C. M. Rosens

What do 21st century werewolf films look like? How do they reinvent the werewolf for a new age? Or do they? If you’re interested in comparisons with previous decades and the trajectory of the werewolf/wolf man figure in Horror Cinema from around the world, you can check out my previous posts.

In the 1910s-1940s, werewolves were either brutally savage monsters, or purely psychological – and very often the latter. As special effects and costumes became more sophisticated, the transformations were better able to appear on screen, but as we get into the 1950s-1980s, the horror-comedy aspect ran deep, and we saw more werewolf eroticism from the 1960s and 1970s.

The metaphorical aspect of the werewolf began to lean into the duality and hidden inner worlds of people, much like Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde story. It could symbolise hidden wells of violence and savagery, but it could also be a symbol of repression and queerness – which, in the 1980s especially and with the backdrop of the AIDS crisis, could be represented as a dangerous and destructive thing.

In the 1990s, we seemed to have a lot of horror-comedies alongside crime thrillers and body horror, but it also became part of the horror-romance scene. Beauty & the Beast tales for adults, and horror erotica, took a darker turn. I’m not into Film Studies or anything, but I think it’s really interesting to see how the werewolf has been adapted.

Now we get into the ’00s, we’re seeing an explosion of indie low budget/no budget films, loads more comedies in this vein, and benefitting from the love affair with gore the ’00s seemed to have. It’s also where we see more softcore porn with werewolves, which also feels to me like a ’00s thing although it started in the ’60s…

Here is a list (not comprehensive, I’m sure) of the werewolf films of the ’00s, which benefitted from the Twilight franchise, and Lupin in the Harry Potter films. Urban Fantasy books and TV shows also came out with werewolves featured heavily, like True Blood (US), Being Human (UK), and Big Wolf on Campus (Canada).

The Comprehensive Werewolf Filmography has 86 films for the ’00s, an explosion in popularity from the previous decade in film format. Let’s see how the 2000s handled the werewolf!

Films with a werewolf That are not “Werewolf” Films

• The 10th Kingdom (2000) dirs. Herbert Wise, David Carson.
• Big Fish (2003) dir. Tim Burton
• Recon 2020: The Caprini Massacre (2004) dir. Christian Viel.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) dir. Alfonso Cuarón.
• Halloweentown High (2004) dir. Mark A.Z. Dippé.
• The Brothers Grimm (2005) dir. Terry Gilliam.
• The Amazing Screw-On Head (2006) dir. Chris Prynoski.
• Totally Awesome (2006) dir. Neal Brennan.
• Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron (2007) dirs. Tad Stones, Victor Cook.
• Necroville (2007) dirs. Billy Garberina, Richard Griffin.
• Grindhouse (2007) dirs. Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino. A double-feature, so this goes under anthologies. The film with the werewolves in it is Planet Terror, but it’s not a ‘werewolf’ film.
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) dir. Andrew Adamson.
• Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King (2008) dir. Joe Sichta.
• Bloodspit (2008) dir. Duke Hendrix. Vampire horror-comedy that features werewolves.
• Les Dents de la nuit/Vampire Party (2008) dirs. Stephen Cafiero, Vincent Lobelle – vampire comedy that (apparently) includes werewolves!
• Twilight (2008) dir. Catherine Hardwicke – included here because Jacob is a werewolf, but we don’t find this out until New Moon I think? However, he’s a character in this one, and he’s a werewolf, so it goes in here.
• The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) dir. Chris Weitz.
• Thor – Hammer of the Gods (2009) dir. Todor Chapkanov.
• The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) dir. Rob Zombie. Animated comedy based on the comic book series created by Rob Zombie. Sheri Moon voices the sexy sidekick Suzi-X.
• Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009) dir. Paul Weitz.
• Transylmania (2009) dirs. David Hillenbrand, Scott Hillenbrand.

Werewolf Films for Kids/Teens

• Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000) dir. Kathi Castillo.

• Chi ha paura…? / Monster Mash (2000) dir. Guido Manuli.

• Red Riding Hood (2006) dir. Randal Kleiser.

• House of the Wolf Man (2009) dir. Eben McGarr.

Comedy Werewolf Films

• คนหอนขี้เรื้อน ในคืนเดือนเสี้ยว / Werewolf in Bangkok (2005) dir. Viroj Thongsiew. Family-friendly comedy about a man who becomes a werewolf and takes on street thugs.
• O Coronel e o Lobisomem (2005) dir. Maurício Farias. The title translates to, The Colonel and the Werewolf, although I don’t think it was released outside of Brazil and so doesn’t officially have an English title? A Brazilian comedy drama in which Colonel Furtado struggles to keep his lands, the Sobradinho Farm, and win the heart of his cousin Esmeraldina. His rival is a werewolf.
• Curse of the Wolf (2006) dir. Len Kabasinski. Action Horror-Comedy with a werewolf on the run from her pack and hiding with some nightclub bouncers in a city as the pack hunt her down.
• Big Bad Wolf (2006) dir. Lance W. Dreesen.
• Nature of the Beast (2007) dir. Rodman Flender. A made-for-TV werewolf rom-com, where an engaged couple are due to get married, but the groom has a hairy secret!
• Audie & the Wolf (2008) dir. B. Scott O’Malley. A friendly wolf turns into a bloodthirsty man every full moon and goes on a murder spree in a Hollywood mansion.
• Ski Wolf (2008) dir. Chris Seaver. Teen Wolf meets Ski School on a very small budget.
• Werewolves of Stayville (2009) dir. Alexis Ramirez

Action-Fantasy / Sci-Fi Werewolf Films

• 吸血鬼ハンターD ブラッドラスト/Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
• Underworld (2003) dir. Len Wiseman
• Underworld: Evolution (2006) dir. Len Wiseman
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) dir. Patrick Tatopoulos
• Van Helsing (2004) dir. Stephen Sommers.
• 跋扈妖怪伝 牙吉/Kibakichi (2004) dir. Tomoo Haraguchi. A werewolf samurai walks the countryside, finding himself in the middle of a village of monsters who feed on human flesh.
• 跋扈妖怪伝 牙吉 第二部/Kibabichi 2 (2004) dir. Daiji Hattori. The sequel has the werewolf samurai helping a blind girl in another village, while being spied on by nefarious characters…
• Lastikman (2003) dir. Tony Y. Reyes. Filipino superhero film featuring a father/son werewolf team. This one isn’t on the Letterboxd list.
• Lastikman: Unang Banat (2004) dir. Mac Alejandre. Same Lastikman, same werewolf team, different version. This one is on the Letterboxd list.
• ヘルシング アルティメット/Hellsing Ultimate (2006) dirs. Hideki Tonokatsu, Takashi Kobayashi, Toshiaki Kanbara, Yukio Okazaki, Tadao Okubo, Masaya Sasaki, Hideaki Ōba, Hiroyuki Oshima. Anime with Alucard, Hellsing, and a new threat to the British Empire… werewolves.
• Lycan Colony (2006) dir. Rob Roy. Siblings move to a town where there are good and evil werewolves!
• Wolvesbayne (2009) dir. Griff Furst
• Werewolves: The Dark Survivors (2009) dir. Edward Bazalgette

Coming-of-Age/Feminist Metaphors

• Ginger Snaps (2000) dir. John Fawcett. Canadian classic that moves periods and puberty away from vampires and into a more aggressive, painful, and primal transformation. This is the first one of a loose trilogy, but I’m not sure whether the other 2 are trying to do/say the same sort of things. I’ll include them all here, though, to keep them all together.
• Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed (2004) dir. Brett Sullivan
• Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004) dir. Grant Harvey.
• Wolf Girl (2001) dir. Thom Fitzgerald. Romanian-Canadian collab that was made for TV and stars Tim Curry. Coming-of-age teen drama with some romance.

Anthologies

• Blood of the Werewolf (2001) dirs. Joe Bagnardi, Bruce G. Hallenbeck, Kevin J. Lindenmuth – a no budget werewolf anthology consisting of 3 segments by 3 different directors. You may recognise the last director listed, Kevin J. Lindenmuth, from Twisted Tales and Rage of the Werewolf. You will be encountering him again.
• Exhumed (2003) dir. Brian Clement. Features a werewolf in one of the segments.
• Evil Deeds (2004) dirs. Bailee Arnett, Isaak Partlow, Matt Spease. Three directors, five tales of terror. Features a werewolf in one of the segments.
• I 3 volti del terrore/The 3 Faces of Terror (2004) dir. Sergio Stivaletti. Anthology with a wraparound segment, in which a hypnotist claims he can see the past of 3 passengers on a train with him. The first segment is a werewolf curse.
• The Tenement (2004) dir. Glen Baisley. I really love the concept for this anthology although I haven’t seen it, so can’t comment on its execution. The anthology tells the stories of people in a tenement building which changes the people who live there. There is a werewolf segment.
• Fright Club (2006) dir. Daniel Wai Chiu, Antonio Olivas, Attika Torrence. To gain access to an exclusive club, three friends must tell the hostess their scariest story. Werewolves are in one of the segments.
• Trick ‘r Treat (2007) dir. Michael Dougherty. This is one I’ve seen, and I liked this one I think – I don’t recall much about it, but there’s a werewolf in one of the segments.
• Dead Teenagers (2007) dir. Chris LaMartina. Anthology film where a college student finds a mysterious book in his library full of gruesome tales. There is a werewolf segment.

Crime Drama/Mystery/Thriller Werewolf Films

• Le Pacte des loups/Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) dir. Christophe Gans. Some problematic stuff in here in the stereotypical depiction of Native Americans, which is worth acknowledging. Also, some really good cinematography and an intriguing conspiracy plot.
• Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt (2004) dir. Paco Plaza. It feels weird classing a 1970s set film as ‘historical’, but that was now 50 years ago, so it counts. This is based on Spain’s first identified serial killer, dubbed the Werewolf of Allariz.
• The Beast of Bray Road (2005) dir. Leigh Scott. Based on actual accounts of alleged werewolf sightings in Wisconsin.
• Lycanthropy (2006) dir. Kevin McDonagh.

Erotic/Romantic Werewolf Films

• An Erotic Werewolf in London (2006) dir. William Hellfire. It’s Horror, it’s werewolves, it’s lesbian porn directed by the softcore SOV guy whose controversial Columbine film, Duck! The Carbine High Massacre (1999), got him and his co-director, Joey Smack, sent to prison.
• Werewolf in a Women’s Prison (2006) dir. Jeff Leroy. Slides into lesbian softcore, again very male-gazey.
• Blood and Chocolate (2007) dir. Katja von Garnier. A werewolf romance where a girl has to choose between protecting her family’s secret, and her love for a human man. Directed by a woman and based on the book by Annette Curtis Klause.
• Dark Moon Rising (2009) dir. Dana Mennie. Small-town girl meets mysterious drifter boy, they fall in love. Only in this case, the boy brings with him a family curse and unimaginable horror that rains hell upon the small town.

Horror Werewolf Films

• Dog Soldiers (2002) dir. Neil Marshall. My favourite werewolf movie alongside Howl (2015) which we’ll meet in the post for the 2010s.
• Wolves of Wall Street (2002) dir. David DeCoteau. I love this concept: the wolf as a symbol of rapacious greed is used to turn ruthless stockbrokers into literal monsters.
• The Feral Man (2002) dir. Brett Kelly.
• Dark Wolf (2003) dir. Richard Friedman.
• Tomb of the Werewolf (2004) dir. Fred Olen Ray. Did you think we had left the Waldemar Daninsky films behind? You were very mistaken!
• Cursed (2005) dir. Wes Craven. Christina Ricci stars in this one, in which a werewolf mauls some young people in LA, and they discover the only way to break the curse on them is to kill the one who started it.
• Light of Blood (2005) dir. Gustavo Perez. Cuban soldiers are injected with a serum to help them take over the USA… but it goes a bit wrong. A no-budget, and now rare, indie film.
• Skinwalker: Curse of the Shaman (2005) dir. Steve Stevens Jr.
• Um Lobisomem na Amazônia / A Werewolf in the Amazon (2005) dir. Ivan Cardoso. Part of the Dr Moreau film universe.
• Mexican Werewolf in Texas (2005) dir. Scott Maginnis. One of the ‘they ain’t sending their best’ school of horror on the US-Mexican border.
• Wild Country (2005) dir. Craig Strachan. A UK werewolf offering starring Peter Capaldi. I think this counts as Scottish Horror, if you’re after more of that!
• Creature of the Night (2006) dir. Diana Curry. This sounds like it should be a comedy – a rock star is a werewolf, but that’s the least of his problems. It’s directed by a woman, and that’s pretty rare for werewolf films. Even Ginger Snaps wasn’t directed by a woman, but a woman did write the script.
• Horrors of War (2006) dirs. Peter John Ross, John Whitney. A WWII werewolf film: Allies vs Nazi Werewolves.
• The Feeding (2006) dir. Paul Moore. Appalachian werewolf horror.
• Skinwalkers (2006) dir. James Isaac.
• Bloodz vs. Wolvez (2006) dir. John Bacchus. Supernatural gang warfare film, where the Bloodz are vampires and the Wolvez are werewolves.
• Werewolf: The Devil’s Hound (2007) dirs. Gregory C. Parker, Christian Pindar. No budget indie film, in which a werewolf escapes containment and sinks her fangs into a man she wants to start a family with, leaving him with an uncontrollable desire to kill.
• Hybrid (2007) dir. Yelena Lanskaya. Another rare werewolf film by a female director. I may do a round-up post of just these! After an accident causes him to lose his sight, Aaron Scates finds himself in a fight for survival. He must learn to embrace his inner animal or become another failed experiment.
• Never Cry Werewolf (2008) dir. Brenton Spencer. Nina Dobrev and Kevin Sorbo star in the werewolf version of Fright Night, where the plot follows this to the letter except with Nina Dobrev in the role of the suspicious neighbour, and Kevin Sorbo as the TV personality she enlists to help her defeat said neighbour when he turns out to be a va– I mean, a werewolf.
• Animals (2008) dir. Douglas Aarniokoski.
• War Wolves (2009) dir. Michael Worth. Soldiers get turned into werewolves, but the she-wolves are evil and the he-wolves are good. This feels very ‘restoring the natural order of man’s dominion over woman’ in tone to me, especially as it’s a US-made film.
• Zombie Werewolves Attack! (2009) dir. Chris Green.
• Werewolf Fever (2009) dir. Brian Singleton.
• Dire Wolf (2009) dir. Fred Olen Ray.

Previous Werewolf Posts

01: Werewolf films 1910-1949
02: Werewolf films 1950-1959
03: Werewolf films 1960-1969
04: Werewolf films 1970-1979 (Part 1) – Monster Mash/Fantasy Horror films
05: Werewolf films 1970-1979 (Part 2) – Crime/Thriller Horror films & Exploitation
06: Werewolf films 1970-1979 (Part 3) – Horror Comedy & Folklore and Religion
07: Werewolf films 1980-1989
08: Werewolf films 1990-1999