11 Werewolf Movies That Broke All The Rules

Werewolves have long been associated with European culture and history, but that doesn't mean they can't be found in other parts of the world. Wolfen takes the werewolf mythos and reinvents the genre from its European influences, transforming it into a Native American folklore setting.

In the film, the Wolfen are an advanced species of wolf capable of exchanging souls with specific tribes of Native Americans. This makes them both animalistic and ritualistic in a way that is unique to werewolf films. The movie was the first to employ thermographic imaging, which later was used more famously in Predator.

This made it possible to see the beast's point of view, as the camera remained close to the ground — only pouncing on its intended victims by taking advantage of their gradient levels of heat. In this movie, the creatures aren't the typical werewolves seen in other films on this list; rather, they are something between humans and werewolves.

The movie's setting in New York City and the overall ecological theme of Native American tribal appropriation make what appears to be a horror/slasher film into a story far more nuanced and evocative than what it appears. Wolfen broke many rules in bringing its monsters to life, and it did it in as creative a way as possible.