25 Best Werewolf Movies Ever Made

Guy Brandner's 1977 novel The Howling is a serious horror story about a woman who moves to a remote community after an assault and rape leaves her traumatised, only to find her quiet rural escape disturbed by the sound of howling wolves. Of course it turns out that everyone in the town is really a werewolf. In 1981 Piranha director Joe Dante took the basics of this premise and turned it into a playfully self-aware creature feature.

What we are left with is an offbeat horror about a news reporter suffering amnesia after her traumatic ordeal and sent to recuperate at "The Colony", a remote countryside retreat that appears creepy from the off.

Despite its hip, in-jokey tone and endless references to earlier wolf movies and genre classics in general, The Howling has still enough semi-seriousness to work as a horror. In particular, the creature effects were groundbreaking and still hold up as fine examples of what can be achieved with practical effects work that mixes stop motion, puppetry, and makeup and prosthetics. The key scene in any good werewolf movie - the transformation into the wolf - remains a classic example of its type.

After seven sequels of pretty disappointing quality, The Howling franchise is due a shot in the arm with a recently announced Netflix remake from IT director Andy Muschietti. Let's hope it's a return to form.