Movies - Horror

Born from Native American and Medieval European myths, much of the modern lore of the werewolf has been established through film including the idea that you can kill them with a silver bullet and the fact that it takes a bite to turn someone into one. Even the long established belief that werewolves transform only when the moon is full was something that a screenwriter thought up. Just as a Lycanthrope can transfigure from a man (or woman) into a wolf, the legend itself has been transformed by the full moon light of the Hollywood spotlight.

Here are some movies that have helped change our perception of the Werewolf:

1The Werewolf (1913)

This was the very first film that tackled the subject of the werewolf. Only 18 minutes long and made in Canada, this film actually used a real wolf to play the parts of the Werewolf. Take that CGI.

2The Wolf Woman (1915)

This is the first werewolf movie to make the beast female.

3The Wolf Man (1941)

Starring Lou Chaney Jr., this is considered the classic werewolf movie and helps establish Wolfy’s many characteristic. The beautifully written script helps establish much of the modern werewolf lore and Lou Chaney done up as the wolf man became the monster’s most recognizable image.

4Return of the Vampire (1944)

Not only the one of the first movie to bring up the whole Vampire Werewolf rivalry, but also one of the first films in which the werewolf is actually the Hero.

5The Werewolf (1956)

A man is injected with a radiation serum and finds himself turning into a wolf. Considered a classic B horror movie, this movie is the first one to link werewolves to modern science.

6A Werewolf in a Girls Dormitory (1961)

Original titled Lycanthropus, this poorly dubbed Italian Horror features the easy on the eyes Barbara Lass and proves that you can have a horror movie take place in a girls dorm, show absolutely no boobs whatsoever, and still come out with a really good movie.

7La Loba (1965)

This is the very first Werewolf movies to come out of Mexico. This is one of the first modern wolf films to make to depict a she wolf as the protagonist.

8Moon of the Wolf (1972)

This made for television movie is about a werewolf terrorizing a small southern community. This wolfman versus the hillbilly epic was one of the first werewolf movies to try to go back to the werewolf’s roots, using the swamp backdrop to integrate ancient French folklore surrounding the wolf into the story line.

9The Werewolf of Washington (1973)

Starring Dean Stockwell, The Werewolf of Washington was one of the first monster films that dabbled in political commentary. Dean Stockwell plays a D.C. reporter who gets bitten and then becomes the president’s press secretary. The president and all his men are clueless as the body count piles up, sending out a clear message what the filmmakers thought about the Nixon Administration.

10Wolfen (1981)

Suspenseful and creepy, this is a great 80’s update of the werewolf legend. It is also one of the first films to tackle the environmental issues surrounding the werewolf idea that date back to the old Native American legends surrounding the myth.

11An American Werewolf in London (1983)

Directed by legendary horror comedy director John Landis, this movie is considered a masterpiece in the genre of horror and comedy. This was one of the first movies that used cool new special effects to transmogrify the man into the wolf and also to have the wolf man hybrid running around on all fours.

12Teen Wolf (1985)

Scot Howard is a teen who discovers that he comes from a long line of Lycanthropes. He then uses his wolf talents to become the star of the basketball team, ride a surfboard on top of a car, and get the girl. While a bit cheesy, it is a film that is still fun to watch and shows off the lighter side of the Wolf legend. Oh, and it stars Michael J. Fox.

13Spaceballs (1987)

Okay so Barf was really a half man half dog (“Mog! I am my own best friend!”) His character would have never come to fruition if the legend of the werewolf had never existed.

14Twilight New Moon (2009)

Twist my arm a bit, but I guess this whole list would have to include the movie that helped make the werewolf a sex symbol and reignite that whole vampire versus the werewolves’ debate.

15The Wolfman (2010)

From what I saw from the trailers, this looks like a pretty good attempt to update the werewolf and make use of all the state of the art digital CGI stuff that studios have laying around.

Werewolves have been around for quite a long time and have changed quite a bit over the years. Thanks to changes in special effects and the shift in trends the character of Werewolf has shifted throughout the decades. The beast has been made to walk like a man and then forced again to move about on all fours. It has been satirized and sexualized, demonized and even serialized. Despite all this change, the core myth somehow finds a way to remain intact. No matter how this story of a man (or woman) with a beast within is portrayed, that basic concept, that basic fear of humanity’s descent into savage animalism resonates.

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Author

Franck Benedittini

A Staff Writer for FreeMooviesOnline.com, writes about actors, directors, characters and movies. Although he has a vast knowledge in cinema the cinematographic art is not its unique interest. He started to work on web development and web design in 2004 and has already created hundreds of websites.

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