There are many classic monsters in horror, but there’s no denying what the big two are: vampires and werewolves. Both have a great deal of history and are easily recognizable in pop culture, especially thanks to countless movies.
However, with such a popular monster, it can be tricky to tell new stories featuring old monsters that still feel fresh. This is especially true of werewolves. With vampires, there is an incredibly large variety of depictions, ranging from the charming to the grotesque to the sparkly. With werewolves, while there is some variation, particularly in how the beasts are presented, it’s not nearly to the same extent.
The 20th century gave us many great werewolf movies. In particular, the ‘80s gave us two of the very best: An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Were there many stories left to tell with these classic monsters, though? Especially when the 21st century came along? Surprisingly, that question was answered when the new millennium had barely begun.
Fresh takes
Premiering at the Munich Fantasy Filmfest in August 2000, Ginger Snaps immediately stood out. For one thing, instead of your usual male lead trying to fight the monster within, the werewolf was a teenage girl. Another way Ginger Snaps stood out was how it used Ginger's gradual transformation as a metaphor for puberty and the high school experience. While Ginger Snaps wasn’t a massive success at the box office, it became a cult favorite that led to both a sequel and a prequel, and still stands out as a great example of the genre.
Another fresh take on werewolves was released not long after with the 2002 movie Dog Soldiers. Directed by Neil Marshall (who would later direct the classic horror movie The Descent), Dog Soldiers gave us a more actionized take on the werewolf story, with several soldiers fighting off many lycanthropes during one bad night. It still worked well enough as a horror, but a horror that mixed some thrills and even some laughs with its chills. Even years later, Dog Soldiers is an undeniably fun watch.
Cursed post-production
Ginger Snaps and Dog Soldiers together created an extremely high standard for werewolf movies so early in the ‘00s. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that, for a while, at least, very few films matched that standard.
For example, the 2005 movie Cursed, despite featuring the incredible talents of both screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven, failed to make an impact. However, the film’s lack of success was likely due to heavy studio interference rather than the Scream team. (A tip for film studios: trying to change an R-rated horror into something more family-friendly never ends well, not just critically, but financially, too.)
Another take on not just werewolves but also vampires was Underworld. A film series that focused on the constant war between the two monster races, the Underworld movies have never been the most popular with critics. However, its mix of monster lore with Matrix-inspired visuals helped ensure it gained a strong fanbase.
Universal revivals
Just a year after the first Underworld movie was released, Universal Pictures released Van Helsing. Along with Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and Mr. Hyde, the film naturally included werewolves, as well. Van Helsing had a cool enough concept that ensured it was successful at the box office. But as a tribute to classic Universal Monster movies, it was disappointing, even soulless.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the last time that Universal Pictures went back to its monster movie roots. In 2010, perhaps in response to werewolves’ more romanticised depiction in Twilight, Universal gave us a more traditional depiction with the first Wolfman remake. The new take was a flop at the box office, but thanks to Benicio Del Toro’s performance, a strong sense of atmosphere, and of course, Rick Baker’s excellent make-up, the film is definitely a notable entry for werewolf movie fans.
Eventually, Universal made another remake that was extremely different from the last. Back in January, they released Wolf Man by Leigh Whannell. Expectations were high for this one, especially after how successful Whannell’s distinctive take on The Invisible Man was back in 2020.
Unfortunately, Wolf Man proved to be much less successful, receiving less than $35 million worldwide and a Rotten Tomatoes score of just under 50%. Having recently watched the film, it may not be one of the best werewolf movies, but is easy to recommend if you’re a fan of the genre, even with a surprisingly low-key transformation that’s much more “man” than “wolf”, at least compared to previous depictions.
Other inspirations
Going beyond the Wolf Man movies, there have been several notable werewolf films released in the past few years. Last year’s Werewolves depicted a massive werewolf attack during one bad night. The film wasn’t well received, but it’s nice to see a werewolf movie trying to do something different, taking inspiration from something like The Purge and adding werewolves into the mix.
Speaking of inspiration, what really stands out about werewolf movies in the 21st century is how several are based not on books, but on other forms of media. For example, 2021 saw the release of Werewolves Within, a surprisingly good movie based on a VR video game. Just a year later, Marvel Studios released Werewolf by Night on Disney+, naturally based on the comic book series of the same name.
Overall, we’ve seen so many depictions of these monsters over the past 25 years. We’ve seen many movies that have aimed to push the monster into the 21st century, some more successful than others. But we’ve also seen more traditional takes on the werewolf story, as well. One thing is clear: even after countless iterations, the werewolf is a legend that’s continued to endure, and that will likely continue for a long time to come.