When it comes to cinematic monsters, few creatures command the screen quite like the lycanthrope. Whether you prefer your werewolves tucked inside small-town horror-comedies, supernatural romances starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson, or brought to life through extraordinary practical special effects from 1981, this sub-genre offers something for every horror enthusiast to enjoy. Here is a closer look at some of the finest werewolf films ever made, as chosen by Empire.
The Curse Of The Werewolf (1961)
Hammer produced multiple films featuring Dracula, Frankenstein, and various Mummies, but this remained their sole werewolf feature. It stands out in their catalog for several distinct reasons. Thanks to an elaborate set that was already constructed for an abandoned Inquisition project, the story is set in Spain. While the dashing young Oliver Reed made several appearances for Hammer productions, this marked his only starring role in their monster lineup.
Although the production looks sumptuous, the narrative carries an extraordinarily bleak tone, featuring a lengthy preamble that lays out a dark origin story before exploring the tragic fate of the character himself. Hammer was intentionally testing the boundaries of the BBFC, resulting in a fierce battle where several minutes of controversial material were cut from the original release until it was finally restored in 1992. Directed by Terence Fisher and anchored by Reed's powerful, soulful performance, it remains a gothic masterpiece, even if the titular monster does not appear on screen for the first 45 minutes.
The Wolf Man (1941)
Universal Pictures took some time to get their cinematic werewolves right. During their initial wave of horror films in the 1930s, Henry Hull starred in the rather underwhelming 1935 feature Werewolf Of London. It was not until The Wolf Man arrived in 1941 that Lon Chaney Jr cemented his status alongside iconic monster actors like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.
Makeup legend Jack Pierce had been forced to scale back his elaborate designs for the earlier production, but for this film, he was finally able to deliver the extraordinary creature he originally envisioned. Chaney proves equally effective out of prosthetics, using his mournful performance to convey the deep tragedy of Lawrence Talbot. Unlike Frankenstein and Dracula, the film lacked a literary source material, but screenwriter Curt Siodmak and director George Waggner crafted an atmospheric world of dense forests and thick fog that established the folkloric foundation for countless werewolf films to follow. If you have ever recited the classic rhyme about a pure heart and blooming wolfsbane under the autumn moon, this classic film is where it originated.
