Werewolves gone wrong.

The season of spookiness is almost upon us. What says scary better than movie monsters, more specifically, werewolves. Throughout the years we have seen hundreds of versions of the infamous beasts. Today, we are going to focus primarily on these fluffy nightmare Fido’s as portrayed on the silver screen.

For those of you who may not know, a werewolf is a mythical monster. It is half man, half wolf. According to some legends, man turns to beast under the light of the full moon. To become a werewolf, one is bitten or born...or magically cursed. History lesson over, let’s get juicy.

We can jump in with some of Hollywood’s worst portrayed werewolves. Please remember, these are only my opinions. I always recommend watching the movies and forming your own thought. Ok, our first contender is, Cursed. Directed by Wes Craven in 2005, staring Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg. We won’t get into plot, or characters development. We’re here strictly for our floofy friends. In terms of werewolf portrayal, it gets a two on the wolfy scale. Elongated ears, long flowing fur, and the clear absence of a neck, make this more of a terrifying rabbit than wolf. Given Wes Craven’s prior works, I, as a werewolf fanatic, was disappointed. Easter bunny beware, you have some heavy competition.

Our next participant is American werewolf in Paris. Directed by Anthony Waller in 1997. Staring Tom Everett Scott. Ok, the cover art for this movies was promising. Piercing animal eyes, scary mouth of teeth, definitely nightmare fuel. Though, when we finally see our first werewolf, it is rather disappointing. Imagine if you will, a gorilla on steroids. From it’s oddly shaped head, to its unique anatomy, this movie goes from horror to dark comedy fairly quickly. Sure the close up shots are alright. But I’m fairly certain werewolves aren’t suppose to have mange...or underbites...or arthritis.

Our third pick is, any of the Howling movies. There have been multiple directors over a decade, 1980’s-1990’s. Story and acting aside, the wolves in these movies were sad. It mostly feels like they stuck a bad wolf mask on a body builder and said, “Eh, good enough.” I have a feeling why this is part of the reason we see mainly close up shots and dark silhouettes. You will still jump at certain points, but when you finally see the whole wolf body, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Top personal picks for best werewolf portrayals are: Underworld, An American werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers and Silver Bullet. These movies take everything we know and love about werewolves, and turns them into horrific realities. Through the use of animation and makeup, the legendary attributes of the wolf human hybrid comes to life. They marry human anatomy and wolf anatomy in such a way, viewers can say this monsters existence could be plausible. Be prepared to be scared while watching these creatures transform before your very eyes. Which, if your looking for out of this world transformation scenes, look no further than these movies.

There will always be different opinions as to who made the best or worst werewolf. Personal taste is just that. Personal. All of these movies, as well as the plethora of others not mentioned, about werewolves are worth a watch. So pop some corn, lock your doors, curle up on your couch with your silver bullets, and enjoy making your own assessments of these magical monsters.

I look forward to your thoughts and opinions on movie monsters. Stay spooky my friends.