20 GREAT Monster Movies NOBODY Talks About

7. Werewolf Of London

While slasher movies can almost always trace their roots back to Halloween (1978), with Night of the Living Dead (1968) playing the same role for all things zombies, the widely regarded cinematic origin for werewolves is The Wolf Man from 1941.

This may be the one that everyone remembers, but it was actually beaten by six years. The true first showing of a werewolf came in Werewolf of London in 1935, directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull in the titular role. 

This was the real birth of the genre, and it laid the foundation for many of the recognisable staples of such movies in the modern age, including the monster's ties to the full moon and the curse being triggered by a bite. It is a solid film that walked so many others in the future could run, though admittedly it fell down in arguably the most important aspect.

There isn't too much to separate Werewolf of London from The Wolf Man, though the design of the creature at the centre of things is one of them. The former was rather understated, almost as much man as beast, while the latter, six years later, went all in and is arguably the main reason why it is remembered more, even in spite of Werewolf of London's own merit.