5 Great Werewolf Films Nobody Talks About

While vampire movies are go-tos for horror fans, werewolf movies have been a staple of the genre for decades but don’t necessarily get the same kind of attention. Stories of monstrous transformation that often explore some of the bigger themes of the human experience, werewolf movies can be fantastic, scary, romantic, and even funny, giving audiences a wide range of things to explore all while also offering up the often-jarring visual transformation as man (or woman) becomes beast.

But even with the werewolf subgenre itself being underappreciated, there are some movies that themselves don’t get nearly enough attention. These are the movies that have slipped under the radar but tell some of the best werewolf stories in all of horror. Funny, complex, and thrilling, these five werewolf movies are real gems that no one talks about — but they’re movies you definitely need to see for yourself.

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5) Ginger Snaps

Ginger Snaps isn’t just a great werewolf film; it’s also just a great horror film more broadly. Released theatrically in 2001, the film follows teen sisters Brigitte and Ginger whose relationship becomes strained and complicated when Ginger is attacked and bitten by a mysterious animal and begins to turn into a werewolf during the next full moon. The film wasn’t a box office success, but it received much critical acclaim.

While the film has largely become a cult hit, Ginger Snaps is a bit unique. With the two main characters being teenagers, the film is as much a satire of the teen experience as it is a horror film and with Ginger’s attack being prompted by her getting her first period, the film is also a feminist film, exploring the various facets of change and metamorphosis from a feminist lens. The film also makes excellent use of dark humor which makes it far deeper and more nuanced than your typical teen werewolf movie.

4) Werewolf By Night

Okay, so I might be cheating a little with this one as Werewolf by Night is technically an hour-long television special and not exactly a movie, but it’s also a great werewolf story that just so happens to also be part of the MCU. In Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell (the werewolf in the title) is summoned to Bloodstone Manor following the death of Ulysses Bloodstone. He and four other monster hunters are expected to participate in a competitive hunt, the winner of which will be their new leader and wield the Bloodstone.

The special is so good it’s easy to forget it’s Marvel. It looks and feels like an old horror film, but the real horror in the story isn’t Russell’s werewolf, it’s other people — namely Ulysses’ widow Verussa. There are also some incredible transformation effects when Russell transforms. It’s easily one of the most inventive and best things that Marvel has put out — and a great monster story, too.

3) Wolfcop

Horror movies don’t have to be serious all the time. They can be funny, too, and that’s what you get with Wolfcop. Released in 2014, the film follows Lou Garou, an alcoholic small-town cop who gets cursed and turns into a werewolf. Despite his new furry form, he keeps his human intelligence and keeps working his law enforcement job, even as a wolf.

While most werewolf stories are filled with fear and even dread on the part of the afflicted who shift with the full moon, Wolfcop’s Lou fully embraces his newfound abilities as a werewolf and makes great use of them for his career, trying to do good and be a better person — with often hilarious and messy results. It’s a breath of fresh air for the overall werewolf subgenre and we won’t be surprised if it ends up becoming a beloved cult classic.

2) When Animals Dream

When Animals Dream is a werewolf film that no one talks about but that’s because most people have probably never heard of it. Released in 2014, When Animals Dream is a Danish film that tells the story of a teenage girl, Maria, who discovers that she’s turning into a werewolf. The more she transforms and her body changes, the more she realizes that her family has some strange secrets and her mother, who is catatonic and confined to a wheelchair, may have connections to what she herself is going through.

The film is beautifully made and has similar themes to Let the Right One In — the film has been called the werewolf version of that iconic vampire story — and Ginger Snaps, just much more atmospheric than the latter. The film isn’t particularly subtle, but it’s a thoughtful and fascinating watch.

1) Wolf

Starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer, 1994’s Wolf is a slightly unusual werewolf film in that it’s a romantic horror film. Nicholson plays Will, a publisher who is bitten by a black wolf and begins to turn into a werewolf. When he loses his job to a younger coworker, he uses his new abilities to try to get his job back but he’s also coming closer and closer to fully becoming a monster.

While some of the movies on this list use the framework of the werewolf curse to structure stories of puberty and coming of age, Wolf uses the framework for a story of aging as an adult. It isn’t exactly subtle — Will accepting his transformation into a wolf is part of him accepting that he’s gotten older, but it’s a solid film. And you really can’t go wrong with Nicholson in a monster movie.

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