Lycanthropy, or the supernatural transformation of a person into a wolf, is no stranger to the world of fiction. Werewolf lore dates all the way back to ancient Roman and Greek mythology. However, Hollywood capitalized on these texts and myths to make creature features of men or women turning into ferocious beasts at the sight of a full moon. Almost always, it starts with a suspicious animal bite and slowly becomes a depiction of the madness within, all leading to the ultimate full transformation from human to beast. It’s no surprise that the half-person, half-beast monster would become a beloved figure of horror.
There is a lot of excitement around the new film The Cursed in the horror community, and it’s because decent werewolf movies are few and far between. The first werewolf movie ever made was in 1913 and was entitled The Werewolf. It was a silent, short film based on a story by a man of the name Henry Beaugrand. The short is considered a “lost film” being that all the prints were destroyed in a fire in 1924 at Universal Studios. However, Universal would later become the producer of one of the most classic werewolf films of all time, The Wolfman. So if you’re excited about The Cursed, check out these five werewolf movies and where they rank.
5 Cursed
Although Wes Craven's Cursed is by far one of the goofiest werewolf films ever produced, it still deserves recognition for its ability to create a creature feature that also doubles as a comedy. Siblings Ellie and Jimmy struggle to find their way in Los Angeles after the death of their parents. On their way home one night, they almost strike an animal, causing their car to collide with another car and roll off the road and into the woods. The pair tries to aid the crash victim, but she is snatched away by a large animal before they can get her out of the car. In the midst of the event, Ellie and Jimmy get scratched by the animal. Jimmy believes it was a werewolf, but Ellie isn't as easily convinced.
Cursed offers up all the basics in werewolf iconography from the mark of the beast on the palm to the new sexual allure that comes with being cursed. However, the transformations fall shorter than most being that they are mainly CGI effects. The reveal of the werewolf serves up a weak delivery when compared to that of other films, but it is almost nearly impossible to not find a werewolf flipping off a group of humans borderline hysterical.
4 The Howling
A traumatized TV journalist is advised to attend a psychiatric wellness retreat to aid her ailing mental health. Once she makes her way to the mountainside retreat to the community known as "the colony," she soon discovers that the residents are not exactly who they seem to be. After nights upon nights of horrific cries in the forest, she ventures out and makes a terrifying discovery that the people are actually creatures with a devilish plot.
The werewolf transformations in The Howling are, hands down, some of the best of the 80s. They are gruesome, horrific, and down right disgusting at times. The werewolf transformation was one of the most extensive transformation scenes that had been attempted at that time, and it's all thanks to practical effects. Joe Dante, the director of Gremlins, strives in creature feature madness. Yet, his take in The Howling offers something that Gremlins doesn't. The gremlins are fun, despite their need to destroy and cause chaos. The Howling werewolves are inherently evil. They want to be consumed by the beast, so they can hold power.
3 Ginger Snaps
Ginger Snaps is a film that is often regarded as a feminist commentary that has a werewolf in it. Ginger and her slightly younger sister Brigitte are attempting to prank one of the popular girls who bullied them during the school day on the same night that Ginger starts her menstrual cycle. They are attacked by a large animal, and Ginger is viciously bitten to the point of almost bleeding out. She ends up recovering and all of her wounds miraculously heal. Brigitte is suspicious and seeks help from a drug-slinging botanist, and they conclude that Ginger has been bitten by a werewolf. As the full moon approaches, Ginger infects another teen with the werewolf virus, murders a classmate, murders a school janitor, and then transforms into a full-blown wolf. Ultimately, Brigitte is forced to kill Ginger to save her own life.
Ginger Snaps seeks to impress in the smallest of ways. Rather than wow the viewer with an over-the-top transformation, or CGI, John Fawcett shows Ginger's transformation through small nuances as the film progresses. Her teeth become sharp and jagged. She develops gray streaks in her hair, and becomes more sexually desired by the boys at the school. Yet, the most shocking of the points is that she grows a tail that gets progressively longer as her curse progresses. For a fan of werewolf flicks, Ginger Snaps is a must-see if you're trying to break away from the same old werewolf lore.
2 The Wolfman (1941)
Lon Chaney Jr.'s The Wolfman holds its ground in the Universal Monsters pack forever. A classic black and white piece captures a basic telling of werewolf lore with a tragic love twist. Unlike many more modern takes on werewolves, the 1941 portrayal stands more true to the "man" aspect more than the wolf. Hair growth on his hands, monster nails, and a completely different face were just a few of the make-up choices to turn Lon Chaney Jr. into a beast. The most fascinating is the attention to detail in his feet. They not only turn animalistic, but he develops an arch in his heal lifting his calves slightly. To achieve the transformation scene were Chaney Jr. changes for the first time, makeup artist Jack Pierce had to use a process similar to modern day stop-motion photography to overlap the images on top of one another during editing. Sure the blood and guts of a werewolf feature are spared, but 1941's The Wolfman withstands the tests of time as far as classics go.
1 An American Werewolf in London
Around the same time that The Howling was released, another werewolf film was also coming out. An American Werewolf in London follows David, a young man traveling with his close friend who is attacked in the moor at night by a large wolf. The wolf bites David leaving him injured, but brutally maims and murders his friend Jack. While in the hospital David is treated by Nurse Alex who he later maintains a brief relationship with before he transforms into a werewolf. As the film progresses, David sees Jack overtime slowly decaying. Jack is there to warn him and claims that David must take his own life before the next full moon, or he will kill a lot of people.
The most amazing part about David's transformation is that it was done with all completely practical effects. David Naughton, who plays David in the film, does an incredible job showing the absolute anguish in the character's face. The overall transformation took a week in total to shoot. All the hair was done backwards and was cut trimmed before the longer hairs were added. Naughton's body was placed below the floor boards and the laid out a fake pair of legs to insinuate the change. Director, John Landis made sure to shoot the scene in a variety of close-ups and wide angles to capture all of Naughton's horror. Between the craft of imagery and advanced practical effects, An American Werewolf in London is a hard film to top for number one.