Silver Bullets and Celluloid: The Werewolf in Cinema

Werewolf movies have long howled from the dark corners of cinema history, shapeshifting over the decades from gothic horror to pop-culture allegories. As one of the most enduring figures in monster mythology, the werewolf serves as both terrifying predator and tragic figure—a creature caught between worlds, between man and beast. The genre has evolved alongside changing social anxieties and cinematic trends, reflecting humanity’s fear of the “other” within ourselves.

Earlier films like 1935’s Werewolf of London flirted with the concept, but the werewolf’s cinematic journey began in earnest with Universal Pictures’ 1941 entry The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawrence Talbot, a man doomed by fate and a bite from a wolf-like creature. This film established much of the mythology we now associate with werewolves: the full moon transformation, silver bullets, and the tragic inevitability of the curse. With fog-drenched sets and a haunting musical score, it wasn’t just a horror film—it was a gothic tragedy.

Lon Chaney Jr. plays tragedy like no one else.

The late 20th century saw a transformation (pun fully intended) in how werewolves were portrayed. Thanks to advances in makeup and practical effects, filmmakers could now show the agonizing, grotesque process of becoming a werewolf in graphic detail. An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis, set the bar with its legendary transformation sequence—painful, visceral, and deeply human. The film also injected humour into the horror, establishing a new tonal template for the genre. 

The gold standard for werewolf transformations.

By the 1990s and 2000s, filmmakers began to explore the werewolf as a symbol of marginalized identity. Ginger Snaps, a Canadian horror cult favourite, explicitly links lycanthropy with puberty and menstruation, with its teenage protagonists dealing with transformation not just into beasts, but into women—a clever and poignant metaphor for the awkward, painful, and sometimes violent process of growing up female in a hostile world.

“Puberty is a bitch.”

In essence, werewolf movies endure because they offer a compelling duality: man and beast, control and chaos. They let us explore what happens when we lose ourselves—sometimes violently, sometimes beautifully—in the shadows of our nature. Below you will find a collection of reviews that will explore some of the best and worst examples of the genre. Simply click on the poster or links below to dive into this very hairy subject.

Werewolf of London (1935)

After botanist Wilfred Glendon travels to Tibet in search of a rare flower, the Mariphasa, he returns to a London haunted by murders that can only be the work of bloodthirsty werewolves.

The Wolf Man (1941)

Upon his return to his father’s estate, aristocrat Larry Talbot meets a beautiful woman, attends a mystical carnival and uncovers a horrifying curse.

She-Wolf of London (1946)

A young heiress finds evidence suggesting that at night she acts under the influence of a family curse and has begun committing ghastly murders in a nearby park.

I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)

A hypnotherapist uses a temperamental teenager as a guinea pig for a serum which transforms him into a vicious werewolf. This does not help him at all with his teenage angst.

Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

In eighteenth-century Spain, a woman is raped by a madman and her son, later adopted, becomes a werewolf and terrorizes the inhabitants of his town.

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)

A young boy visits his father in a secluded cabin; the father is attacked by a werewolf and becomes one himself every full moon. However, the boy constantly tries to warn others, but no one will believe him.

Scream of the Wolf (1974)

A big-game hunter comes out of retirement to help track down a killer wolf and begins to suspect that it isn’t a wolf but an animal that can take human form.

The Beast Must Die (1974)

Eight people are invited to an island estate for the weekend by a millionaire obsessed with hunting, and one of them is a werewolf. Can you guess which one?

The Howling (1981)

After a bizarre and near-deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

American college students David Kessler and Jack Goodman, on a walking tour of Britain, are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. Jack dies. David recovers in a hospital, where he has nightmares.

Wolfen (1981)

A New York cop investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks. While technically not a werewolf, it’s still worth checking out.

The Company of Wolves (1984)

A teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.

Silver Bullet (1985)

In a small town, brutal killings start to plague the close-knit community. Marty Coslaw, a paraplegic boy, is convinced the murders are the doings of a werewolf.

Teen Wolf (1985)

An ordinary high school student discovers that his family has an unusual pedigree. He utilizes this change to become a star basketball player and the most popular kid in school.

Ladyhawke (1985)

The thief Gaston escapes the dungeon of medieval Aquila through the latrine. Soldiers are about to kill him when Navarre saves him. Navarre, travelling with his spirited hawk, plans to kill the bishop of Aquila with help from Gaston.

Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)

Shaggy is turned into a werewolf, and it’s up to Scooby, Scrappy and his girlfriend to help him win the contest or be stuck a werewolf forever.

Wolf (1994)

Publisher Will Randall is bitten by a wolf, and as he becomes more animalistic, he uses his newfound abilities to fight to keep his job.

Bad Moon (1996)

After being bitten by a werewolf in the jungle, Ted looks for a cure. His lawyer sister, with a son and dog, invites him to park his camper by her house in the woods and live out of her fridge.

An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

An American man unwittingly gets involved with French werewolves who have developed a serum allowing them to transform at will.

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighbourhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf.

Dog Soldiers (2002)

A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scottish wilderness when a group of soldiers find themselves besieged by a pack of werewolves.

Cursed (2005)

A werewolf loose in Los Angeles changes the lives of three young adults who, after being mauled by the beast, learn they must kill it to avoid becoming werewolves themselves.

The Wolfman (2010)

Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf. But is his family even more messed up than he realizes?

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010)

A Californian family inherits a castle in Romania. This is especially exciting to the son, who is obsessed with monsters. And he is not disappointed.

Late Phases (2014)

When deadly beasts attack from the forest, it is up to a grizzled veteran to uncover what the residents of a secluded retirement community are hiding.

WolfCop (2014)

As a series of strange and violent events begins to occur, an alcoholic policeman realizes that he has been turned into a werewolf as part of a larger plan.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, Officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there’s no such thing as werewolves.

Werewolf Within (2021)

A new awkward park ranger arrives in a small town, and murder and havoc soon follow. The paranoid townsfolk soon suspect each other, but a devious, shapeshifting werewolf becomes their prime suspect. But who is it?

Werewolves (2024)

After a worldwide pandemic, the previous year, caused people to turn into werewolves after a super-moon event, two scientists try to stop the mutation from happening again as part of a team effort, but the experiment goes wildly awry.

Wolf Man (2025)

A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.

Werewolf movies continue to evolve, reflecting changing social fears, desires, and technological capabilities. Whether as tragic monsters, reluctant antiheroes, or symbols of empowerment, werewolves remain fascinating because they externalize a question central to the human experience: what happens when we lose control? As long as we wrestle with our darker impulses—be they rage, lust, grief, or shame—the werewolf will continue to haunt our screens, snarling from the shadows of our psyches.