5. Dog Soldiers (2002)
Some movies take an hour to get going and follow the Roger Corman rule of leaving everything to the imagination and keeping the monster in the dark, then there are some that don’t…..
Dog Soldiers is pretty full on with violence, gore aplenty as soliders who are training in the Scottish woods are ambushed by the worst nightmare of them all- werewolves!
Dog Soldiers was director Neil Marshall’s debut and he went on to direct the popular The Descent as well as episodes of Games of Thrones.
This movie simply kicks ass from the word go though and not many British horrors have made that crossover to American shores so successfully.
4. Werewolf of London (1935)
Not to be confused by the 80s classic, Werewolf of London made 80 years ago is one of the first werewolf horror movies and it is a triumph.
The story flows well with excellent character arcs. The effects are superb for its time; check out the clever transformation between lampposts. The most wonderful thing about this film though is how ahead of its time it appears to be.
The wolf here is played out more in a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story and the film came and went. Indeed it isn’t spoken of much today, and that could well be down to the fact that no horror stars of the day are in this movie.
Quite rightly this is a classic movie and should be hailed as one of the finest werewolf movies of all time.
3. Curse of The Werewolf (1961)
Hands down the best film Hammer horror ever made, however oddly this is the only werewolf movie that Hammer ever produced.
The movie has quite a long but very interesting back story as to how the wolf in the movie that is played by Oliver Reed comes to be. It’s quite a bleak tale from Hammer but is filled with glorious color throughout. The sets and special effects are close to stunning for the time it was made in.
All the usual Hammer stalwarts are here including Michael Ripper, though oddly there’s no Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee here. It doesn’t matter of course, because Curse of the Werewolf is perhaps one of the finest horror movies of the 1960’s.
2. The Company of Wolves (1984)
A brilliant fairytale is brought to life in spectacular fashion here by director Neil Jordan in this 1984 classic.
It is of course a take on the little red riding story but done with a nightmarish effect. The acting is so good to make this little tale very believable and filled with a continuous devilish wink at us the viewer.
To sum this up in a few words would be to call this a surreal nightmare filled with fever like imagery with droplets of blood and one of the best werewolf transformations put to celluloid film. The soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful also.
1. An American Werewolf in London
This stunning movie replicates its theme through director John Landis’ constant smile. It’s a classic film that gives us total horror but relives that with full on humor in a classic Alfred Hitchcock twist.
Two American backpackers in Yorkshire, England do not heed locals warning and leave the path in the countryside. Before long they can hear howls, one is killed by a beast and one is bitten.
Now we switch locations to 80s London and the surviving guy is in hospital recovering from his injuries. He has vivid random nightmares and this is where Landis goes into pure horror territory. The first half of the film is near terrifying whereas the second half concentrates more on the romance that the patient forms with the beautiful nurse played by Jenny Agutter.
Because of the full moon and the impending doom that surrounds our main characters, tension is brought on to a height that drives the atmosphere of the movie. Then of course transformation scene, perhaps the most famous in film history, orchestrated by the one and only SFX wizard Rick Baker.
An American Werewolf in London is quite rightly regarded as a classic horror movie and it makes the No 1 spot here as the best werewolf movie of all time.
Author Bio: David Bronstein loves horror movies with a passion, be it watching the first ever horror movie, The House of the Devil or the latest independent slasher. He is a freelance writer in movies, music and sport. David can be contacted at davidjbronstein@hotmail.com