It may be cliché to say, but there is nothing like an original.  Before continuing, I should admit that some of what is to follow is hypocritical.  I have only seen the original Teen Wolf (1985).  In fact, when I was a kid, it was a title with which I was familiar before I saw any of the Back to the Future films.  I bring that up only to share what I knew Teen Wolf’s star Michael J. Fox to be famous for instead of time travel movies.  At any rate, as I said, I have not viewed any of the weird sequels, reboots, or spin-offs (or whatever you want to call them).  I have watched previews, though, and it seems like they got rid of the campy monster mash feel of the 1985 version in favor of some kind of angsty, teenaged werewolf drama.  Please feel free to tell me I am wrong.  At any rate, I will take the camp.

Most werewolf material is like how I described the other Teen Wolf iterations.  Put differently, they are usually meant as serious works of horror.  You would not get that vibe early on with this one.  Instead, you are introduced to the intensely average high school student Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox).  I do not know about you, but when I was in those grades, those kinds of kids did not play on the basketball team.  Actually, this works well with his team because they are all as a whole something less than mediocre.  Nonetheless, he dreams of something more, namely getting to go out with the most popular girl in school, Pamela (Lorie Griffin).  Aside from his station in high school society, the other impediment is that she goes out with Mick (Mark Arnold), who plays for another school.  As often happens in these kinds of films, Scott has an admirer with whom he has been friends for some time, the oddly named Boof (Susan Ursitti).  Raise your hand if you have ever known somebody named Boof, female or male.  Now go to Confession because you are probably lying.  She makes it clear that she wants to date him, but his energies are focused on Pamela.  Still, Boof and Scott are able to remain friends.  There is one thing that he begins to hide from everyone, and that is the face that his body is beginning to go through changes.  I do not mean “those” kind of changes, but rather the ones that turn one into a werewolf.  By the way, I should mention that you can throw out most of what culture has given you as to the rules governing werewolves.  For example, they do not need full moons to undergo their transformation, and can seemingly turn it on and off at will, except when they are going through that first one, apparently.  For Scott, after briefly making out with Boof, to her delight, at his best friend Stiles’ (Jerry Levine) party, Scott cuts it short when he accidently claws her.  He goes home and that is where the full metamorphosis takes place.  This is when dad, Harold (James Hampton), steps in with some explaining. Werewolves are something that runs in their family, and he in one, too.  He had hoped it would skip his son.  Yet, now that Scott has the “curse,” Harold assures the newly realized werewolf that it is not that bad of a condition.  It can flare up during moments of strong emotion, but mostly you are yourself with superhuman abilities and a lot of hair.  At first, Scott is put off by this, and the only person he tells is Stiles.  Unfortunately, at the next basketball game, Scott gets caught under a scrum for the ball.  He turns into the wolf and easily tosses everyone off him.  While everyone is shocked, he shows off his newfound athletic skills.  Eventually, play resumes with him leading his team to victory.  This is the “more” for which he had been looking.  Suddenly, he is the most popular person in school.  As the wolf, he is single handedly responsible for his team beginning to win games.  Off the court, he starts getting a great deal of attention.  Much of this is stoked by Stiles, who uses Scott’s werewolf image to sell t-shirts and create a wolf-mania.  Even better for Scott, he gets noticed by Pamela.  As part of his nascent fame, he is asked by the drama department to participate in the school play opposite Pamela.  After one of their rehearsals, they do adult things back stage.  While he hopes that this is the beginning of something serious, she bluntly admits that the only reason she is doing this is to make Mick jealous.  It underscores for Scott the pitfalls of popularity.  Another one particular to him since he revealed the fact that he is a werewolf is the strict way he is treated by Vice Principal Thorne (Jim McKrell). When Scott brings these issues to his dad, Harold tells him that Vice Principal Thorne had a run in with the old man when they were younger.  As for the rest, Harold tells Scott to simply be himself.  It takes an incident at the school dance, which he goes to as the wolf, to drive this point home.  After Boof kisses him and it turns him back into his normal self, he lets Mick rile him into the werewolf once more and attack.  The only thing that saves Scott from expulsion is Harold paying a visit to Vice Principal Thorne.  It all convinces Scott to spend more time as a human, much to his coach’s disappointment.  This is because they have made it to the championship game against Mick’s team and Scott is not playing as the werewolf.  Instead, he gets the rest of his teammates to play together.  It comes down to two last free throws, of course, by Scott, which he sinks to win the game.  Scott celebrates with Boof and his dad and it concludes with a festive air.

For something like Teen Wolf that is not meant to be taken seriously, there are a lot of great directions a Catholic reviewer can go.  Of course, I could do without the sequence at the play rehearsal between Pamela and Scott.  Because that scene is in there, it is pretty incredible that this film is rated PG.  Despite this, there are some great lessons, particularly those Harold gives Scott.  Like probably any other teenager, Scott takes advantage of his abilities when he first discovers them.  It is an obvious sign of immaturity.  All the while, dad is preaching restraint.  This goes along with what Faith would tell someone, given the parameters of this particular werewolf story, that such a thing can be a gift.  God calls us to use those gifts for the betterment of others.  One could argue that this is done with his play on the basketball court.  Yet, after a few games, it becomes evident to Scott’s teammates that the wolf does not need them, and they begin to resent him.  Between that, the fame, and Pamela, it is clear that Scott is being selfish.  Look at the benefits Scott gains from learning to control the wolf.  He gets the esteem of his teammates and the love of the right girl.  Again, Faith will tell you that giving over to your passions can be a dangerous thing, and werewolves have long been a metaphor for this kind of behavior.  It is fun to see the opposite take in this kind of package.

If you are in the mood for a little bit of nostalgia, check out the original Teen Wolf.  Again, I am only guessing here, but it seems a little more down-to-earth than the others that bear the same title, even if it is about mythical creatures.  I would not necessarily show it to little kids as it was to me and others my age.  Either way, it is still pretty fun.