back when teen wolf was a low-budget youth movie

I'm not a fan, but I recently caught an episode of the Teen Wolf (2011) series.  It's supposedly inspired by   the 1985 flick with the same title (You know - Michael J. Fox's other movie that year) which spawned a 1987 TV series.   It's got the same general conflict:  teenage boy discovers he's a werewolf and his life is forever changed.   It also has the same main characters' names, and the same sucky title.

ABOVE:  The original Teen Wolf.
BELOW: Teen Wolf 2011

The original movie was a low-tech production with a silly story.  Bad make-up too; Scott (Fox) looked more like an ape than a wolf actually.

It wasn't technically a success, but it managed to make its way into people's hearts through the years that it's now a well-loved classic of sorts.  Possibly not for any of the technical aspects, but most likely for the memories of when life seemed to be a lot less complicated.  Besides, it starred Michael J. Fox - and who could hate him, right?

Naturally, creating a 2011 television series from a two-hour 1985 movie a requires stretching the plot and updating everything to fit the changed culture.  But it's worlds apart from the 80's Teen Wolf, it might as well be called something else.  Like some other sucky title.  I mean, instead on using a familiar title to hook eighties kids, because this is definitely not the same thing.

Teen Wolf (1985) in my recollection was always campy, but it was bright, happy and hopeful.  The 2011-12 series is still corny, but it's been given a dark and sexy flavor -  which I think is an improvement, considering that the protagonist is a werewolf after all.

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