I asked AI to list the top 10 werewolf movies of all time. Since I’m from the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” I can afford to sacrifice the water.
But here’s the Shyamalongduckdong twist…
I don’t care to discuss the movies (or whether they deserve to be on the list or not). Rather, I want to rank werewolf designs! Here is the list AI spit out:
Wolf, Wolfen, Late Phases, The Company of Wolves, Silver Bullet, The Howling, Dog Soldiers, Ginger Snaps, The Wolf Man and An American Werewolf in London
I’m going to swap Wolfen out and replace it with Bad Moon. The reason being that Wolfen uses regular wolves. No makeup involved. Not even lipstick.
(Somewhere a Furry is breathing a little too hard right now. Let’s toss a stick out the door, tell them to go “fetch” and lock said door before they can get back inside…)
I’m not sure which werewolf design below best represents the creatures I had in mind with my WWII werewolves book DogSS of War. Mine were created from black magic jackal skins rather than the biting method. It looks like Eggers is maybe doing the same thing in Werwulf. Cursed skins was the common folklore method before the movie rules happened. I guess my werewolves (I called them dogmen) looked like a Howling werewolf but with short black hair.
Regardless, since I wrote a book on the subject, that makes me an authoritative expert. By extension, that makes this a definitive list of werewolf designs that can be held up as a standard to the end of the time.
This article will probably end up in the Lourve.
Or is that the Loo…?
Wolf #10
Here the great Rick Baker references the Lon Chaney look that started it all. Frankly, Baker does not reference it enough. The werewolf is Jack Nicholson with a hairpiece, contact lens and Spirit Halloween fangs.
We can’t blame Baker, however. Director Mike Nichols isn’t known for his horror sensibilities. He directed The Birdcage for goodness’ sake. Plus, Baker did much better revisiting this concept with The Wolfman (2010).
Wolf clearly tried to be a realistic take on the genre. Dumping the werewolf curse into the cutthroat world of New York Publishing is an interesting choice. It’s not a satisfying choice. The movie only starts to generate some momentum when James Spader joins the party for some werewolf vs. werewolf action, hearkening back to The Werewolf of London.
The Company of Wolves #9
This is certainly an interesting look. To be fair, this is not the only werewolf design in the film, but it is the least traditional of the other examples. Here we got a Victorian lady wolfing out, and director Neil Jordan decided on the alopecia look.
Neil Jordan is another director that is maybe not ideal for a werewolf movie, although he did do Interview with the Vampire. And even now, the song The Crying Game by Boy George plays in everyone’s heads…
Christopher Tucker did the werewolf makeup for The Company of Wolves. He became famous for his work on The Elephant Man. Despite the questionable design above, no one can deny that Tucker’s idea to have wolves burst out of human skins and mouths broke the mold when it came to werewolf transformations.
Late Phases #8
This one is unique to say the least. Looking at it does not give the impression of a wolf. It is more like a reptilian bat.
The great Robert Kurtzman designed this one. Kurtzman is the “K” of KNB EFX (Greg Nictero being the “N”). He worked on everything from Predator to Doctor Sleep.
Kurtzman clearly tried to be original here, and he succeeded. This monster would work much better in a creature feature that was not a werewolf movie.
This is not the only face that shocked me in Late Phases. I knew Lance Guest was in the film, watched the whole thing and thought, “Where was Lance Guest?”
Lo and behold, Guest was right in front of my face the whole time. He had aged so much from The Last Starfighter that I did not recognize him at first. This is why I never need to see a sequel to The Last Starfighter. They will make Alex and Maggie old failures. I prefer to imagine Alex and Maggie out there among the stars, forever young.
An American Werewolf in London #7
This may come as a shock to people. Great film and transformation scene, certainly. Great werewolf, as well, but I’m not that keen on it within the scope of this article.
This is another Rick Baker design. The quadruped decision was probably original at the time. That’s a plus, no doubt, but it moves like a wheelbarrow.
Plus, I don’t like how the creature has a single expression. Baker deliberately sculpted it with an extreme expression because he was under the impression it would not be shown much onscreen. Then Landis used the puppet more than expected.
So, blame Landis for this ranking. He will probably find a way to shirk the blame, though…
Dog Soldiers #6
Alopecia is another feature of this one. Dog Soldiers werewolves are basically NBA players with a wolf head plopped on their shoulders. It is effective within the story. The look also brings lions to mind because of the mane.
One guesses the naked bodies are due to low-budget constraints. It is easier to make a hairless body suit than a hairy body suit. There’s no denying it works well in silhouette, but when one can study the image, the limitations become clearer.
Nevertheless, Dog Soldiers landed well with audiences. It certainly caused Neil Marshall to blow up briefly. Bob Keen created the werewolves. He worked on Hellraiser, Candyman, Lifeforce and Nightbreed, so he knew his way around horror films.
Bad Moon #5
One can tell this is a 90s design because it is juiced up. Movies began to trend toward bigger is better in this era.
Bad Moon is more solid than it has any right to be. Making the story be about a German Shepherd vs. a werewolf gives it a fresh angle. Michael Pare gives a good performance. Unfortunately, Mariel Hemingway is in full on paycheck mode.
The werewolf genuinely looks like it could mess a person up. It has a bear-like quality. Plus, the white fur is a nice touch not really used since Curse of the Werewolf.
Steve Johnson designed the suit. He is the makeup artist often forgotten about behind Baker, Bottin and KNB, but he built an impressive list of credits himself, working with the likes of Arnold (Eraser) and Spielberg (War of the Worlds). He also developed contact lenses that could glow and change color on command for Innocent Blood.
Speaking of bulky werewolves, honorable mention to Metal Beast, pictured below. Terrible movie, but interesting creature played by Kane Hodder. It’s a porcupine werewolf on steroids.
The Howling #4
Here Rob Bottin jumps into the mix. His Howling werewolves are fantastic. The only thing that holds them back is being a bit rat-like in the face. Plus, their hair is in desperate need of conditioner. Otherwise, they strike the perfect balance between lithe and strong.
Little more needs to be said. We will leave The Howling vs. An American Werewolf in London debate alone…
By the way, the werewolf in the featured image of this article is from The Howling IV. That film also works better than it should, considering it is a five-deep sequel and had the budget of an LMO Christmas party. It is Agatha Christie combined with werewolves, a companion piece to The Beast Must Die, if you will.
The werewolf suit is cool, but it is used for only about 30 seconds. No idea why they decided to not use a perfectly serviceable werewolf suit…
Ginger Snaps #3
Alopecia again. Nevertheless, for my money this is an improvement on Baker’s quadruped design because it has expressions. Its full form is also well-realized. Plus, the fact it is built around feminine qualities gives it a unique structure.
Paul Jones designed the Ginger Snaps werewolf. He began his career with films like Highlander II and still works today on movies like Black Phone 2 and The Boys.
The only other female werewolf that comes to mind is the one from Cursed, which was cursed during production. Despite it being a Wes Craven film, the studio interference was epic and resulted in two different movies being made. One lucky critic actually got to see the original version, but it does not look like regular folk will ever be that blessed.
The werewolves in Cursed were designed by Baker, who also had to change things up for the studio. Too bad. Baker did nice work on the film. Some of his original designs can still be found online.
The Wolf Man #2
This is a simple design, but it is the idea from which everything else sprouted. It looks frumpy in a vacuum but when combined with the right lighting and black-and-white photography, there is no denying it is iconic. One can bet dollars to donuts it was a big inspiration for every makeup artist mentioned in this article.
Jack Pierce is the man behind the molds. Pierce developed a lot of classic monster makeup: The Man Who Laughs, Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy. The last work Pierce did was on the Mister Ed television series.
Silver Bullet #1
Absolutely terrifying. The shaggy hair. That gaping mouth. Those meaty jowls. Those wide, hungry eyes that burn with nothing but insatiable hunger… Honestly, can you think of a scarier design than this!?
