It’s Werewolf Movie Night At The Virtual Drive-In Movie Theatre!
When you think of werewolf movies, most moviegoers probably think of the golden standards.
American Werewolf In London, has a great sense of comic timing and it is like the film school for werewolf transformation special effects.
The original Wolf Man, he wants to be a man but he has a run of really awful luck and an overwhelming urge to go feral.
And then there’s a four way tie for 3rd between Silver Bullet, The Howling, The Company Of Wolves, and Wolfen.
Silver Bullet goes beyond the genre and is about a disabled teen and his big sister duking it out with a werewolf preacher; this one is a Stephen King story. It is one of Corey Haim’s best movies. And Gary Busey “slays it” as Uncle Red.
The original Howling, a werewolf movie adaptation of a horror novel that birthed a hell of a franchise.
The Company Of Wolves, also based on a horror story, but this is kind of a dark detour from your typical Red Riding Hood fare.
Wolfen is about a city detective trying to solve a series of murders that may or may not be linked to a werewolf. The cast is a great line up: Albert Finney, Tom Noonan, Gergory Hines, and Edward James Olmos.
Putting all those aside you can arrive at some entertaining and odd entries in a sub-genre of cinema and branch of horror movies that is severely under-rated and not well populated. Choices are sparse. Google it. Seems like less than a 100 titles.
Recently, our crew at Binge-Watchers Podcast got into a deep debate over tonight’s movie.
What’s showing at the Virtual Drive-In? Tonight's movie is Project Metalbeast. A shadow branch of the US government wants to win the Cold War by engineering werewolf soldiers. They infiltrate a retired werewolf’s castle and instead of taking the werewolf into custody, they kill it, and take its blood. Then, Agent Sitcom played by Barry Bostwick decides to add cybernetic skin to his werewolf test subject because why wouldn’t you want your werewolf (Kane Hodder) to be impervious to silver bullets thus rendering it invincible to the only known way to stop a werewolf.
Bad Moon (1996)
Ted (Michael Paré) is working in Nepal when he and his girlfriend are attacked by a mysterious creature. Ted, though brutally maimed, survives, but his girlfriend is not so lucky. To help his recovery, Ted moves close to his sister, Janet (Mariel Hemingway), and her son, Brett (Mason Gamble), but soon realizes he was attacked by a werewolf. Ted is helpless to stop his transformation and only Brett's German shepherd, Thor, is able to see that Ted is a danger to everyone around him.
Dog Soldiers (2002)
During a routine nighttime training mission in the Scottish Highlands, a small squad of British soldiers expected to rendezvous with a special ops unit instead find a bloody massacre with a sole survivor. The savage attackers of the special ops team return, and the men are rescued by Megan (Emma Cleasby), a zoologist who identifies what hunts them as werewolves. Without transport or communications, the group is forced to retreat to a farmhouse to wait for the full moon to disappear at dawn.
The Wolfman (2010)
Though absent from his ancestral home of Blackmoor for many years, aristocrat Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) returns to find his missing brother at the request of the latter's fiancee, Gwen (Emily Blunt). He learns that a creature has links to an ancient curse turning people into werewolves when the moon is full. To save the village and protect Gwen, he must slay the bloodthirsty beast, but he contends with a horrifying family legacy.
Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
Interwoven stories demonstrate that some traditions are best not forgotten as the residents (Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker) of a small town face real ghosts and goblins on Halloween. Tales of terror reveal the consequences of extinguishing a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight and a grumpy hermit's encounter with a sinister trick-or-treater.
Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)
A villainous carnival owner traps a young werewolf to include in his growing menagerie of inhuman exhibits.
Ginger Snaps 2 (2004)
Bereaved Brigitte relies on a drug to keep her lycanthropy at bay. Mistaken for an addict, she is forced into a rehab clinic for teen girls. Once there she must go to extremes to guarantee her supply continues. Making the situation even more grave is the fact another werewolf is on her trail.
Binge Now, Binge Later, Or Binge Never…
We like to play a game called Binge Now, Binge Later, or Binge Never. This is how we rate movies we like or dislike.
Binge Bad Moon now and Binge Metalbeast later.
Binge Dog Soldiers now and never binge Metalbeast.
Watch The Wolf Man remake over Metalbeast, according to one Binge-Watcher.
Binge Metalbeast over Ginger Snaps 2.
With few exceptions, Metalbeast falls into a Binge Later or Binge Never werewolf movie title.
If you want a horror anthology movie that includes werewolves, skip Metalbeast and watch Trick ‘r Treat.
One of us has a soft spot for one of The Howling’s sequels, he would love to watch The Howling VI: The Freaks over Project Metalbeast.
One of us really enjoyed Metalbeast for its solution to their nearly invincible werewolf problem, but most of the team here hated it. Well, hate might be a strong word, you can listen to the whole debate and decide for yourself.
Look we know the action horror series Underworld exists, so chill out. It is just not that fascinating specifically to werewolves. Besides, most of their werewolves are really just rabid, juiced up ‘roided CGI monstrosities.
Amazon Prime has an interesting offering in Howl, which is like werewolves on a train instead of zombies. ( Train to Busan )
Also, there is WolfCop and Wolf. One is a parody with a cop that is a werewolf. The other is essentially, The Wolf Man with Jack Nicholson.
We also have a soft spot for Teen Wolf, but we consider that more of a coming-of-age story than a werewolf entry. The werewolf is not the focus, but a metaphor for puberty.
We hope you enjoyed your night at the drive-in and will have a hell of a time with some of these werewolf offerings.
- Listen to us discuss werewolf movies -
Top 3 werewolves in supporting casts:
Jon Gries as The Wolf Man in The Monster Squad
Jon Gries as The Werewolf in Fright Night 2 (1988)
James Hampton as Harold Howard in Teen Wolf