The 15 Best Werewolf Horror Movies

Werewolf with prey
CSA Images / Getty Images

These werewolf movies are guaranteed to make you howl with delight or your money back. No, not really, but they will give you a fright night that will make you glad to look around and see you are actually in your own cozy and safe living room. These are listed in descending order of horror.

15
of 15

'Red Riding Hood' (2011)

Red Riding Hood

Warner Bros.

This stylish werewolf mystery from the director of ​"Twilight" and writer of ​"Orphan" makes up in entertainment value what it lacks in originality.

14
of 15

'Wolf' (1994)

Wolf

Columbia

A mild-mannered book publisher (Jack Nicholson) who's down on his luck finds his life changed—for better and worse—when he's bitten by a werewolf. Stellar performances by Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader and engrossing character interaction propel the relatively run-of-the-mill werewolf portion—although it does differ from most of its ilk in that the werewolf turns nightly until the full moon, at which point he turns completely and permanently into a wolf.

13
of 15

'Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning' (2004)

Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning

Lionsgate

The third and final entry in the ​"Ginger Snaps" franchise steps out of the established storyline by transporting sisters Brigitte and Ginger back in time to 1815, where they take refuge in a frontier fort that's being besieged by werewolves. The re-teaming of the sisters is a refreshing change of pace from "Ginger Snaps 2," in which Ginger had only a small role.

12
of 15

'The Company of Wolves' (1984)

The Company of Wolves

Cannon

This surreal, werewolf-centric British fairy tale from Neil Jordan ("Interview With the Vampire") features stories within stories, including a twisted take on Little Red Riding Hood. The Dreamy direction is buoyed by a strong cast, including Stephen Rea, Angela Landsbury, and Terence Stamp, while gruesome transformation scenes provide an edge to the softly lit tales.

11
of 15

'Blood Moon' (2001)

Blood Moon

20th Century Fox

Also known as "Wolf Girl," this odd but endearing TV movie, complete with musical numbers and more than its share of full-frontal male nudity, follows a traveling freak show "wolf girl" who begins taking an experimental medicine to rid her of her head-to-toe hair, but it has the unexpected side effect of making her increasingly animalistic.

10
of 15

'Wer' (2014)

Wer

Universal

Inexplicably shot in a found-footage style even though it's not found footage, this slick, fast-paced tale does a wonderful job of reinventing the werewolf mythos by presenting a "realistic" werewolf condition—no elaborate transformations, and it's debatable for much of the movie whether or not the antagonist is even a werewolf. However, the film still manages to be one of the most crafty, havoc-wreaking werewolves in cinematic history, laying waste to heavily armed police, outrunning cars and leaping with superhero ability.

09
of 15

'Underworld' (2003)

Underworld

Screen Gems

A stylish and inventive mix of action and horror, "Underworld" is, unexpectedly, a Romeo and Juliet tale set amid a war between werewolves and vampires, featuring great special effects without relying too much on computer-generated imagery and one of the most intimidating werewolf designs of all time.

08
of 15

'The Wolf Man' (1941)

A poster for George Waggner's 1941 horror film 'The Wolf Man'

Movie Poster Image Art/Moviepix / Getty Images

This iconic film set the standard for werewolf movies, introducing the concepts that werewolves are vulnerable to silver and are marked with a pentagram. The story of an American visiting his ancestral home in Wales helped star Lon Chaney Jr. escape from the shadow of his father, who'd famously portrayed the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

07
of 15

'The Werewolf of London' (1935)

Werewolf of London

Universal

Although it came from Universal, this first major Hollywood werewolf production is overshadowed by the studio's monster movie stable of "​Dracula," "Frankenstein," "The Mummy" and even the later "Wolf Man." However, it's arguably superior to the more well-known Lon Chaney Jr. film—an excellent blend of horror, drama and even a bit of comedy, with smart, crisp dialogue, strong performances and an engaging mystery about a British scientist who's bitten by a werewolf in Tibet while researching a plant rumored to be an antidote to lycanthropy.

06
of 15

'An American Werewolf in London' (1981)

An American Werewolf in London

Universal

Director John Landis (​"Animal House," "The Blues Brothers") brought his comedic roots to this tale of an American tourist who's bitten by a werewolf and is then haunted by violent nightmares and ghosts urging him to kill himself to end the curse. Despite the humor, it's the groundbreaking, grisly special effects of the transformation scenes that most identify this fan favorite.

05
of 15

'Bad Moon' (1996)

Bad Moon

Warner Bros.

This woefully underrated film from Eric Red, writer of "The Hitcher" and "Near Dark," presents an engrossing "dog-and-mouse" tale of a man (Michael Pare) who comes to visit his sister (Mariel Hemingway) and her young son in their remote home. Only the family's German shepherd, however, realizes that the brother is a werewolf, and the dog's sense of dedication to protecting the family would put Lassie to shame.

04
of 15

'The Howling' (1981)

The Howling

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Scary and suspenseful with outstanding effects, yet still peppered with self-referential comedic touches, "The Howling" is an absorbing story of a TV news reporter (Dee Wallace) who ventures to a psychiatric resort after suffering amnesia and discovers that it's overrun by werewolves.

03
of 15

'Ginger Snaps' (2000)

Ginger Snaps

Millennium

A darkly humorous streak colors this Canadian production (which spawned two sequels) that smartly parallels lycanthropy with puberty. Morbid teenage sisters Ginger and Brigitte find themselves growing apart after Ginger is bitten by a werewolf and begins to undergo unusual "changes."

02
of 15

'Silver Bullet' (1985)

Silver Bullet

Paramount

One of the few Stephen King adaptations in which the script was actually written by King, "Silver Bullet" captures his rich, nostalgia-strewn portrait of small-town life and the paranoia, anguish, and anger caused when a werewolf begins picking off residents right and left. At its heart, though, it's a good old-fashioned murder mystery with just enough humor to lighten the mood.

01
of 15

'Dog Soldiers' (2002)

Dog Soldiers

Lionsgate

Neil Marshall's directorial debut is a turbocharged action bonanza that plays like "Night of the Living Dead" meets "Aliens," but with werewolves. A group of British soldiers on a training mission in the Scottish Highlands encounters a pack of werewolves and ends up using a farmhouse as a fortress, not realizing that it's the wolves' home. Tongue-in-cheek humor and imposing creature design make this one of the most entertaining monster movies of all time.