Hello and welcome to yet another doze of shapeshifting extravaganza.
How would it be possible for me to start posting reviews straight away without even giving the readers a clue as to actually what they are dealing with? Some people might think that the phenomenon of werewolves spooking us out in the cinemas is an invention of the last decade or so, because that is what is popular right now. They couldn't be more wrong in thinking that.
Werewolves and their lore have been with us practically from the beginning of the human race. Every culture around the world had beliefs about people being able to shapeshift into animals and sometimes these cultures would testify to those beliefs by painting scenes of men changing shapes on the walls of their sacred caves. From people changing into leopards and hyenas, through bears, seals, foxes to wolves, shapeshifting lore has always been a part of our consciousness. Stories passed down from generation to generation still linger within the modern, civilised us and enrich our culture. That is why the creation of cinematic movies about werewolves was inevitable and could be in my opinion compared to ancient cave paintings. Because in the end they both serve roughly the same purpose of fulfilling our inner desire to convey our visions of the matter to others.
And of course to scare them, boast about the special effects and draw as many people to the theatres as possible. However it cannot be denied that most of these productions, if not all, try to tell us a story, however bad it might be. This is just one of the aspects I will be focusing on while writing my reviews. In the meantime, while I prepare my first review, here's the timeline of werewolf cinema.
THE WEREWOLF CINEMATIC TIMELINE, from 1913 to present
1913
The Werewolf
1915
The Wolfman
1923
Le Loup Garou
1924
The Wolfman
1925
Wolf Blood
1932
The Werewolf
1935
The Werewolf of London
1941
The Wolfman
1942
The Undying Monster
The Mad Monster
Terror House
1943
Le Loup des Malveneur
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman
1944
The Return of the Vampire
Idle Roomers
House of Frankenstein
Cry of the Werewolf
1945
House of Dracula
1946
She-Wolf of London
1948
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
1956
The Werewolf
1957
El Castillo de los Monstruos
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
The Daughter of Dr Jekyll
1958
How to Make a Monster
Tales of Frankenstein / The Professor
El Hombre y el Monstruo
1959
La Casa del Terror
1961
The Curse of the Werewolf
Santo Contra las Mujeres Vampiros
Frankenstein, el Vampiro y Cia
1962
Lycanthropus
1963
Beauty and the Beast
1964
La Loba
1965
Dr Terror's House of Horrors
Mad Monster Party
Orgy of the Dead
1967
Dr Terror's Gallery of Horrors
La Marca del Hombre Lobo
1968
El Bosque del Lobo
Las Noches del Hombre Lobo
1969
Blood of Dracula's Castle
El Hombre que Vino de Ummo
1970
Nympho Werewolf
1971
La Noche de Walpurgis
Beast of the Yellow Night
Dr Jekyll and the Werewolf
Fury of the Wolfman
O Homem Lobo
Santy y el Blue Demon Contra Dracula y el Hombre Lobo
The Unexplained: Witches, Werewolves and Vampires
Werewolves On Wheels
1972
Dracula Contro Frankenstein
Moon of the Wolf
The Rats Are Coming
1973
Chabelo y Pepito Contra Los Monstruos
El Retorno de Walpurgis
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf
The Werewolf of Washington
1974
Blood
The Beast Must Die
Deathhead Virgin
Legend of the Werewolf
Scream of the Wolf
1975
Night of the Howling Beast
Werewolf of Woodstock
La Maldición de la Bestia
1976
La Lupa Mannara
1978
Death Moon
1979
Wolfman
O Coronel e o Lobisomem
1980
El retorno del Hombre Lobo
1981
An American Werewolf in London
Wolfen
The Howling
1982
Full Moon High
1983
Demon Hunter
Frankenstein Island
Wilczyca
La Bestia y el Espada Magica
1984
Children of the Full Moon
Hard Rock Zombies
Monster Dog
The Company of Wolves
1985
Scooby Doo: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf
Adventures of the Two-Minute Werewolf
Ladyhawke
Silver Bullet
The Howling II: Stirba, the Werewolf Bitch / Your Sister Is a Werewolf
Teen Wolf
Transylvania 6-5000
1986
Dead Time Stories
1987
She Wolf
The Monster Squad
The Howling III: The Marsupials
Werewolf
Teen Wolf 2
La Croce Dalle Sette Pietre
1988
Underground Werewolf
The Adventures of the Queerwolf
Deadly Dreams
The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare
Lone Wolf
Waxwork
Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf
1989
My Mom's a Werewolf
The Howling V: The Rebirth
Night Shadow
1990
Mom
Meridian: Kiss of the Beast
1991
Wolfman: A Cinematic Scrapbook
The Howling VI: Freaks
1994
Conrad Brooks vs. the Werewolf
The Wolf
Twisted Tales
Full Eclipse
Mad At the Moon
1995
Huntress - Spirit of the Night
Rammstein: Du Riechst So Gut
Project Metalbeast
The Howling VII: New Moon Rising
1996
Wilderness
Werewolf: Rest In Beast
Licantropo: El Asesina de la Luna Llena
Bad Moon
1997
Mortal Kombat Annihilation
House of Frankenstein
The Werewolf of Fever Swamp
An American Werewolf in Paris
The X Files: Shapes
The Creeps
Tale of an Urban Werewolf
Backstreet Boy's: Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
1998
Werewolf Reborn
Sieben Monde
Blue Moon
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Phases
1999
Plenilunio
Rage of the Werewolf
Eyes of the Werewolf
The X Files: Alpha
2000
Ginger Snaps
2001
Le Pacte des Loups
Blood fo the Werewolf
2002
Dog Soldiers
2003
Werewolf Tales
Underworld
Dark Wolf
The Werewolf Cult Chronicles, Part I: Chimera
Big Fish
2004
Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Van Helsing
Wolf's Rain
Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed
Ginger Snaps 3: The Beginning
2005
Hoodwinked! The True Story of Red Riding Hood
The Brothers Grimm
Cursed
Werewolf Cult Chronicles, Part II: Vietnam 1969 (?)
2006
Skinwalkers
The Feeding
The Munsters
Lycanthropy
Freeborn (?)
Blood and Chocolate
Full Moon Fever
Underworld: Evolution
2007
Underworld III: Rise of the Lycans
Werewolf by Night
Death Walks the Streets
Dog Soldiers 2: Fresh Meat (?)
2008
Twilight
2009
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
2010
The Wolfman
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
As you probably have noticed, the above list doesn't only include full-time productions focused only on werewolves. It also shows movies where lycanthropes have appeared, but the movies aren't necessarily all about them, that's why they will most probably not be subject to my reviews, but it's good to note that they existed.
If anyone of you dear guests has information about any werewolf movie, videoclip or series, feel free to add your comments! Having said that, I leave you with the long list of what's to come and am off to start preparing the first review. See ya then!
