I Was A Teenage Werewolf
“I Was A Teenage Werewolf” was one of the many drive-in horror films in the late 50's aimed at the lucrative teen market. Some of this genre bordered on the sublime such as “I Married A Monster From Outer Space” and others on the ridiculous like “Invasion Of The Saucermen”. IWATW, as it turned out, was one of the better ones.
This three part kit is the companion piece (I believe) of the “I Was A Teenage Frankenstein” from Dimensional Designs which specializes in the more obscure films as well as a very nice line of kits based on the original Outer Limits television series of the mid 1960's.
The quality is a bit better than “Frankenstein” in my view aside from the irritating seam lines in the hair which are a pain to remove. After cleaning up the seam lines and a bubble here and there, I gave all of parts a good scrub with a toothbrush, warm water and dish soap. This step is essential because what ever the release agent DD uses in the molding process, paint will NOT adhere to the part if any traces of it are present.
Another lurid poster from the period
A still from the film showing a broader makeup design as compared to the kit.
A black and white shot of the kit which is significantly different from the still on the left.
The film was shot in black and white which gave me some latitude in the kit's overall color palette. I decided to go with a dark greenish gray for the monster's hair and medium gray for the bare flesh. I went with maroon for the jacket with white piping and an off white for the shirt.
Like the Teenage Frankenstein mentioned elsewhere is this section of the site, the bust's likeness to the film's monster isn't that good a match. The film's makeup had a much broader fuzzier face whereas the kit is closer in apperance to the Lon Chaney Jr,'s makeup in the original Wolfman movie. Still, it is a nice looking in it's own right and would make a nice addition to any monster line up one might have. 3/17/24