Marty Michaels

Firstly, my apologies for the lack of postage in the past while – server issues and other bullshit have prevented any new posting. Anyway, to celebrate my grand return to… whatever this is, let’s have a quick look at the top ten werewolf movies – no Twilight need apply. Onward!

10. Ginger Snaps (2000)

A lot of people loved this movie when it first came out. Me? I thought it was alright. A not-so thinly veiled puberty metaphor, there’s a lot to like in Ginger Snaps, including the lovely Katherine Isabelle (who later wound up as “girl in baseball cap” in Freddy vs. Jason) and the transformation scenes (always a highlight in werewolf movies) but the rotten sequels have brought the reputation of the original down a bit, but points for trying something different.

9. Wolf (1994)

After the sucess of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, it was a forgone conclusion that the Wolf Man or werewolf would make another cinematic apperence. Problem is, werewolves have their basis in folklore and legend and have, unlike Dracula or Frankenstein’s Monster, no classic literary origins. So, rather than make a lavish (and, in my opinion, overblown) adaptation of a novel, the people behind Wolf made a modern day werewolf movie, starring the already lupine Jack Nicholson. Wolf isn’t a hugely well loved film, but it’s a film that I enjoy. The performances are great (and it’s always nice to see David Hyde Pierce) and the minimalist makeup is remeniscent of Werewolf of London. Well worth another look.

8. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is the only film I can think of that acts as a sequel to two completley unrelated movies – Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. Lon Chaney, Jr. returns in his most celebrated role as the doomed Larry Talbot and a frail-looking Bela Lugosi tucks tail and essays the role of the Frankenstein Monster – the part he famously turned his nose up at in 1931. One of the most fun movies ever made, FMTWM is a classic monster mash and the start of Universal’s monster team up movies. Not content with being a classic monster movie, FMTWM also boasts one of the best opening scenes in any of the classics as well as one of the best transformation scenes in any werewolf movie ever.

7. Werewolf of London (1935)

There had been werewolf movies before 1935, but as far as I’m concerned, Werewolf of London is the first *real* werewolf movie ever made. Starring noted stage actor Henry Hull and future “bride of Frankenstein” Valerie Hobson, Werewolf of London, to be fair, is more like a Jekyll and Hyde story than a werewolf story – a scientist is infected with “werewolfery” in Tibet and seeks a cure by day whilst stalking the streets of London by night. It’s probably a bit stilted and dated for modern sensibilities, but to genre fans there’s a lot to get excited about, not least Jack Peirce’s fantastic makeup for Henry Hull: has there ever been a more sinister looking werewolf? I don’t think so.  The film also has a stunning single shot with no cutaways transformation sequence that seems impossible for 1935.

6. Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

After The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The Mummy, the next logical step for Hammer was to update the werewolf, put their own blood-stained stamp on it and start a werewolf franchise much like their Dracula, Frankenstein and Mummy series. Except that’s not what happened A lot of people are surprised to hear that Hammer only made one werewolf movie – and it’s a reasonably bloodless affair. Concentrating more on the backstory and human element of the story rather than balls to the wall lycanthopic madness, Curse of the Werewolf seems on paper like a boring movie, but it’s such a multilayered story and is so well written that the time flies by. When the werewolf finally does show up, it’s well worth the wait – Roy Aston’s design is, for my money, the best werewolf ever seen on screen.

5. Wolfen (1981)

Maybe it had something to do with the fortieth anniversary of The Wolf Man, or maybe there was something in the air that year, but whatever it was, 1981 was a banner year for werewolf movies with three classics all coming out within months of each other. The first lycanthrope from the class of ’81 on our list is the most serious in tone of the three and was the first one to be released: Wolfen. Lacking the satrical elements that made An American Werewolf in London and The Howling so popular, Wolfen is however an intelligent and criminally underrated horror movie that was sadly overshadowed by the two werewolf movies that followed later in the same year. Hell of a tagline, too.

4. Dog Soldiers (2002)

When this movie first came out, people were shitting themselves at the originality of the concept. It’s not a hugely original idea – the military have been staring down monsters since King Kong (not to mention the brilliance of cowboys vs dinosaurs in The Valley of Gwangi) but in the horror genre, sometimes originality isn’t important. What is important is re-invention; taking old ideas and putting a fresh new stamp on them, making them seem like brand new ideas. And that’s what Dog Soldiers did to great effect. A bunch of almost comically Grant Mitchell-esque British squaddies are trapped in an Evil Dead style cabin the the woods by werewolves, horror, gore and hilarity ensues. One of those horror movies that non-horror fans love, Dog Soldiers is not only a great horror movie, but also great fun.

3. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

John Landis is a director who, like John Carpenter, has lost his mojo over recent years. The man responsible for Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Coming to America, Trading Places, ¡Three Amigos!, Spies Like Us (“doctor? doctor!”) the classic video for “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and, of course, An American Werewolf in London has all but vanished from the Hollywood radar of late, and that’s a shame because when he’s good, he’s really good. An American Werewolf in London probably represents him at the height of his powers as a director, blurring the line between horror and comedy like the James Whale of his generation. A cast of relative unknowns (except the unbearably cute Jenny Agutter as the love interest) and a geniune feeling of unease in the early scenes coupled with fish-out-of-water-ness in the later scenes makes American Werewolf a minor classic.

2. The Howling (1981)

Blasphemy! The Howling better than American Werewolf? What’ve you been smoking, Michaels!? Well, pot and Marlboros, but that’s neither here nor there. As for The Howling, I saw it long before I ever saw American Werewolf and since this is my site I’m placing it above AAWIL for purely nostalgic reasons. Though both directors are fans of classic horror, i think that Joe Dante had a better understanding of what makes classic horror so great and made a film that works as both a contemporary horror and also as a tribute to the golden age. Featuring characters named after directors of classic werewolf movies and cameos from golden age stars such as John Carradine and Patrick Macnee, The Howling presents us with a far more interesting view of lycanthropy than in AAWIL and, for my money, is much more fun. The less said about the sequels the better though…

1. The Wolf Man (1941)

No, not the 2010 remake, the original 1941 classic which, sixty years on, has yet to be bettered. But then, how can you get better than Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers and Bela Lugosi? Jack Pierce, master of movie makeup and Universal’s real Dr. Frankenstein, created one of his most famous monsters and Lon Chaney, Jr. gave a career best performance as the tragic Larry Talbot, the prodigal son who returns to his ancestral seat only to become a werewolf. The intelligent script for The Wolf Man by Curt Siodmak gave us much of what has become accepted werewolf lore – the idea of a silver bullet killing a werewolf and the famous ditty about “even a man who is pure in heart” being just two examples. Endlessly homaged and parodied, not to mention the recent remake, time has done very little to diminish the movie’s power and its impact on the horror genre cannot be overstated.

Honorable mention to:
Silver Bullet (1985)
If you’re a genre fan, there are certain things that, when you see them on a film poster or DVD cover, act as warning flag that tell you the film might not be any good: it’s a Steven King adaptation; it’s produced by Dino DeLaurentis; it stars Gary Busey and Corey Haim; it’s the director’s one and only feature film. All of these apply to Silver Bullet, but somehow it manages to bypass the warning flags and become a decent movie.

So there you have it, the top ten werewolf movies (plus one). No doubt you’ll have seen at least one or two of these, but they’re all worth tracking down if you haven’t done so already. In any case, it’s good to be back! End transmission.

Tags: horror, monsters, movies, top ten, werewolves