The funny thing about werewolves is that, despite the fact that they’re an enduring and iconic horror and fantasy creature, there’s a shockingly slim selection of movies that tackle tales of lycanthropy, and even fewer that do it well. While zombies, vampires, and slashers have come and gone from fashion time and again, and paranormal horror really never seems to go out of style, the werewolf picture has remained a somewhat rare anomaly in the horror landscape. We get a winner every once in a while, but aside from the bountiful genre-defining year 1981, which saw the release ofWolfen,The Howling, andAn American Werewolfin London, the werewolf movie has never been a trend-setting driver of the horror genre.
The carnal creatures have always in ensemble environments. We’ve seen it time and again in television, fromBuffy the Vampire SlayertoPenny Dreadful, the wolfman has emerged as a standout player in supernaturally populated series. The same has proven true in films likeTrick ‘r Treat,Monster Squad, and heck, evenHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanuses werewolf tropes to fantastic effect. But successful stories singularly focused on the transformation from man to beast have been harder to come by.
When they’re good, they’re a downright delight. In the tradition ofAn American Werewolf in London, which took home the very first makeup effects Oscar forRick Baker’s game-changing work, werewolf films are a proud destination for staggering practical effects work. They also make for stark, startling tales of self-awakening and a persevering means of inspecting our relationship with the beast we all know lives inside us. Perhaps that’s the standout trait of the werewolf genre; endurance. While it’s never lit up the passions of the movie-going public like its fellow horror genres, the werewolf mythos has always been an iconic image of horror, be it on the page or on screen.
A few honorable mentions before we get to the goods:Werewolf of London; the OG;Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, a surprisingly solid action horror film;Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning, a seriously underrated period prequel;Wolfcop, a giddily goofy genre spoof;Bad Moon; a pulpy 90s gem; and 2010’sThe Wolfman, which deserved more credit than it got.
And without further ado, steer clear of the full moon, stock up on silver and check out our picks for the 13 best werewolf movies of all time. For more creature goodness, check outour list of the best vampire movies ever made.
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Director:Christophe Gans
Writers:Stéphane Cabel, Christophe Gans
Cast:Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Monica Bellucci, Jérémie Renier, Vincent Cassel, Émilie Dequenne, Jacques Perrin, Philippe Nahon
If you’re looking for something a little different from the run-of-the-mill werewolf movie, look to Christophe Gans’Brotherhood of the Wolf. Combining Colonial French warfare with 18th century aristocracy, gritty fight choreography, and bloody brilliant cinematography, this film also mixes in mythology, scientific skepticism, and religious viewpoints. There’s alotgoing on in this film, so much so that Mark Dacascos playing an Iroquois martial arts master is totally believable with all of the other insanity going on.
Based loosely on the legend of the Beast of Gévaudan,The Brotherhood of the Wolfexists within a framing story that takes place during the French Revolution. The narrator tells us of French knight and naturalist Grégoire de Fronsac and his Native American companion Mani who arrived to deal with the beast that was terrorizing the countryside. What follows is a thrilling tale as the pair investigates the attacks, uncovers an ever-twisting conspiracy, and ends up in a fight for their very lives (with a little romance thrown in for good measure). Not a traditional werewolf movie by any means,Brotherhood of the Wolfis a fringe film that’s not to be missed.– Dave Trumbore
Silver Bullet
Director: Daniel Attias
Writer: Stephen King
Cast: Gary Busey, Corey Haim, Megan Follows, Everett McGill
So here’s the thing aboutSilver Bullet, and don’t get mad, it’s not an excellent movie. It’s just not. But is a beloved family-friendly entry in the genre that planted the seed of lycanthropic love for a generation. And yes, I’m definitely one of them.Cycle of the Werewolfwas my first Stephen King read, and it left meshook. Silver Bulletis not nearly so terrifying, but it is a fun and freewheeling coming-of-age cult classic in the Kingian tradition.
Rumored to be partially directed by Don Coscarelli, though he maintains hewalked away from the projectafter producers dismissed Stephen King’s script notes,prodigious television directorDaniel Attias made his directorial debut with his one and only feature film. However the trouble withSilver Bulletisn’t the direction, it’s the script, adapted from King’s original Cycle of the Werewolf calendar before it was filled out into a novella. But even with the narrative strains,Silver Bulletis a blast and a half, featuring a family you root for in an adventure-packed battle against a deadly beast – and Gary Busey’s Uncle Red endures as one of the best adult characters in teen horror history; a good uncle who tries his best to get it, and he’s worth the price of admission alone. –Haleigh Foutch
Director:Mike Nichols
Writers:Jim Harrison, Wesley Strick
Cast:Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfieffer, Christopher Plummer, Richard Jenkins, Kate Nelligan, Eileen Atkins, David Hyde Pierce
A white collar werewolf movie that’s 90s to the bone,Wolfstars Jack Nicholson as Will Randall, a publisher at a real low point in his life. He gets fired from his job, his wife is having an affair with his protege (though, to be fair, it’s 90s James Spader so who can blame her really), and he comes down with a werewolf curse after being bitten by a wild animal on the side of the road. That’s when he meets the beautiful and mysterious Laura Alden (Michelle Pfeiffer), the spoiled but enchanting daughter of wealthy publishing honcho Raymond Alden (Christopher Plummer) with whom he strikes up a passionate affair in the midst of his lycanthropic transformation.
Nicholson has always had a wolfish quality, seemingly eternally stuck mid-way through some supernatural transformation, and its used to great effect here, but the biggest surprise is how restrained he is in the role, a keen reversal of his penchant for unhinged performances. Spader also uses his signature weirdness to grand effect, while Pfeiffer is as electric as she can be with a limited character. You won’t find blood and guts or any showy, effects-driven transformations inWolf, but you will find a unapologetically adult spin on the werewolf genre. Director Mike Nichols takes the story seriously, though never so serious the films stops being fun, and the corporate setting makes for a refreshing spin on conventional werewolf tropes.Wolfcertainly isn’t a horror movie, but it’s a fun and fantastical satire on sex and cutthroat business culture with the rare pedigree of an A-list cast and an Oscar-winning director. –Haleigh Foutch
Late Phases
Director:Adrián García Bogliano
Writer:Eric Stolze
Cast:Nick Damici, Ethan Embry, Tom Noonan, Lance Guest, Erin Cummings, Tina Louise
Late Phasesmight have the most delightfully incongruous setting for a werewolf movie of all time. Adrián García Bogliano’s trim little tale of lycanthropy takes place behind the gates of a quiet retirement community plagued by a recent string of violent deaths the local officers attribute to an unknown feral beast. When a blind, grizzled Vietnam vet, Ambrose (Nick Damici), moves into the neighborhood with the help of his weary son (Ethan Embry), he experiences a night of bloody terror at the hands of the beast and sets an agenda to eliminate the deadly threat on his own terms.
The film starts with a visceral bang and features an impressive practical werewolf transformation, though the full-blown beasts themselves frankly look a little goofy, and there’s plenty of well-wrougt gore, but it’s the comitment to chracter that really givesLate Phasesthe edge. Screenwriter turned actor Damici has carved out a genre niche of stoic machismo in recent years, andLate Phasesis his best turn yet. His performane elevates the material, and what otherwise would be a slim but satisfying spook show becomes an effective character portrait of a man determined to spend his remaining days living on his own terms. –Haleigh Foutch
Wolfenis the only narrative film from Michael Wadleigh, the director ofWoodstock. The cast is intriguing and a bit oddball, starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos. It’s a horror film; the first to introduce in-camera thermography to show the predator’s point of view, staying low to the ground and pouncing on victims whose bodies are gradients of heat (later used more famously byPredator), but there’s also a pretty heady story about Native American land rights and an anti-gentrification stance in this film.
What are the Wolfen? An advanced species of wolves that can exchange souls with specific tribes of humans. They’ve taken residence in an abandoned Bronx housing project that wealthy individuals are about to bulldoze over to put another corporate monstrosity.Wolfenis a horror film with an extra layer that shows that every race and every species has a right to protect their land.~ Brian Formo
Director:Rod Daniel
Writers:Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman
Cast:Cast: Michael J. Fox,James Hampton,Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, Matt Adler
Is there anything more 80s than a teenage werewolf surfing on the hood of a van, playing air guitar to “Surfin’ USA” by The Beach Boys? The answer is “Um, hell no.”Teen Wolfis 100% gooey 1980s cheese, and it’s delightful.
Directed by Rod Daniel and written by Matthew Weisman and Jeph Loeb (yes, thatJeph Loeb), the film stars Michael J. Fox as Scott, a 17-year-old high school student with dreams of playing on the basketball team who’s just fed up with being an Average Joe (being a white dude in the 80s was hard you guys). His dreams come true when he suddenly transforms into a werewolf, learning that he inherited the curse from his father and is now going through a Werewolf Puberty of sorts. Armed with new physical skills and the ability to look super cool wearing sunglasses, he becomes the most popular kid in school and must navigate his newfound sports stardom while keeping his friends and, of course, girlfriend. This is an incredibly silly movie but Fox’s charisma goes a long way, and embracing the cheese-factor makes it a lot of fun. Plus, you know, a werewolf playing basketball. –Adam Chitwood
The Howling
Director:Joe Dante
Writers:John Sayles, Terence H. Winkless, Gary Bradner
Joe Dante’sThe Howlingis an unmitigated classic of the werewolf canon featuring a stunning piece of practical effects transformation, but it’s always suffered from a case of retroactive second child syndrome thanks to the fact that it was released in the same year as the definitive werewolf movie,An American Werewolf in London.The Howlingmay not be as polished and expertly constructed asAmerican Werewolfand the effects may not rival Rick Baker’s singular genius, but The Howling is a spectacular work in its own right, rich with Dante’s signature offbeat humor.
The Howlingfollows a TV anchor, Karen White (Wallace), who has a traumatizing encounter with a serial killer during a sting operation. In an attempt to cope with her recurring nightmares, she heads to a culty therapy retreat where wolfy shenanigans begin to unfold.The Howlinghas plenty to say about cult culture, the need to belong, and the desire to unleash the inner beast, but as an early entry on Dante’s resume, his social satire is fairly rudimentary – fortunately, it’s matched by the thrills of the monster action, making The Howling an endlessly entertaining example of the werewolf genre at its best. –Haleigh Foutch
The Company of Wolves
Director:Neil Jordan
Writers:Angela Carter, Neil Jordan
Cast:Sarah Patterson, Angela Lansbury
Neil Jordan (Interview with a Vampire) is a filmmaker with a gift for the weird and the wondrous, a gift that surfaced early in his career with his second film,The Company of Wolves. A revisionist fairy tale that explores the act of storytelling through the parables we tell to control female sexuality,The Company of Wolvesdives deep into the erotic undertones of theLittle Red Riding Hoodmyth. The film follows Sarah Patterson‘s Rosaleen, a modern teen who dreams she’s living in a 17th-century village, where bloodthirsty wolves trawl through the forest. Rosaleen’s grandmother (Angela Lansbury) fills her head with tales of werewolves, jealousy, and sexual menace. “They’re nice as pie until they’ve had their way with you,” she says, “but once the bloom is gone, the beast comes out.”
The Company of Wolvesis an elegant deconstruction of the way we mythologize female victimhood, but it’s also a beautiful spin on the werewolf myth, with gorgeous technical execution, from set design to costumes to cinematography. And it sure earns its R-rating with intense moments of (literally) face-ripping gore that punctuate the ruminations and fables with moments of carnal violence. –Haleigh Foutch
Curse of the Werewolf
Director:Terrence Fisher
Writer:Anthony Hinds, Guy Endore
Cast:Oliver Reed, Clifford Evans, Catherine Feller, Yvonne Romain, Anthony Dawson
Curse of the Werewolfhas all the high drama and gothic production value you expect from a Hammer film and it also bears the distinction of being Oliver Reed’s first on-screen role. Reed stars as Leon, a man cursed by the dastardly circumstances of his birth and conception. The child of a mute servant, raped by a maniacal inmate, Leon makes holy water boil at his christening and develops a taste for blood as young boy. Cut to fifteen years later and as an adult he fears his beastly instincts can no longer be contained but for the soothing presence of his beloved Cristina (Catherine Feller). Directed by iconic Hammer helmer Terrence Fisher,Curse of the Werewolfis a stylish slow-burn horror classic that delivers plenty of aching melodrama and a big wolfy finish that stands as some of the best old school transformation effects before American Werewolf in London changed the game. –Haleigh Foutch
Ginger Snaps
John Fawcett‘s spin on the werewolf mythos is a genre-bending tale of coming-of-age through lycanthropy that uses the beastly transformation as a fantastically-fitted analogy for female coming of age and a clever plot device to explore the intimacies of sisterhood.Ginger Snapsis an intimate story about two deeply connected, death-obsessed, co-dependent sisters who are slowly torn apart when the older sibling is bitten by a werewolf. While using the werewolf transformation as a strikingly effective metaphor for female pubescence,Ginger Snapsis also a downright well-made horror film. The effects are on point, the characters are relatable and sympathetic (even those like the school mean girl, the local drug peddler, and the horny teenage boy are treated with a dose of empathy), and the actors all committed in their pulpy roles.
Credit to Kris Lemche, who turns what could have been the “cool guy” role into something much more honest and compelling, but most of all to the leading duo Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle as the bonded but warring sisters dealing with two different sides of Ginger’s transformation.GingerSnapstakes the traditions of the werewolf genre and reimagines them as a tale of female awakening, drenched in bloodshed and deeply invested in the pathos of transformation. —Haleigh Foutch
