Ever since Lon Chaney Jr.’s Larry Talbot returned to his childhood estate and transformed in 1941’s The Wolf Man, lycanthropy has been one of horror cinema’s most frequently explored ideas. As with many other genre staples, wolfmen (and occasionally women) lend themselves to clever interpretations and subversions of well-established tropes.
In the coming decades, more “modern” interpretations of the mythos, beginning around the 1980s, have used the classical horror structure to playfully examine issues like gentrification, puberty, and the small town American idyll. Though it’s no easy feat to strip the genre down to bare essentials, we’ve tried our best to weed out the most compelling, gory, and wonderfully weird werewolf pictures ever made.
Join Entertainment Weekly as we rank the 25 best werewolf movies of all time.
25. Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975)
Toei Tokyo
The sole survivor (Sonny Chiba) of an ancient werewolf clan uses his moon-powered skills to unravel a conspiracy plot involving multiple murders, a syphilitic cabaret singer (Etusko Nami) with a Yakuza-owned nightclub, and the Japanese CIA.
Even more insane than that simple description, Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope is one of the best examples of Japanese exploitation cinema. It indulges all of the genre’s wonderfully labyrinthine plotting and blood-gushing (spraying, spurting, leaking, misting), but wraps it all inside a terrifically oddball conspiratorial mystery.
Where to watch Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope: Fandango at Home (to rent)
24. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)
Jim Cummings’ second feature is ostensibly a werewolf murder mystery but reveals itself as an uncommonly gentle rumination on masculinity. Cummings stars as a deputy sheriff who cares about two things: living up to his father’s (the great Robert Forster) standards and protecting his college-bound daughter. He gets the opportunity to do both when an apparent werewolf begins leaving the mangled bodies of young women around this once-sleepy town.
Cummings’ offbeat sense of humor is enough to make Snow Hollow a delightful comedy, but it’s his thoughtful wrestling with male frailty and responsibility — particularly in a world hostile and dangerous for women (with or without homicidal werewolves) — that pushes it to another level.
Where to watch The Wolf of Snow Hollow: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
23. Werewolves Within (2021)
Trapped in the middle of a snowstorm in their formerly idyllic rural community, a forest ranger (Sam Richardson) and a postal employee (Milana Vayntrub) must uncover the mysterious beast behind a series of gruesome murders.
Both genuinely funny and properly spooky, this horror-comedy hits a sweet spot many genre installments can’t find. It has the jocular tone of a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mystery wrapped in a wily whodunit plot that pays homage to werewolf cinema’s greatest hits.
Where to watch Werewolves Within: AMC+
22. Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
Universal/Courtesy Everett
Christophe Gans helmed this genre-bending imagining of the Beast of Gévaudan, a mysterious species in French folklore presumed responsible for multiple gruesome killings in the village between 1764 and 1767.
A scientist (Vincent Cassel) and his parkour-master sidekick (Mark Decascos) are sent to track and kill the monster but find themselves embroiled in political conspiracies and ancient curses — and being tempted by the ultimate honey trap (Monica Bellucci, naturally). The film combines slasher-style chase sequences while indulging retro monster movie extravagance and a nice smattering of visceral gore. The gorgeously photographed post-Matrix action choreography is also put to thrilling use in a handful of parkour setpieces.
Where to watch Brotherhood of the Wolf: Tubi
21. Cursed (2005)
Dimension Films/ Courtesy Everett
This werewolf movie sees Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg play siblings who have a brush with a lycanthrope in the Hollywood Hills. Soon, their friends and colleagues find themselves imperiled as the pair tries to unravel the mystery behind their bizarre bodily changes.
Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s Scream reunion uses werewolves as a metaphor for Hollywood’s cutthroat business dealings. Despite a notoriously problematic production that resulted in a compromised final product, Cursed is clever, albeit in a completely different fashion from Scream. This time, Craven delivers a subversive insider skewering of the industry, which speaks to his ability to reinvent his own concepts without repeating them.
Where to watch Cursed: Paramount+
20. Wolf (1994)
Mike Nichols directed this severely misunderstood thriller, which doubles as a barbed remark on post-’80s yuppie culture. Mary Harron’s American Psycho owes a debt to the spot-on evisceration of the hollow, nihilistic corporate culture that Nichols lampoons here.
Jack Nicholson stars as a successful book editor who’s attacked one evening in Central Park and slowly transforms into a hairy, fanged beast. Complicating matters is his burgeoning romance with Laura (Michelle Pfeiffer), the woman of his dreams. Nichols approaches the material with a light touch but doesn’t undercut the conceptual tragedy.
Where to watch Wolf: Amazon Prime Video
19. Deadtime Stories (1986)
Cinema Group/ Courtesy Everett
Jeffrey Delman’s horror anthology contains a trio of fairy tales gone dark, including a twist on Red Riding Hood in which a young girl mixes up her grandmother’s medication with that of a werewolf. Deadtime Stories is a quintessentially ’80s anthology that offers one of the decade’s most unhinged and diabolical takes on the werewolf mythos.
The other two tales — equally twisted takes on Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks — offer additional cultural insight into the era.
Where to watch Deadtime Stories: Amazon Prime Video
18. Wer (2013)
Sierra Pictures
A defense attorney (A. J. Cook) believes there is more about her client (Simon Quarterman), a man accused of killing a vacationing family, than initially meets the eye in this thriller from William Brent Bell.
Wer is the sort of low-budget, high-concept film that’s all too rare these days. It holds onto its reveal for as long as it can but never lets the audience get ahead of the plot. It’s an uncommonly brainy, satisfying pulp thriller that turns into a proper crowd-pleaser in its final stages.
Where to watch Wer: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
17. Late Phases (2014)
Adrián García Bogliano’s wry postmodern werewolf pic concerns the denizens of a retirement community besieged by a vicious beast — until a blind war veteran (Nick Damici) convinces them to fight back.
Late Phases has fun with the genre while taking it at face value, rooting its plot in realistic characters and settings before the horror comes to a full boil. Even when it does, the concept is kept at a believable, surprisingly creepy level instead of descending into camp.
Where to watch Late Phases: Peacock
16. Slice (2018)
Austin Vesely directed this fun horror mash-up about a one-time pizza delivery driver, Astrid (Zazie Beetz), who begins investigating the unexplained murders of her former co-workers. A werewolf is the prime suspect — and not just any werewolf, but a mythical outlaw named Dax Lycander (Chance the Rapper).
Without spoiling anything, Slice combines ghosts, witches, werewolves, and other ghouls in a comedy that feels utterly modern even as it throws back to ’80s monster movies like Night of the Creeps. The practical effects are a ball, and the cast is clearly having one, too.
Where to watch Slice: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
15. Moon of the Wolf (1972)
Everett Collection
This stupendous Movie of the Week concerns a small-town Louisiana sheriff (David Janssen) who becomes increasingly convinced that the man behind a spate of horrific murders is, in fact, a werewolf.
A finely drawn mystery in the chilliest of Southern Gothic traditions, Moon of the Wolf provides a character-based antidote to the subgenre’s action-driven tendencies. It merely implies many of its worst horrors and is all the more disturbing and evocative for doing so. The lighting and camerawork effectively envelop audiences in a classical tale of romance and murder.
Where to watch Moon of the Wolf: Tubi
14. Howl (2015)
Starchild Pictures
Creep meets The Howling in this brilliantly offbeat British offering about a ticket taker (Ed Speleers) whose train suddenly stops in dense woods after colliding with some sort of animal. When people begin getting eaten by an unseen creature, the train’s passengers and crew must save the day.
Howl takes the well-trod formula of “X on a train” and executes a confined action flick-cum-horror movie. It’s a fun, nasty picture that ranks among the best of modern lycan lore.
Where to watch Howl: Amazon Prime Video
13. Silver Bullet (1985)
Paramount/Courtesy Everett
Silver Bullet revolves around a wheelchair-bound teen (Corey Haim) who recruits his crazed uncle (Gary Busey) and his sister (Megan Follows) to figure out which of their neighbors is a werewolf following an up-close-and-personal midnight encounter.
Adapted from Stephen King’s novella Cycle of the Werewolf, this ’80s slice of werewolf chaos absolutely nails the tone of a feel-good teen mystery while offering surprisingly graphic carnage and some swooning, sun-dappled cinematography.
Where to watch Silver Bullet: Paramount+
12. Mom (1991)
Beloved mother Emily Dwyer (Jeanne Bates) has been attacked and turned into a werewolf with an insatiable appetite, leaving her adult son, Clay (Mark Thomas Miller), to clean up her mess and ensure she doesn’t cause any more destruction.
Mom is a funny and emotionally resonant horror-comedy that takes inspiration from Eating Raoul and Brian Yuzna’s Society to create a genuinely subversive werewolf picture. It doubles as a pleasantly barbed but sympathetic look at parents and children trying to forge a relationship in their shared adulthood.
Where to watch Mom: Fandango at Home (to rent)
11. Trick ’r Treat (2007)
Michael Dougherty’s masterful Halloween triptych tells three sinister stories about the inhabitants of a small town (including Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, and Leslie Bibb) who encounter a variety of frights on All Hallow’s Eve.
Summoning an unshakable atmosphere in the vein of John Carpenter’s Halloween, Dougherty crafts a thoroughly consistent anthology film. (If you’re familiar with the format, you know that’s high praise.) The second tale features a pack of young women who go on the prowl (see where this is going?).
Where to watch Trick ‘r Treat: Max
10. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Everett Collection
Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.), better known as the Wolf Man, believes that Elsa von Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), the scientist’s niece, holds the secret to reversing his unfortunate case of lycanthropy. However, he’s on a collision course with the monster himself (Bela Lugosi), who doesn’t intend to let Larry escape with his life.
An immensely exciting, good-humored monster mash, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man laid the groundwork for the modern “versus” movies, giving King Kong and Godzilla much to be thankful for. Unlike modern extravaganzas, this entry is character-based and blessedly spooky in the most low-key fashion.
Where to watch Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man: Peacock
9. The Monster Squad (1987)
Five teens are tasked with managing the antics of Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Gill Man (basically a copyright-friendly version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon) after the monsters are reincarnated and descend upon a small town in search of a magical amulet that will allow them to rule the world.
Much edgier and less bombastic than the logline implies, Fred Dekker’s joyful throwback combines the spirit of Universal and Hammer classics with a teen adventure plot that borrows equally from The Goonies and The Little Rascals. It’s great entry-level horror for curious younger viewers and a charming romp for all.
Where to watch The Monster Squad: PlutoTV
8. Teen Wolf (1985)
Michael J. Fox stars as Scott, the eponymous nerd who inherits his family’s lycanthropic gene in this coming-of-age classic. As Scott falls deeper into his alter ego (and special powers, which include basketball skills for some reason), he becomes increasingly popular and wins the affection of the lovely Pamela (Lorie Griffin).
No one was better than Fox when it came to playing the undervalued nerdy-but-actually-cool high schooler. Teen Wolf is a cherished example of adolescent comedy, which slots in nicely on a double feature with its spiritual successor, Teen Witch (1989).
Where to watch Teen Wolf: Tubi
7. Wolfen (1981)
Mary Evans/WARNER BROS/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
A New York City detective (Albert Finney) and a criminologist attempt to unravel a sadistic series of animal maimings in this gritty slice of ’80s genre work, which feels like equal parts Abel Ferrara and Miami Connection. The killings may connect to a tribe of Manhattan-dwelling Native Americans, led by Edward James Olmos.
This preposterously entertaining thriller is elevated by Finney’s devoted performance, as if someone told him this was a sure path to the Oscars. Much of Wolfen follows suit, taking an unexpectedly thoughtful approach to the genre; director Michael Wadleigh had heavier ideas in mind than the slash-em-up audiences may have believed they were getting.
Where to watch Wolfen: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
6. Dog Soldiers (2002)
Everett Collection
Neil Marshall’s feature debut follows a group of British soldiers into the Scottish wilds on what’s supposed to be a routine training operation. Upon discovering the aftermath of a terrible massacre, the men are attacked by a group of werewolves and rescued by a cunning scientist (Emma Cleasby) who instructs them on how to survive.
A taut, bloody, and exceptionally fun splatter flick, Dog Soldiers solidified Marshall as a horror maestro. His follow-up, The Descent, is his masterwork, but Dog Soldiers comes close. It’s so taut and immersive that it binds you in its spell long after the credits have rolled.
Where to watch Dog Soldiers: Peacock
5. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Though he’s inexplicably not mentioned in the title, Lon Chaney Jr. gives his fifth performance as the Wolf Man in this gleefully macabre monster mash-up. The tone here is executed perfectly, delivering both belly-aching laughs and spine-tingling chills.
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play security guards who accidentally mishandle a delivery from the Museum of Horrors, reincarnating Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster in the process. Larry Talbot is in hot pursuit of the foes and determined to lay them back to rest, but his frequent transformations into the Wolf Man complicate matters. Here, Chaney taps into a duality that eluded him in previous installments as he found his footing as an actor.
Where to watch Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein: Amazon Prime Video
4. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Everett Collection
John Landis helmed this subversive blend of werewolf mythos intertwined with revolting body horror, bawdy comedy, and genuine tragedy. The iconic transformation sequence, filled with genuinely ghastly flourishes, is rightfully canonized, but every shock effect is masterfully realized and admirably icky.
While backpacking through the foggy moors of Yorkshire, David (David Naughton) and his best friend, Jack (Griffin Dunne), are attacked by… well, you know. David survives, Jack dies, and inspectors chalk the crime up to an errant maniac. Luckily, David’s spirited nurse (Jenny Agutter) realizes there’s more to the story. Together, they set out to rid David’s body of the unwanted curse (not to mention all that hair).
Where to watch An American Werewolf in London: AMC+
3. The Howling (1981)
Avco Embassy/Courtesy Everett
A journalist (Dee Wallace) travels to a retreat for victims of sexual violence to cope with a recent trauma. Much to her chagrin, she discovers that her cohorts are werewolves… and that her presence at the commune may not be for the reasons she believes.
This is an ooey, gooey, and fresh werewolf flick with a bevy of nauseating practical effects and the sort of winking cinematic homages for which director Joe Dante is best known. This might be his finest film in terms of the richness of its themes, the seriousness with which it tackles its central metaphor, and its contribution to the werewolf subgenre as a whole.
Where to watch The Howling: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
2. Ginger Snaps (2000)
Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
After Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) is attacked by a werewolf on the same night her first menstrual cycle begins, she begins experiencing strange bodily mutations and unexplainable desires. Her sister, Brigitte (Emily Perkins), sees her going down a dark path and enlists their mother (Mimi Rogers) to help reverse the curse.
John Fawcett’s flawless tragicomedy is part satire, part splatter body-horror flick, part full-on monster movie, and complete heart. It’s an exquisite extended metaphor for the universal adolescent experience, but an especially piercing female coming-of-age story. It spawned several sequels; fun as they were, they never recaptured the forceful commentary of this original.
Where to watch Ginger Snaps: Peacock
1. The Wolf Man (1941)
George Waggner directed this seminal Universal fright flick — the best werewolf film ever made, not just because it remains shocking and outré but also due to its undeniable cultural impact. You’d be hard-pressed to mention a single werewolf picture that doesn’t borrow from this effort.
Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns home to his family’s estate following the death of his brother. Through an inexplicable turn of events, Talbot slays a wolf with an antique silver cane; a soothsayer later informs him that the victim is, in fact, her transformed son. By killing him, the spiritualist says, Talbot has adopted her son’s lycanthropic affliction.
Where to watch The Wolf Man: Amazon Prime Video
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