The Top Werewolf Films You Need to See

"The Wolf Man" (1941) (Gene pick)

The film that launched a franchise, and made Lon Chaney, Jr. a star, this is the iconic film most people think of if they think of a werewolf movie. Chaney plays Larry Talbot, a man who survives a werewolf attack, only to find himself turning into a werewolf himself when the moon is full. Talbot is a great everyman who hates that he becomes a monster that could hurt or kill anyone, including those he loves. Bela Lugosi and Maria Ospenskaya have small but key roles as gypsies who tell Talbot about his curse, and legendary actor Claude ("Casablanca") Rains plays Talbot's father, who must cure or stop his son.

"Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (1943) (Gene pick)

Universal Pictures had a shared cinematic universe 6 decades before Marvel, and it starts here. Unlike later horror film sequels, but very much like the Marvel films, this sequel to both "Frankenstein" and "The Wolf Man" continues the stories of both characters, and progresses them. Chaney reprises his role as the tortured werewolf Larry Talbot, who encounters the Frankenstein monster, each of them surviving their previous fates.

"An American Werewolf in London" (1981) (BOTH pick)

This groundbreaking film, directed by John Landis blends comedy and horror, leaning heavily into the horror side. Should you see the film, remind yourself that these effects are pre-CGI, as they're still groundbreaking today. Previous werewolf films showed transformations mainly by showing a series of stills in progression, so we could see the stages of hair growing, fangs emerging, etc. In this film, as seen in the picture above, limbs elongate and distort in painful ways, the face grows more lupine in appearance, and hair erupts from the body, all of which appears to be very painful to our fledgling werewolf. Landis also adds a new wrinkle to werewolf lore as the werewolf's first victim, in this case his best friend, continues to haunt the werewolf, in progressing states of decay, really bringing home the traditional guilt and desperation werewolves had been portraying since "The Wolf Man."

"The Howling" (1981) (BOTH pick)

This film features similar ground-breaking makeup effects showing werewolf transformation as "An American Werewolf in London," and for good reason, the effects artist started on this film, then left to work on the other film, but the techniques aren't identical. This film also breaks additional new ground in werewolf lore. First, there are multiple werewolves, plus they have no remorse. They like being werewolves.

"The Company of Wolves" (1984)

"Little Red Riding Hood" is a terrifying children's story, involving a child setting out on a quest alone, scary woods, and ultimately a wolf eating her grandmother and trying to eat the child. This film retells that story, and other wolf-related stories at the same time, but in this one, the girl can't trust the wolf or the hunter.

"Teen Wolf" (1985) (Dandy pick)

Scott (Michael J. Fox) is an ordinary teen feeling a little too “average.” He starts to feel random changes in his body that ultimately lead to him transforming into a man-wolf-like being. Scared of his new ability, he is not sure how to proceed with telling his friends. After an intense basketball game awakens the wolf within, Scott is in for more than he bargained for-popularity.

"Silver Bullet" (1985) (Gene pick)

Based on Stephen King's novella "Cycle of the Werewolf" (find it, it's excellent, with phenomenal illustrations by Berni Wrightson), both the movie and novella do something most werewolf lore does not - it follows the cycle of the moon. Typically werewolf films take place in a short time. Someone becomes a werewolf, the werewolf kills some people, the werewolf is killed, and the focus is usually on the werewolf. In this film, the werewolf's identity is unknown, and over a period of months, in which there are only a few days of full moons, people die, but the werewolf's identity is unknown. Tension mounts, because the most dangerous thing to do in a small town is learn someone's secret. That makes you a target.

"An American Werewolf in Paris" (1997) (Dandy pick)

Three American friends travel to Paris looking for fun and adventure. What they find is an encounter with a pack of werewolves who’ve developed a serum to help them change at will. In the same vein as its predecessor, "An American Werewolf in London," Andy McDermott (Tom Everett Scott) sees visions of dead people and is learning to deal with his new “infection” and abilities while trying to save Serafine (Julie Delpy) from her pack.

"Ginger Snaps" (2000) (BOTH pick)

This film again breaks new ground in the werewolf genre. First, the primary characters are female. Second, neither of them become werewolves because they are bitten. Already a bit odd in their school, one protecting the other, becoming a werewolf is a regressive trait in their family they had not heard about, triggered by the onset of menstruation. This is clever. It's a change of life, it signals becoming a woman, and classically, menstruation has been tied to the lunar cycle, each cycle taking about 28 days. Providing depth of character not typically seen in a horror film, but not short on terror or gore, it's a modern classic.

"Dog Soldiers" (2002) (BOTH pick)

In this film, a unit of British soldiers is sent on a training mission to the Scottish Highlands. there, they are attacked by a pack of werewolves, killing some, but the wounded also turn into werewolves. The werewolves are terrifying, and the action becomes relentless as the soldiers make a stand in a small home, cornered by the monsters. Few werewolf films use more than one werewolf, since one is usually enough. But this one does an excellent job of pitting multiple werewolves against highly trained and heavily armed defenders.

"Underworld" (2003) (Gene pick)

If you've read our list of vampire movies (https://vocal.media/horror/the-top-vampire-movies-you-need-to-see ), you see mention of the film "Blade," which did something no previous vampire film did - it established that vampires aren't just isolated individuals, they're an ancient society with their own language, operating amongst and preying on normal humans. This theme was repeated again in places such as "True Blood" and "30 Days of Night," and in this film, which does so quite well. However, "Underworld" goes a step further, to show the interaction between vampires and werewolves, establishing a culture for both.

"Red Riding Hood" (2006) (Dandy pick)

This movie is "Twilight" meets "Little Red Riding Hood". The story involves a small village with an old superstition of being haunted by a werewolf. Villagers leave their best livestock every year to satisfy the werewolf’s bloodlust, but when the werewolf kills a man in the village, all Hell breaks loose. They call upon Solomon (Gary Oldman), a monster hunter, to take care of the werewolf. Meanwhile, Valerie, caught between the man she loves, Peter (Shiloh Hernandez), and the man she’s betrothed to, is starting to realize that she’s much closer to the werewolf than she realizes.

"Late Phases" (2014) (Gene pick)

This is just a great film. It has all of what you're looking for in any film - good writing, good acting, a good premise, and good character development. Nick ("Stake Land") Damici stars as a Viet Nam vet who went blind from injuries sustained in the war. His children bring him to a retirement community, thinking it's the best place for him, though he asserts he can take care of himself. There, it becomes apparent that while his neighbors, being elderly, should be expected to die, it seems to happen with unusual regularity, which follows the phases of the moon. He's also noticing, though details like sounds and smells, that really what might be killing them is a werewolf. Not wanting to believe it to be true, but relying on the facts, he uses his military skills to wage a war on the creature, or creatures, which gives him reason to live, though it may kill him.

Gene Lass and Dandy J. West are lifelong horror fans and film buffs. They are the former editors of the blog "So Good It's Scary."