Ten Werewolves to Howl Over

When men and wolves come together there is an undeniable allure. The strength and savage grace of the wolf coupled with human intelligence and emotion enthrall as well as terrify their mortal audiences. Werewolves claim a long and lusty history in the world's mythology dating back even before the medieval period but lycanthropes have, arguably, never populated our nightmares as much as they have in the past half century. Modern day wolf-men range from the extremely bloodthirsty to the entirely sympathetic, from the tortured reluctants to enamored embracers of the lupine lifestyle, and from the horribly grotesque creatures to sexy, hairy beasts guaranteed to make your pulse race. So come this Halloween, or the next full moon, get to know the top 10 most appealing silver bullet dodgers around.

10. Meet Stephen King's "Wolf" from the novel The Talisman. Okay, not the most inventive of names but Wolf remains one of King's most engaging, fully realized and oddly enough "humane" monster characters. Wolf becomes the faithful companion of the hero of the story, Jack Sawyer. This wonderful werewolf is a fun-loving 16 year old, a little on the slow side but capable of great insight via his canine instincts. He is as compelling as the family dog and worth a shed tear or two ala "old yeller", but don't mistake this beast for being entirely docile, he has the ability to lose control and get right savage at times. If you are looking for more King werewolves, check out another of his gory works: Silver Bullet.

9. 1981 was the year for werewolf movies (check out # 2 for more on this famous year of the Lupine) including on the strangest erotically charged films ever made in the genre called "The Howling". This is the story of a colony of werewolves, a group of both men and women who can shapeshift into wolf form whenever they want including during some spicy sex scenes. While this movie is no Oscar contender, it is a quite intriguing gruesome yet tongue-in-cheek society tale gone all the way anti-social.

8. Take a step back to the kinder, gentler full moon era of the 1950's where you can commiserate with the most tortured teenager of all-Michael Landon of the much lampooned but oddly effective motion 1957 picture I Was a Teenage Werewolf. So much fun here. Landon is gorgeous in his extreme youth as a rebel with a cause AND a curse. Landon portrays the character Tony Rivers, an adolescent with too much on his mind who seeks help from a medical professional. Wrong choice, boy, as Dr. Bissell obviously needs a little psychiatric assistance himself as he seeks to cure River's teenage angst through regressive therapy. That's when the real fun begins! Rivers gets all hairy, takes out a future Olympian practicing her flips and then goes back to the good doctor for more "help". You can guess how bad a choice that was.

7. Michael J. Fox is known for his appealing comic characters such as Family Ties' Alex P. Keaton and Mike Flaherty on Spin City but many may have forgotten his mock- horror turn as the lead character in the family friendly flick Teen Wolf. This 1985 role gave Fox the chance to play a character inspired by Landon's werewolf but without the darkness attached. Though not completely happy when a genetic trait first turns him into his wolf self, "Scott" (Fox) takes the opportunity to score some awesome rebounds on the basketball court as well enjoy some "awesome dude" car surfing. The inevitable remake was made, but don't bother as it lacks the charm of the first and lacks Fox (it does star the tremendously talented Jason Bateman but I doubt he would cop to having turned out such as stinker if he could avoid it.)

6. Harry Potter fans the world over are intimately familiar with poor old Remus Lupin. This character is introduced for the first time in the third book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where he has assumed the school's least tenured position as the new "Defense Against the Dark Arts" teacher. Lupin is another reluctant wolf man having been bitten by a child who is only able to keep himself from transforming into a raging monster with the help of one of Snape's potions. He is revealed in the book to be a former "marauder" who along with Harry's father, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew raised cain at Hogwarts years prior to Harry's arrival. Lupin takes a break by not appearing in the fourth novel but returns as a key figure in J.K. Rowling's final three books in the series.

5. Blood and Chocolate introduces us to the loups-garoux (French term for guess what) who live among all of us unsuspecting humans in modern day America. This young adult novel by author Annette Curtis Klause is a cut above the average pulp the YA genre so frequently gives its readers. Here there is a new mythology of the werewolf's origins and lifestyle, a tormented romance between human and the not-so-human Vivian, bloodly adventure and erotic sensuality. Again, teens dominate here though this is much darker fare. Fans of the book will want to check out the film adaptation which is nearly as entertaining as its vampire "cousin" Lost Boys.

4. Forget Japanese horror (J horror), British gothic and American slasher films, if you want a a great scary movie look to the Canadians! Specifically, take a look at the 2001 film "Ginger Snaps". This movie paired two talented actresses-Emily Perkins and Katherine Isabelle-playing sisters, the elder of which is bitten by a werewolf. As tradition dictates "Ginger" transforms into a raving wolf as well (complete with tail, by the way). Her heroic sister is bent on saving her from the CURSE and, yes, the film does serve as hellacious parellel of girl becoming woman via menustration. The film is good and gory, witty and wise and a must see for those who like their monsters on the feminine side.

3. No lupine list would be complete without paying homage to the great Lou Chaney who protrayed the title character in Universal Picture's The Wolf Man in 1941. Chaney emerged as a star following the frightful flick and his protrayal greatly influenced the genre from then on. When you think "werewolf" the image that first comes to mind is likely from Chaney's masterful depiction: the tortured soul condenmed by the curse of lycanthropy. The film ends with the demise of the wolf man who is beaten to death by his father with, not a silver bullet, but a silver-headed walking stick. Don't worry, Chaney reprised his most famous role in a few more films including Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Dracula, and the hilarious parody Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

2. "I'm a Pepper, you're a pepper, wouldn't you like to be a Werewolf too..." David Naughton, the Dr. Pepper guy himself, vaulted from commericial fame to bonafided movie star with the 1981 release of An American Werewolf in London. The movie brought back lycanthrops in a big way. The special effects were magnificient. Viewers were treated to a close-up of the metamorphisis from gorgeous all American boy David to hideous beast. There's bone breaking, bone making and elongating, screams of intense pain, fur sprouting and fang growing all accompanied by CCR's classic Bad Moon on the Rise. The action is grisly, the script witty (especially the banter between David and his slaughtered but lingering and decaying friend Jack played by Griffen Dunne). This film was perhaps the best of the 1981 werewolf trio but the aforementioned The Howling and Wolfen deserve looks as well.

1. Ah, number one of this admittedly biased, far from complete list of wonderful wolves in man clothing. But remember this listing is not meant to "rate" them despite the ascending order. Now, disclaimers aside, please meet Jacob Black. If the name is not familiar then you are obiviously not a teenaged girl for Jacob is the fabulous werewolf of author Stephenie Meyer's mega hit Twilight series. Jacob is just a kid who inherits his people's unique ability to change into a gigantic wolf when he needed. He is most noted for making life difficult, bearable and, at times, even possible for the heroine Bella Swan. His "frienemy" is none other than that cold piece of exquistite work the vampire Edward Cullen. This is a love triangle: human, vampire and werewolf style. While Edward is generally considered the ultra cool, never a hair out of place, to die for romantic lead, his shaggy rival is often preferred by girls who like their monsters on the warm rollicking side. Running a consistent body temperature of 108 degrees, Jacob is pantingly hot.