did send them up when he made his own sequel, Howling III: The Marsupials<\/em>, two years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if it\u2019s doomed to live in The Howling<\/em>\u2019s shadow, Howling II<\/em> \u2013 like Teen Wolf<\/em> \u2013 has its adherents and enough of a following in its own right that Vinegar Syndrome<\/a> saw fit to release it in 4K<\/a> with an array of bonus features, including a new commentary by Mora, whose candidness is always refreshing. Just as forthright in his own way was Lee, who, as the legend goes, formally apologized to Joe Dante on the set of Gremlins 2: The New Batch<\/em> for appearing in Howling II<\/em>. This is in spite of the fact that he\u2019s one of the few performers who emerges from it with his dignity intact \u2013 no awkward werewolf three-ways for our Stefan, thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTeen Wolf\u201d is streaming on <\/em>Prime and a few other places<\/em><\/a>. \u201cHowling II\u201d can be found on <\/em>Tubi and a few other places<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/howling-2-1024x538.webp\")
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