Whether you call them werewolves, wolf men (or women), lycans or lycanthropes, there’s a place in every horror fan’s heart for the furry, fanged creatures of the night. They can’t help turning into a monster during a full moon and devouring people – it’s just who they are!
Here are some of the best werewolf movies of the last 80 years and where to stream them right now.
13. The Werewolf (1956)
This lesser-known movie puts a ’50s mad scientist spin on the werewolf legend, a full year before “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” had Michael Landon turned into a lycanthrope by an unscrupulous doctor. Here, the sympathetic victim winds up in a small mountain town where he’s hunted like an animal.
Stream on FuboTV
12. Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
Two men in 18th century France search for a mysterious beast who is ravaging the countryside in this enjoyably gothic period action film starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci, and Mark Dacascos.
Stream on Prime Video
11. Werewolves Within (2021)
Forest ranger Finn (Sam Richardson) is up to his ears in victims after being assigned to the small town of Beaverfield, Vermont. Suspicions run high as the residents hole up in a lodge on a snowy night and try to figure out who or what is picking them off one by one. Based on the video game.
Stream on FuboTV
10. “The Company of Wolves” (1984)
Werewolves abound in this fairy tale-inspired film directed by Neil Jordan, which stars Angela Lansbury, Stephen Rea, David Warner and Goth singer Danielle Dax.
Stream on FuboTV, Peacock and Plex
9. The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
The legendary studio that brought us Christopher Lee as Dracula brings us a young, brooding Oliver Reed as the werewolf of the title. (Although it takes half the movie before he shows up.) He was born to a mute woman on Christmas Day and, in this film’s mythology, that means he is cursed.
Stream on Peacock
8. Silver Bullet (1985)
A wheelchair bound kid (Corey Haim) and his uncle (Gary Busey) hunt the wolf man behind a series of brutal killings in this adaptation of Stephen King’s novella, “Cycle of the Werewolf.”
Stream on FuboTV
7. Underworld (2003)
This action series that pits vampires against lycans probably has more werewolves per square inch than any other movie on this list. Michael Sheen is the dashing leader Lucian, who, in one scene, snaps at his less well-behaved fellow lycans, “You’re acting like a pack of rabid dogs!” Lucian was given his own star-crossed lovers spinoff with 2009’s “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.”
Stream on FuboTV
6. Ginger Snaps (2000)
Katharine Isabelle stars as high school student Ginger, who makes the most of her dangerous new powers after being bitten by a werewolf, while her sister, Brigitte (Emily Perkins) searches for a cure before it’s too late.
Stream on Peacock
5. “The Howling” (1981)
Dee Wallace stars as an anchorwoman who recuperates at a remote retreat after being attacked by a suspected serial killer in Joe Dante’s ’80s classic. Unfortunately, the woods are crawling with werewolves.
Stream on AMC+
4. Wolfwalkers (2020)
Not your traditional werewolf movie, but this gorgeous, Oscar-nominated film features a fierce pack of wolves who fight to preserve their forests from English settlers in 17th century Ireland. One of the young settlers is Robyn Goodfellowe, who accidentally befriends the wild, flame-haired Mebh, a girl her age who can command the wolves — and even turn into one.
Stream on Apple TV+
3. Dog Soldiers (2002)
A troop of unlucky Scottish soldiers are trapped in a remote farm house by some of the scariest werewolves ever created in Neil Marshall’s ultra-bloody action film. These vicious creatures don’t walk on all fours, but tower terrifyingly over the humans. And unlike your average movie lycanthropes, these werewolves are smart.
Stream on Starz
This black-and-white classic wasn’t Universal’s first stab at the werewolf legend (that was 1935’s “Werewolf of London”) but it remains the touchstone for every wolf man movie that followed. Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) is one of the most sympathetic film monsters, who becomes a werewolf after being bitten by one (Bela Lugosi). The makeup and transformation scenes in “An American Werewolf in London” may be more realistic, but we still love this genre touchstone for its iconic moonlit scenes of Chaney stalking by night and menacing a swooning Evelyn Ankers in a fogbound forest. Chaney reprised the role in “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” and “House of Frankenstein.”
1. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Early werewolf movies either showed the transformation from man to beast offscreen, or in a series of dissolves. But Rick Baker’s groundbreaking makeup and special effects showed us every bone-crunching moment of David Naughton’s painful metamorphosis. John Landis’ skillful mix of horror and humor (and MVP Griffin Dunne’s deadpan delivery) make this a classic to revisit over and over.
Stream on Prime Video