The 5 Best ’90s Werewolf Movies
In the 1990s, a large number of movies remixed the classic monsters of old. Vampires, werewolves and even Frankenstein’s monster all received their respective ‘glow-ups’. Whilst the obsession with vampires dominated this trend during the decade, there was still an fascination with the idea of the werewolf, albeit mostly within the medium of the written word. To give credit where it is due, here is a list of the very best ’90s werewolf movies.
Bad Moon (1996)
Ted (Michael Paré) is working in Nepal when he and his girlfriend get attacked by an unidentifiable beast. Despite being horrifically injured, Ted lives, but his love interest does not.
He moves to live close to his sister, Janet (Mariel Hemingway), and her son (Mason Gamble). In a turn of events, he finds out that his nephew’s blood has been corrupted by a werewolf! Ted is powerless to halt his change, and only Brett’s German shepherd, named Thor, recognizes that Ted is a threat to everyone around.
This underappreciated gem is divisive. Either loved or hated by those who watched, despite the fact that it received negative reviews on it’s release and being a box-office bomb. Interestingly, this movie was based on a novel called Thor written by Wayne Smith in 1992. The novel was written from the perspective of the titular German shepherd no less! A direction that the movie does not take.
Wolf (1994)
If we had to pick the most objectively best ’90s werewolf movie, it’d be Wolf. Nominated for a Grammy and many Saturn awards (winning Jim Harrison and Wesley Strick the Best Writing Award), and starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer, this flick is already promising! Touted as a romantic horror film on Wikipedia, it tells the story of exhausted and defeated veteran publisher Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) faces the lowest point in his career when a younger colleague unexpectedly takes his job.
However, after a mysterious encounter in which he is bitten by a wolf, Will experiences a dramatic transformation. He becomes revitalized, fiercely competitive, and endowed with extraordinary sensory abilities. As he navigates his new reality, the alluring daughter of his boss starts to fall for him—unaware that the man she’s falling for is slowly becoming something far more dangerous than she could imagine.
The Howling 6: The Freaks
Often regarded as one of the best sequels in The Howling franchise, Freaks tells the story of Ian Richards, a drifter who arrives in the small desert town of Canton Bluff. There, he befriends the local pastor and his daughter while working at the church.
When a traveling circus led by the mysterious R.B. Harker arrives, Ian becomes entangled in its sinister world, including a freak show of peculiar performers. As secrets from Ian’s past are revealed, he is kidnapped in order to be forced into the circus, as a freak show performer—a werewolf, of course! This is a definite one to watch!
Sleepwalkers (1992)
We promised you a list of the best ’90s werewolf movies, yet Sleepwalkers‘ main monsters are werecats, not werewolves. But c’mon, they’re practically the same thing!
Nick Rogers described Sleepwalkers as a “bloody romp about oedipally incestuous, shapeshifting, telekinetic bipedal werecats who live off virginal energy and the common housecat named Clovis who opposes them”. Another divisive gem, Sleepwalkers is at least entertaining, even if it doesn’t provide the scares one might expect.
Lycanthrope (1999)
This final addition to our list of ’90s werewolf movies is a quintessential “so bad it’s good” film. In this low-budget horror, a government agent investigates a remote Amazon outpost, where scientists have gone silent under mysterious circumstances. Accompanied by a psychiatrist, Dr. Stein, and his wife (who also happens to be the agent’s ex-lover), they discover a bloody scene and realize they’re now the ones being hunted.
The jungle scenes are completely unconvincing, as is the acting, and the dialogue… If you like campy, low-budget horror, then you might also find this entertaining.
