Werewolves just may be my favorite sort of monster. I’ve been a fan of these primal shapeshifting beasties for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, even I must admit that not all werewolf movies are up to snuff. In fact, there are many more bad ones than good ones it would seem. I decided to share some of my faves with you guys, though. These of course aren’t ALL the good werewolf movies out there, but they’re just a few of the ones I find myself watching again and again.
Dog Soldiers (2002)
“A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scotland wilderness.” Dog Soldiers is basically an action film blended with a horror movie with a touch of comedy thrown in just for kicks, and it’s fantastic. Also, I just love the design of the werewolves in this film! Holed up in a Scottish farmhouse, the military trained characters must do everything they can to survive the flesh-hungry pack of werewolves roaming the surrounding forest.
Ginger Snaps (2000)
I actually really like all three movies in the Ginger Snaps trilogy, but we’re just gonna talk about the first one here because it’s my absolute favorite. 🙂 The story follows two incredibly close (and very morbid) teenage sisters, Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald. Most werewolf movies involve the characters undergoing major physical and emotional transformations, but Ginger Snaps takes that concept and effortlessly weaves in the parallels between lycanthropy and puberty in a way that brings both horror and humor to the table. The movie’s got a lot of snark and angst to it, but it’s one I’ll always love watching. Katherine Isabelle (Ginger) and Emily Perkins (Brigitte) are fantastic as the Fitzgerald sisters.
The Company of Wolves (1984)
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit: this movie is weird as hell. But something about the eerie dreamlike quality of it appeals to me. It’s basically a surreal retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with lots of extra werewolf goodness thrown in. Some moments seem very much a fairy tale, others like something out of Hellraiser.
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
How could I make this list and NOT include An American Werewolf in London? 🙂 It’s a great werewolf movie, and one of the most notorious. The makeup and practical effects are a real treat, and like most of the werewolf movies on this list I like the humor that accompanies the horror.
So, there’s some of MY favorite werewolf movies. How about you guys? I wanna hear what ones you personally enjoy, or even the ones you think are terrible or cheesy.
I love werewolves! Ginger Snaps is an awesome movie. I remember it coming out and thinking it was the greatest movie ever at the time! 😂
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Haha Same here! I just love it! ❤
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I love your choices, especially An American Werewolf in London and Ginger Snaps. I haven’t seen The Company of Wolves, but it sounds like something I may like. Have you seen Silver Bullet? It’s based on a Stephen King short story and stars a young Corey Haim and Megan Follows.
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Thank you! ❤
Yeah, I did see Silver Bullet a very long time ago. I read the short story it's based off too. 🙂 I'll have to re-watch/re-read it some time because it's been so long that I don't remember a whole lot of it. I remember being all about the awesome werewolf illustrations in the book as a kid. Thanks for the suggestion! 😀
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I would have chosen American Werewolf in London. To throw things off a bit, how about the Van Helsing movie? It’s not entirely about werewolves, but werewolves do make a cameo. Van Helsing is one of my mom’s favorite movies so we watch it pretty frequently.
-Luna 🙂
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Aw, that’s awesome that you and your mom like to watch Van Helsing together. 🙂 My dad and I are like that with several horror movies, too. We’re going to have to re-watch Trick ‘r Treat and Nightmare Before Christmas soon! 😀
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You really are a brother… errr sister from another mother. Dog soldiers is an all time favourite of mine. I love the character Spoon. It combines two of my childhood loves Soldiers (as in the toys) and werewolves. Just brilliant. American werewolf in London is an absolute classic. Loved the scenes in The Slaughtered Lamb. American werewolf in Paris was crap. I’m. Or familiar with the other movies you mentioned but Ginger snaps sounds good. I didn’t mind the howling series but I was a lot younger when I watched them. I also quite liked the Anthony Hopkins werewolf movie. Can’t remember what it’s called though? Wolfman maybe? Great post.
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Woo! Thank you! And another Dog Soldiers fan?? That’s awesome. 😀 Most people seem to have missed out on that movie, which is such a shame because it’s sooo good! And yes, Spoon was awesome!
Yeah, it’s been a long time since I watched The Howling movies too, so I might have to re-watch them soon to see how they hold up. 🙂
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Yeahhh you’re right it seemed to have slipped through the cracks. I wonder if it’s because it was a low budget British film? Dunno but it’s great and I think I’ll watch it on the weekend.
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Love all those Werewolf movies… great choices again! 🙂 The original ‘The Howling’ was also great (but the sequels were beyond bad, unwatchable rubbish 😦 ) I also love Silver Bullet, Cursed, and, of course the Underworld series!
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Thanks! 😀 I really need to re-watch The Howling. It’s been a while. Nice to see there’s more werewolf fans out there! 🙂
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I love Ginger Snaps!!
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That’s awesome. 😀 It’s so good, and criminally underrated!
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How could you talk about werewolves and not mention Mama Moth’s attack on our slumber party in the backyard? LMFAO. That story never gets old!
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Hahaha Omg, seriously! Maybe that event will warrant its own post! 😛
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Late Phases, Silver Bullet, Wolf Cop
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Thanks for the suggestions! I watched Silver Bullet (and read the short story it’s based on) a looong time ago so it’s definitely due for a re-watch, but I haven’t seen those other two. 🙂 I’ll have to hunt them down and give them a watch. Thanks! 😀
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I really loved Ginger Snaps! You’re missing one though, Jack Nicholson’s “Wolf”. Classic. Have you seen it?
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Ah! I know the one you’re talking about, but I haven’t actually gotten to see it. I’ll have to track that movie down and give it a watch some time. Thanks for the suggestion! 😀
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I’m not sure if it’s held up because I haven’t seen in years but its worth investigating. I think 🤔 lol
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Werewolves are so much more awesome than vampires 😀
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Agreed! 😀
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I’ve seen the remake of Americsn Werewolf in London where it’s in Paris! I can’t name any particular movies, but I definitely loved the Anita Blake book series before she abandoned all plot for porn lol. I think I prefer the werewolves that fully turn into wolves as opposed to the wolfman hybrid thingy. That just looks painful 😱
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Haha I’ve heard the exact complaint about the Anita Blake series before from C&M. 😛
Yeah, werewolf transformations tend to look so horrifically painful. I think the most brutal one I’ve ever seen was in Hemlock Grove. That first transformation scene was nuts! Especially for a regular seeming wolf sort of werewolf. Usually they tend to have the nicer transformations like you said.
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One of the things I liked about the Mercy Thompson series was how violent the werewolf transformations were described and how there was some sciency shenanigans thrown in insofar as female werewolves not being able to carry a child to term due to the violence of the change.
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Oh, wow! That’s actually really interesting. I wrote a werewolf novel when I was in my very-early twenties and I loved including sciencey bits. 😀 That’s a good one though, and I’ve never heard/seen it anywhere else either. Kudos to that author! 🙂
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I thought I was 100% a fantasy person, but I was way too obsessed with TNG for that to be totally true. Throw in my favorite game/story is totally science fantasy and that throws that right out the window. I actually like figuring out *how* things work in my stories even though it might not be completely sciency, I like to organize systems 🙂
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