Werewolf Movies to Watch on DVD
The Wolf Man, Wolfen, The Howling, Wolf, Underworld, Van Helsing
Oct 5, 2009
From the first werewolf movies in the mid-1930s to 2000, werewolf films have made up a steady niche in the horror genre. Here is list of werewolf movies from different decades that can be rented from Netflix or at a local video store.
Early Werewolf Films
The first mainstream werewolf movie to come out of Hollywood was The Werewolf of London, which was released by Universal Pictures in 1935. However, the first werewolf movie to become highly popular was The Wolf Man, also by Universal, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., which made its debut in 1941. Since then, a number of werewolf films have been produced with a variety of different moods and themes, from comedic to dramatic and disturbing.
80’s Werewolf Movies
Three well-received werewolf movies appeared in the 1980s, all very different in their approach. Some werewolf films in the 1980s and 1990s began to become more experimental while others took on social issue themes. As technology progressed, transformation scenes became more and more realistic.
Wolfen, released in 1981, centers around a Bronx detective assigned to solve a series of violent murders in which it seems the victims were killed by wild animals. His investigation leads him to an Indian legend about wolf spirits and shapeshifters. The film was one of the first to use a Predator-type point of view, from the eyes of the wolf.
An American Werewolf in London, a comedy cult/horror classic also released in 1981, was about two American college students who are backpacking across British moors when they are attacked by a huge animal. The survivor is taken to a London hospital, where he recuperates with no memory of what has happened, until at the first full moon he turns into a werewolf and begins prowling the streets of London killing, eventually waking up naked in the zoo.
Another 1981 release, The Howling, is about a television anchor who helps police shoot down serial killer Eddie Quist. She is then sent to a resort in the countryside for rest and therapy. The resort is full of odd characters, who are actually a colony of shapeshifting werewolves. This popular film had six sequels.
Nineties Werewolf Films
In 1993, a sequel to An American Werewolf in London was made. It was similar in plot to the original. Tourists are invited to a club, which is actually a werewolf society. One of the tourists, Andy, falls in love with a female werewolf named Serafine, and becomes embroiled in a battle with the club.
The 1994 film Wolf is an unusual werewolf tale starring Jack Nicholson, who plays a demoted publishing house editor who is bitten by a wolf on an isolated road in Vermont. He begins to become aggressive, and to take on wolf-like qualities.
Werewolf Movies 2000
Many werewolf movies in 2000 were about the age-old battle between werewolves and vampires. In the 2003 release Underworld and its sequels, werewolves, called Lycans, battle vampires. Selene, a vampire hunter whose job is to stalk werewolves, falls in love with a human who his bitten by a Lycan and begins to transform. She must go against her clan to spare him.
In the 2004 release Van Helsing, the main character, based on the one in Dracula, is a vampire hunter. The film contains elements of gothic horror and spins a convoluted tale that includes many monsters from classic horror literature, including Frankenstein and a werewolf named Velkan who is in danger of becoming controlled by Dracula.
Newer films that contain werewolf characters are the box office hit Twilight and the coming theater release The Wolfman.
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