6. Werewolves - The Wolf Man (1942)
Werewolves had been around cinema almost from its inception. However, it wasn't until Universal Studio's 1942 picture The Wolf Man starring long time horror favourite Lon Chaney Jnr that they became cemented in horror legend and the blueprint for the subgenre became established. The film basically expounds the werewolf legend - man gets bit by werewolf. Man becomes werewolf - appearing normal for most of the time but changing to a beast when certain phases of the moon appear. When they become these creatures they are uncontrollably violent and kill people requiring a silver bullet or some such remedy to annihilate them. Following The Wolf Man, werewolves were tremendously popular with horror film makers. I'm sure that we have all seen An American Werewolf in London, a film that mixed the terror of the genre with hearty laughs. The Howling was a popular series of Horror sequels that seemed to go on and on and of course there is the cult film Ginger Snaps - mixing teen angst with werewolves. Can you hear the howl haunting your dreams?