My Top Ten Werewolf Movies

For those diehard werewolf fans out there, I would like to share my fave list of movies. Hope it satisfies your blood thirst.

An American Werewolf in London. A horror comedy that scared me enough and made me laugh much. I love this movie. Two friends get attacked by a werewolf wherein one dies and the other bitten. The dead friend haunts the bitten one, telling him to kill himself because he’ll become a werewolf, killing others. This is one movie where you can find romance, comedy and horror.

An American Werewolf in Paris- The movie starts with three daredevils trekking across France. When they land in Paris, they meet a beautiful mysterious woman who attempts suicide by jumping off the Eiffel tower. Then they get invited to a party which turns out to be a gorge-feast for werewolves who have a taste for American flesh. One friend gets killed, another bitten, the other unscathed. The remaining friends and the woman join together to stop the evil werewolves from killing other hapless victims. Interesting note here is that the woman is supposedly the daughter of the American Werewolf in London. And another note of interest is that this is the only werewolf movie wherein lycanthropy is drug-induced.

Bad Moon – this movie made me consider having a dog. I was so inspired by the part where the family dog battles the evil werewolf just to protect his owners. Real cute. Anyway, this movie has a very original storyline. Who would ever think that the big bad wolf would be Uncle Ted? Or that a dog could be the main character of a movie? I would really recommend this for the family, uh, provided the kids are in their teens. Uh, mid to late teens, ok?

The Howling- a really gruesome story about a couple who move to the mountains to escape from city violence. Unluckily they arrive at a town overrun with werewolves. The husband unknowingly has an affair with one and gets bitten. The wife had to call in reinforcements to escape. The plot for me is pretty boring. I just enjoy the thrills and the splattering of guts. In that department, this movie gets a 10 from me.

Blood and Chocolate- a love story between a human man and a werewolf woman. The relationship is sneered at by her pack for the obvious reason that he is just wolf chow. Nevertheless they fight for their love and against all odds they win. The alpha male is killed and she becomes the new wolf leader. Funny that. I’ve never heard of a female wolf leading a pack. What’s interesting here is that when they transform, they do it consciously. They don’t need the full moon. And they have this monthly ritual (during the full moon, duh?!) to hunt as a pack for man-flesh. Also, when the woman became top chief, all the rest of the werewolves bared their neck to her to show that she was indeed boss. In reality, when two wolves fight, one surrenders by baring his neck to the other. The victor acknowledges and releases the beaten one. He then becomes alpha male.

Dog Soldiers- For those with weak stomachs, never watch this movie, seriously. My wife, then girlfriend laid off chorizo for several weeks after watching this. The movie is about a squad that was sent to a training mission in Scotland. Little did they know that the training included a family of vicious, cannibalistic, flesh-eating werewolves. Splatterheads will love this movie. I particularly love the scene wherein one werewolf gnawed off the head of a struggling soldier.

Underworld, Parts 1, 2 and 3 – a ‘werewolves-versus-vampires’ movie, wherein werewolves were slaves of the vampires since time immemorial until they revolted. The war ensues to present times. The werewolves, relying on ancient lore trace a bloodline, in which vampirism and lycanthropy can converge, to Michael. After a series of betrayals and botched secret deals Michael becomes the first vampire-werewolf hybrid after being bitten by both. Part 2 takes us where Part 1 left off. Michael and Selene, a vampire Death dealer run away from Marcus, another hybrid. Marcus is hunting down Selene to find his brother, the first ever werewolf. In the end, Marcus, his brother and father are killed, and the future is still uncertain for Michael and Selene. It’s part 3 that really bites the vein. The third installment of Underworld is the prequel to the first two movies. It shows us the whys and hows of the werewolf revolution against vampires. The plot is fast paced. Graphics are sweet. And some erotic scenes are, well, in good taste. Hehehe. This movie shows the forbidden love between Lucian, werewolf slave and Sonia, daughter of vampire aristocrat, Victor. When they were found out, Sonia is burned to death by sun exposure and Lucian is chained, lashed but manages to escape thus setting off the revolution. You can sleep through the first two movies but don’t miss the third.

Skin walkers – in this movie there are good werewolves and bad werewolves. The good werewolves don’t eat humans. They restrain themselves when they transform – unbelievable feat, but they manage. The bad werewolves are senseless killing monsters who glut on human meat. And in the midst of the war between them is a human child. But not just any child. His blood holds the cure for lycanthropy.

Twilight Saga: New Moon- actually, I’m not a really Twilight fan because I really am not impressed with the vampires in this movie, even in the first installment. I just want to mention the way they portrayed werewolves in this movie. They are not true werewolves; rather they are shape-shifters. The moon holds no power over them. They don’t eat flesh. Their transformation is more like a protective guardianship over their lands and tribe rather than lycanthropy. Oh, did anybody notice that Aro of the Volturii is Lucian of Underworld? I think he looked way cooler as a werewolf than a wimpy vamp. But that’s just me.

Van Helsing – another vampire-versus-werewolf movie. Although the characters are from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the storyline is nowhere near the novel. Van Helsing, the main character is a monster slayer hired by the Catholic Church. And it implies that for some reason, he has lost his memory. His arch enemy, Dracula, seems to hold the answers. Sadly, he never gets to know his past. What happens is that, he is scratched by a (obviously CGI-d) werewolf and then uses his lycanthropic strength to kill Dracula. The reason I included this is because I admire Hugh Jackman. He portrayed a really wicked Wolverine in X-men and I just feel obligated to mention this one.

Ok, so the movies here are not really in numerical order, so just feel free to choose any one. I swear I gave it my best and honest review. Enjoy!