809. I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957)

My preferred werewolf episode

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It’s one of my favorites - I actually have it ranked back-to-back with Werewolf

It’s also notable as being the sci-fi era debut of Magic Voice, done for the first time by Beez.

Here’s an interview with Kenny Miller, who explains why his vocals were so off for his song

Kenny Miller (bizland.com)

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I was looking at screenshots for this one, and you know, there’s some nice lighting and camera work here… I was curious about who shot it and found it was actually a frequent Oscar nominee, Joseph LaShelle. Who won the B&W cinematography award for Laura. He was also the photographer for Best Picture winners, The Apartment and Marty

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From IMDB

gaining a reputation as one of Hollywood’s foremost stylists. His chief talent lay in his ability to employ lighting, decor, close-ups and clever camera angles to convey a grainy realistic, natural look, especially vital to the ambiance of film noirs.

Another aspect of LaShelle’s artistry lay in suggesting a bigger budget than was sometimes in play. This was notably the case with Laura (1944), for which he won his only Oscar. Virtually every scene takes place indoors, without significant exterior footage beyond a few basic studio shots. In the absence of streets and traffic, LaShelle nonetheless succeeded in creating a believable Park Avenue jet-set, replete with elegant apartments and swank restaurants.

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I only got to see this one recently as of last year. My husband who is a big horror nut actually enjoyed it as there are some great unsettling scenes in the woods and such. It goes down in MST history though for one of the worst composed songs ever.

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One of my favorite double feature pairings. :wolf::wolf::kissing_heart::pinched_fingers:

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It’s season 8, and it’s good! A memorable cheesy movie with a decent cast. Better than 808 but no where near 810, I enjoy this one but it will seriously be crushed by the awesomeness of Giant Spider Invasion! Michael Landon shows he’s got acting chops and Whit Bissell and Ivonne Lime are good but this one pales in comparison to the next episode!

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As a Packer Backer I can’t help but adore GSI, but I actually find Teenage Werewolf more consistently funny. I might be off the beam consensus wise, but from the first night it aired, it quickly became one of my favorites.

And it’s too bad it never received an official release. Ballyhoo could have whipped up a great doc on the movie and all its trivia and rounded that out with riffing memories from the cast and crew.

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Anyone who has Shudder, I encourage you to watch Queer for Fear. It’s good in general but there’s a section in the third episode about werewolves and this film in particular, which is discussed by Michael Landon’s son Christopher who is gay and got a lot out of it (he’s also a director in his own right, having made the body swap horror comedy Freaky, which is basically Freaky Friday if instead of swapping with mom, it was a Michael Myers type of killer played by Vince Vaughn.)

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I’m watching the episode because I haven’t seen this in years. 20 minutes in and still no werewolf.

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They have to establish the ‘teenage’ part first.

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If I’m following the science in this one right, the working theory is that humans evolved from wolves.

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This was a good episode.

What I remember most was Theresa the gymnast; it helps she was played by Playboy centerfold Dawn Richard. :slight_smile: :smiley:

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I honestly don’t think this one is that bad, Landon is legitimately very good in this. It’s heartbreaking he finally goes to the therapist for his very well done issues, and the therapist is an evil movie therapist. Maybe the rest of it is corny but I’ll hang my hat on Landon being the strongest part. And a great MF Doom sample!

Episode is great, the Alien bits are at worst just clever when not laugh out loud. The opening mutiny is very clever and Adam Duritz as the punchline is very solid. Riffs are fueled by the classics: way too old teens, depression dad, and the conventions of a 50s teen movie. Chronologically, it’s a great lead in from 8 straight B-horror movies into season 8’s true first gem: Giant Spider Invasion

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Last winter I read Alison Arngrim’s book *Confessions of a Prairie ***** *, and was surprised to see she referenced this MST3K episode, given Tom Servo at one point says, “I bet Nellie Oleson’s behind this.”

Word was Alison and her Little House on the Prairie costar Melissa Gilbert (aka Laura Ingalls) watched a lot of late-night movies in their teens, and I’m pretty sure they saw this years before without the riffing.

One funny thing came to mind in regards to Landon throwing the milk, was Arngrim mentioned in a commentary that he was an expert at throwing things from his school days.

In one of the episodes titled Bunny, Nellie was supposed to throw a little horse figure across the room, but Michael Landon did that because he had good aim, and he nailed the target just like a milk bottle on a kitchen door!

I like to imagine the girls coming up to him one day after seeing the film and all:

“A bottle of milk. What’s this for?”

“Could you throw it for us?”

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By far the most obnoxious thing in this episode is:

More nails-on-a-chalkboard than any other song in MST’s history, to me. I still wince at it to this day.

A middling episode. Sturdy, but not really memorable overall. I don’t mind watching it, but it’s not one I customarily seek out.

Perhaps a later host will get their own Lycanthropic masterwork someday, and the universe will achieve perfect balance at last. (Joel had The Mad Monster, after all.)

And yeah. Tony is utterly unlikable and unsympathetic, very much in line with many of our so-called protagonists and antiheroes. Landon is good-looking as a too-old “teen” and does fine with what he’s handed, which isn’t much. :person_shrugging:

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