Horror doesn’t give us enough female werewolves. These five films prove they’re some of the genre’s most compelling monsters.
Last month, Dread Central sat down with Ginger Snaps director John Fawcett and stars Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle to discuss the iconic 2000 cult classic and what the future may hold for the franchise, including the potential for a series adaptation, something that has been in the air since 2020.
Revisiting Ginger Snaps reminded me just how unusual the film remains. In a genre packed with werewolves, female lycanthropes are still surprisingly rare—a phenomenon artist Julia Oldham explored in a 2017 editorial for Artsy about the creature’s absence from literature, art, and pop culture. While the “female werewolf is indeed becoming more popular,” Oldham argues that we don’t see them that often because of the creature’s association with female sexuality and menstruation, themes Ginger Snaps tackles head-on. She also suggests that “their omission from popular culture…prevents us, and men especially, from being confronted by hairy, ugly, uncontrollable women….The female werewolf is disturbing because she entirely breaks the rules of femininity.”
Yet despite their relative scarcity, we still have a handful of unforgettable female werewolf movies over the years. So, in honor of Ginger Snaps and its enduring legacy, I rounded up five of the most kick-ass female werewolf movies ever made. Fingers crossed we get that Ginger Snaps series and more female werewolves in the future.
5. Cursed
Wes Craven’s severely underrated and delightfully campy thriller follows a pair of orphaned siblings (Christina Ricci and a pre-ZombielandJesse Eisenberg) whose lives are changed after they’re attacked by a werewolf running loose in Los Angeles. Despite being a critical and commercial flop, the film has developed a devoted cult following over the past two decades, and for good reason. It’s a fun, fast-paced teen horror with what might be the most aggressively 2000s ensemble cast ever assembled: Joshua Jackson, Milo Ventimiglia, Nick Offerman, Shannon Elizabeth, Mýa, and Lance Bass are all here.
But the real standout is Judy Greer as Joanie, whose werewolf transformation—a mostly successful blend of CGI and practical effects—remains one of the film’s most memorable sequences. The image of her as a big, hairy wolf giving Ricci the finger after being told she has a “bony ass and fat thighs and bad skin” makes me laugh every time.
Cursed is available to rent on Prime Video.
4. Trick ‘r Treat
Some people might argue that it’s impossible to choose a standout story from Trick ‘r Treat, Michael Dougherty’s festive horror anthology film following the adventures of Sam, an admittedly adorable footie-pajama-wearing demon sent to punish those who break Halloween traditions. I respectfully disagree. The film’s best segment is, without question, “Surprise Party,” which follows Laurie (Anna Paquin), a shy young woman who goes to a Halloween bonfire with her sister Danielle (Lauren Lee Smith) and friends Maria (Rochelle Aytes) and Janet (Moneca Delain). The girls are determined to help Laurie lose her virginity. Frustrated, she wanders into the woods, where she’s attacked by a man dressed as a vampire. Unbeknownst to Laurie, the vampire is Steven (Dylan Baker), the local school principal/child murderer.
In one of the film’s most brilliant twists, it’s revealed that Laurie and the girls are werewolves, and it’s her “first time” killing a man. She drags Steven to the bonfire, where, in a scene set to Marilyn Manson’s cover of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” the girls strip out of their skin and devour the men. It’s sexy, subversive, and it might just have inspired Lana Del Rey’s music video for “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” but that has yet to be confirmed.
Trick ‘r Treat is streaming on Netflix.
3. The Howling
Traumatized after aiding in the capture of serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo), beloved news anchor Karen White (Dee Wallace in one of the few roles where she doesn’t play a mother) is sent to The Colony, a secluded wellness retreat, to recover alongside her husband, Bill (Christopher Stone). At a barbecue on the beach, the women warn Karen that Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks), who’s been flirting with Bill, is a nymphomaniac. But infidelity is the least of her concerns—Eddie may still be alive and lurking on the premises, and The Colony is crawling with werewolves.
Like the girls in Trick ‘r Treat, The Colony’s attendees fully embrace their lycanthropy, especially Marsha, who does very little to hide it despite the fact that we never actually see her fully transformed. But it’s Karen’s tearful on-air transformation that reminds us that this is a curse, and not everyone is willing to accept what they’ve become.
The Howling is streaming on Tubi.
2. The Company of Wolves
Directed by Neil Jordan, The Company of Wolves is an adaptation of poet and novelist Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, a collection of short stories based on classic fairy tales, including “Little Red Riding Hood”and “Bluebeard.” The film follows Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson), a modern-day teenage girl who drifts into one fairy tale after another in her dreams, making discoveries about romance, danger, and her own sexuality.
When Rosaleen realizes the huntsman (Micha Bergese) killed her grandmother, she shoots him with her rifle, revealing the wolf trapped just beneath his skin. The villagers, terrified for her safety, search for Rosaleen, but by the time they reach the cottage, it’s too late. She, too, has transformed into a werewolf, and she’s run off with the hunter into the woods. While the ending is far less overtly sexual than the source material, it’s no less disturbing. Part of that unease stems from Rosaleen’s youth, but part of it comes from how seductive the fantasy is. What teenage girl hasn’t fantasized about disappearing with a handsome but dangerous older lover?
The Company of Wolves is streaming on Tubi.
1. When Animals Dream
Jonas Alexander Arnby‘s feature debut, When Animals Dream, follows Marie (Sonia Suhl), a teenage girl living in a conservative fishing town in Denmark. Like most teenagers, Marie’s body has been undergoing all sorts of changes, but she has no one to talk to. Her mother (Sonja Richter) is catatonic, and though her father (Lars Mikkelsen) is loving, she can’t open up to him. She begins working at a fish processing plant, where everyone is cruel to her except for a handsome boy named Daniel (Jakob Oftebro). Eventually, she figures out the truth: she and her mother are werewolves. Even worse, everyone’s known this for years. There’s a medication she can take to manage her condition, but if she takes it, she will ultimately end up like her mother.
When Animals Dream is the most contemplative film on this list, with many similarities to Let the Right One In. But don’t let its slow pace and muted cinematography fool you into thinking this doesn’t have any bite (pun intended). This is a story about female rage and independence, with one of the most painful yet cathartic werewolf transformations ever put to screen. If you like your arthouse cinema with a good dose of gore, this is for you.
