"Wolf": Was Laura Alden the True Villainess?

Amazing that this calendar year marks the 30th anniversary of Wolf, the underrated thriller that starred Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and James Spader. I remember seeing the trailer to this as a kid, and I was awestruck over the fact that a "Wolfman" movie was coming out in my lifetime; I had already been familiar with the classic 1941 film even then. In this case, it was Nicholson's Will Randall who took on that full moon curse, though when I first watched this a few years after the theatrical release, I quickly noticed the psychological aspect of the film, which hit theaters on June 17, 1994.

James Spader played villain Stewart Swinton, but the main subject is Michelle Pfeiffer's character, Laura Alden. Laura served as a bit of a love interest for Will, as well as the object of Will and Stewart's rivalry. We remember the climactic scene where Will and Stewart fight as werewolves, which ends in Stewart's demise while Will runs off. We then see Laura resurface, in all black attire, and with a noticeable change in demeanor while conversing with her father and a detective, whose vodka aroma was quickly noticed by Laura.

The final moments see Laura walking away, and we see that her eyes are yellow and wolf-like. That has stayed with me for years, and I'm not alone, as many have their theories as to how Laura became a werewolf. One theory is that Laura's werewolf transformation was (mostly) psychological; she had that bestial side to her, and when she wanted it to come out, there it was in those final moments. It was even stated in the film:

"Sometimes, one doesn't even need to be bitten. Only the passion of the wolf is enough."

So yeah, there's that, but there's also a more notable theory:

The popular theory was that Laura was a werewolf all along, and that she was the villainess who bit Will in the film's opening. A lot of others have disregarded that theory, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Laura, for the most part, did come across as half innocent/half femme fatale entering that reveal, and it's after Stewart's killed that Laura begins her heel turn; coming out in that black outfit and displaying quite a smarmy demeanor before walking off.

The very last moment is a close up of Laura displaying her werewolf eyes and flashing quite an evil smirk on her face. I was enraptured by that moment as a kid and I still am. I've always been annoyed by the ambiguous nature of the reveal, and by that, I really mean, "I wish we could have seen Laura actually transform." Even so, I truly believe that Laura was the werewolf who attacked Will, and she had been masking her true nature up until those final few minutes of the film, which sees Laura's heel persona displayed in beautiful fashion in the very end. If the theory is true, then Laura was quite an amazing villainess in this film; reserved, playing innocent, yet quite fierce and cunning. Michelle Pfeiffer, who was two years removed from playing Catwoman in Batman Returns, was amazing as always as Laura, and acted out Laura's heel turn perfectly in the film's final moments.

To those who saw the film, I ask: was Laura Alden the true villainess? Was Laura the actual werewolf who attacked Will in the film's beginning? Or was the twist ending just speculation, leaving us fans and viewers with only our theories and guesses as to what possibly could have occurred? Feel free to answer those questions in the comments section below, and also feel free to click the heart and the subscribe button!