The habitat of the cinematic werewolf

We have known since the arrival of the she-wolf Naya and her offspring that the habitat of the common wolf extends to Flanders, but in which cinematic lands can you encounter the werewolf? An overview:

North America:

There is no shortage of North American lycanthropes. From the early days with Lon Chaney Jr. as one of the first portrayals in The Wolf Man (1941) to the latest adaptation in Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man.

The younger ones still need some time to get used to their shapeshifting abilities (Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf) or attribute their changes to the onset of puberty (Ginger Snaps).

Others, meanwhile, sprang from the mind of bestselling author Stephen King (Silver Bullet), were masterfully guided by horror great Joe Dante (The Howling), or brought to life by legend Jack Nicholson (Wolf).

Wolves normally live and hunt in packs with their own kind; only rarely do they team up with other creatures to form a Universal Monsters All-Star Team, as seen in the entertaining Monster Squad.

Neighboring Canada is known as one of the safest countries in the world. Maybe WolfCop has something to do with that?

South America:

Werewolves are less common in Latin America, but they do exist there. Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf (Nazareno Cruz y el lobo), Argentina’s submission for the 48th Academy Awards, was even screened at the most recent edition of the Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival.

In 2017, Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras) made waves worldwide at genre festivals. In this Brazilian slowburner, a nanny is hired to care for the very special child of a wealthy woman.

Europe:

Once across the Atlantic, we first land in London, where in 1981 our furry monster struck in John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London.

Sixteen years later, the same beast also bit in Paris—and it didn’t stop there. The lycanthropy spread to other species, as we saw just a few months ago with Razor Reel’s Young Blood winner Animale.

Don’t be fooled: while Wilkolak is the Polish word for werewolf, the monsters don’t actually appear in this horror fairy tale and Holocaust drama. However, they do show up in the Danish film When Animals Dream, where the 16-year-old protagonist discovers that her family’s hatred hides a dark secret.

Asia:

In Malaysia, wolf-like creatures clearly aren’t well received—despite Tiger Stripes earning praise at Cannes and winning the Grand Prix in the prestigious Quinzaine des Cinéastes competition, the film was shown in a censored version in its home country. Fortunately, we can fully enjoy this curiosity.

Japan and anime are inseparable. During a stopover in the Land of the Rising Sun, we take a look at Mamoru Hosoda’s Wolf Children. Raising children is challenging enough, let alone little werewolves, as seen in this delightful animated film.

Oceania:

We end, finally, in faraway Australia—and yet close to home—since none other than the Verhulst family, together with Studio 100, invested in the computer-animated 100% Wolf. A funny children’s film where the young werewolf Freddy Lupin accidentally transforms into… a poodle with bright pink fur.