A Decade’s Worth of Werewolf Movies: 1980s

ladyhawkeComing back for another decade of werewolf movies, this time the 1980s.

Teen Wolf: A classic werewolf movie about Michael J. Fox’s character Scott, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual heritage when he finds himself transforming into a werewolf. Not only does Scott have to deal with high school drama, but now werewolf drama.

Teen Wolf Too: The Teen Wolf sequel about Todd Howard (Jason Bateman), the cousin of Scott Howard (the original Teen Wolf from the first movie) who gets accepted into Hamilton University on a full athletic scholarship. Todd is also a werewolf and uses his wolf powers to rock at sports. With his new found fame come girls, top grades and even the dean’s car but as the year goes on, Todd realizes that he is losing his friends and self respect.

Ladyhawke: This is a fantasy flick set in medieval times, staring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. This wolf movie is about a couple punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.

The Howling: At the time of its release this werewolf flick had incredible special effects and was quite popular. About a news anchor named Karen that is stuck dealing with a serial killer. She goes on to discover the community he came from, a community of werewolves. Ba ba buuum.

The Howling Sequels: Like many successful flicks The Howling got itself a bunch of unpopular and unconnected sequels. Instead of going on about each one I‘ll just give you the list. The sequels being… Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch (aka Your Sister is a Werewolf), Howling III: The Marsupials, Howling IV: The Original Nightmare and Howling V: The Rebirth.

Silver Bullet: Silver Bullet is a 1985 film based on the Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. About the small town of Tarker’s Mill, a place that was very peaceful, where nothing ever happened. Until one night, murders begin. The town people believe its some maniac killer on the loose and intend to hunt the man down. Marty, a young handicapped boy, believes that the killer is no man at all, but a werewolf. After a run in with the werewolf Marty and his sister, Jane hunt all over town for the man who is the werewolf.

Haunted Honeymoon: This is one of those campy comedies, cheesy  but funny. This spoof of spooky mystery stories follows radio stars Larry Abbot and his fiancée Vickie on their prenuptial visit to the castle Larry grew up in. But strange things start happening when all of Larry’s eccentric relatives compete to be next in line for the family fortune. And Larry’s already got his hands full coping with his own vast array of phobias, not to mention cold feet on the eve of his wedding. But his imagined fears are nothing compared to a very real worry, his family willing to kill.

My Mom’s A Werewolf: As the title says, about a single mother who gets turned into a werewolf after a bad date. She tries to hide it but her daughter and her daughter’s friend figure it out and tries to deal with the problem.

Full Moon High: Another cheesy 80’s comedy, this time about a teenager that becomes a werewolf after a family vacation in Transylvania.

An American Werewolf in London: This is one of the most famous werewolf movies ever. Known especially for it’s amazing special effects (amazing at the time that is). About two American students who are on a walking tour of England and are attacked by a werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on 4 feet at first, but then finds that his dead friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he find a way to die to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural death.

The Beast Within: This movie is about a woman who gets raped by a mysterious stranger, gets pregnant, has the baby and when he’s 17 discovers he isn’t all that normal. Turns out her rapist was a werewolf and the curse is genetic.

Monster Dog (aka Leviatán): This film is about Vincent Raven (Alice Cooper), a pop star who takes his band to his hometown to shoot his latest video. They are greeted by the sheriff that warn them that there have been several murders in the area where the bodies were ripped to shreds. The police think it’s a pack of wild dogs, but Vincent thinks otherwise.

The Company of Wolves: A psychologically themed retelling of Little Red Riding Hood from a Freudian and slightly feminist angle. Angela Lansbury is Grandma, who tells her granddaughter strange stories of handsome yet heavily eyebrowed strange men, spouses who disappear during the full moon, and storks and eggs.

And there you have it, the werewolf movies of the 1980’s.

– Moonlight

By moonlight

One of the writers for werewolves.com, as well as vampires.com.

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