The 21 Greatest Werewolf Movies Of All Time, Ranked

Don't be afraid to track down these beastly flicks on the next full moon...

With The Cursed recently sinking its teeth into theaters, werewolves have clawed their way back into the pop cultural conversation.

Luckily, there are plenty of petrifying options for those looking to brush up on hair-raising, teeth-baring scare fare, such as these lauded lycanthropic pictures.

21. Underworld

Film Company Lakeshore Ent. / AF Archive / Courtesy Alamy

Though the film has a huge budget, impressive production and creature design, and a mostly esteemed cast to its credit, Underworld never quite lives up to its "vampire vs. werewolf" premise and is all but bereft of emotional stakes, a point that feels more apparent with each subsequent entry into the action-packed franchise.

20. An American Werewolf in Paris

Buena Vista Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

While the film has a bad reputation thanks to its poor CGI and questionable decision to ape many aspects of its predecessor, An American Werewolf in Paris is a surprisingly watchable horror-comedy that is anchored by a stellar performance by the endlessly charismatic Tom Everett Scott.

19. Wolf

Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Film legends Mike Nichols and Jack Nicholson team up for this fun but ultimately hollow film about a down-and-out editor who takes back control of his professional life even as his newfound lycanthropy upends his personal relationships.

18. Teen Wolf

MGM / Courtesy Everett Collection

A truly iconic film of the '80s, Teen Wolf is barely a werewolf movie by traditional means, but the world would be damned if it didn't enjoy a teenage werewolf surfing on a school bus or slam dunking on a basketball court.

17. Howl (2015)

Starchild Pictures / FilmRIse / Via YouTube

While the core concept of Howl is pretty great, positing a stranded train full of strangers that is under siege by a werewolf, the film drops the ball with the opportunity for mystery and suspense when it prioritizes on revealing the big, furry monster at the center of it all.

16. Bad Moon

Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

From the writer of The Hitcher and Near Dark, Bad Moon is a surprisingly brutal story whose ingenuity is also its downfall, as it largely centers on a dog who attempts to warn its owners that the newly moved-in uncle may be a bloodthirsty werewolf.

15. Late Phases

Dark Sky Films / Pictorial Press Ltd / Courtesy Alamy

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Adrián García Bogliano and produced by indie horror maestro Larry Fessenden, Late Phases is a great slow-burn horror picture about the indignity of growing old paired with a tale of a blind man who takes it upon himself to defend his retirement community from a werewolf.

14. Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed

Collection Christophel / Copperheart Entertainment / Courtesy Alamy

The winner of the 2005 FANGORIA Chainsaw Award for Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film, this acclaimed sequel stands well in its own regard for continuing the allegories posited by the first Ginger Snaps while offering a legitimately gripping mystery and one hell of a nihilistic climax.

13. Wolfcop

Echolands Creative Group / TCD / Prod.DB / Courtesy Alamy

Though this film may drift closer to the Teen Wolf side of campy werewolf projects, Wolfcop is nonetheless a fairly humorous movie that embraces the werewolf tropes and lore while providing copious amounts of over-the-top violence and exceptional practical special effects work.

12. The Wolf of Snow Hollow

Orion Classics /Courtesy Everett Collection

The Wolf of Snow Hollow may be an arguable entry to this list for reasons that may be too spoiler-heavy to include here, but the film effortlessly alternates between hilariously dry comedy, heartbreaking drama on grief and pain, and tense horror about a series of killings with the signs pointing to a lycanthropic suspect.

11. November (2017)

Homeless Bob Production / TCD / Prod.DB / Courtesy Alamy

An Estonian blend of fantasy and horror based on Andrus Kivirähk's 2000 novel Old Barny, this art house favorite might be too slow and convoluted for some but is nevertheless spellbinding and unique in almost every aspect.

10. Silver Bullet

Paramount Pictures / Photo 12 / Courtesy Alamy

This werewolf film from 1985 may not be the best Stephen King adaptation of its time, but that does not change that the film is suspenseful and engaging in the way King's work often is while being bolstered by moments of ingenuity and a committed cast that goes above and beyond what's on the page.

9. The Company of Wolves

Cannon Films / Courtesy Everett Collection

Visionary filmmaker Neil Jordan pulls no punches in this Gothic fantasy-horror hybrid, which features numerous short stories centered upon werewolves that are notably closer to the Grimm Brothers' variety of morbid fairy tales.

8. The Curse of the Werewolf

Hammer Film Productions / Courtesy Alamy

Noted as the first werewolf film to be shot in color, The Curse of the Werewolf was the defining feature in the subgenre for Hammer Film Productions, which was elevated by a powerhouse performance from the inimitable Oliver Reed.

7. Dog Soldiers

Collection Christophel / Kismet Entertainment Group / SND / Courtesy Alamy

Before he dived into The Descent, charged into Westeros with Game of Thrones, and revived Hellboy in 2019, filmmaker Neil Marshall initially exhibited his passion for mauling monsters and hard-hitting action in Dog Soldiers, which pits an English military squadron on a training exercise under siege from a pack of bloodthirsty lycanthropes.

6. Werewolves Within

Ubisoft / Vanishing Angle / Album / Courtesy Alamy

You may recognize the name from the 2016 video game from Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft, but this hysterical horror-comedy remains a highlight among 2021's cinematic output as it weaves an outlandish and expertly crafted "whodunit" out of a solid werewolf thriller.

5. Brotherhood of the Wolf

StudioCanal / Universal / AF Archive / Courtesy Alamy

A decadent yet chilling horror film from Christophe Gans, Brotherhood of the Wolf tells the twisty and bloody tale of a pair of mercenaries who are tasked with hunting down a werewolf that savagely targets the French countryside in the late 1700s.

4. Ginger Snaps

Copperheart Entertainment / RGR Collection / Courtesy Alamy

One of the most beloved independent horror films of all-time, Ginger Snaps injects dark humor and a feminist point-of-view to the werewolf movie for something that feels original while still producing the pulse-pounding horror and gore that fans of the subgenre have come to expect.

3. The Wolf Man

Universal / PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Courtesy Alamy

Lon Chaney Jr. brought to life an instantly iconic creature feature in The Wolf Man, which has been incredibly successful and spawned four sequels, of which Chaney Jr. proudly returned to the titular role.

2. The Howling

Avco Embassy / Courtesy Everett Collection

Werewolf films rarely come as celebrated or as compelling as The Howling, Joe Dante's horror-thriller following a news reporter's suspicion that her vacation getaway may be home to a colony of lycanthropes.

1. An American Werewolf in London

PolyGram Pictures / TCD / Prod.DB / Courtesy Alamy

Regardless of changes in modern technology, the fact is that An American Werewolf in London will likely be the apex predator of werewolf movies, from its drop-dead funny sense of sardonic humor to its undeniably groundbreaking special effects work, which was so impressive that it inspired (and won) its own Academy Award category.