After a brief glory period in the 1940's, werewolves (of which the quintessential example would be George Waggner's The Wolf Man) seemed condemned to forever growl in the shadow of other classic horror cinema monsters. While the success of vampires and other ghouls proved to be immortal, werewolves waited patiently for their time, tails wagging.

It wasn't until the 1980s that two high-profile films broke through to revolutionize the genre, revitalizing werewolf mythology and allowing audiences to watch man transform into a snarling walking carpet through ingenious special effects. Which one is the deadliest: An American Werewolf in London or The Howling? The debate still rages on, proof of the strength and longevity of these films. Whereas the former goes the humor-plus-horror route, The Howling takes a more serious tone… despite the winks that genre enthusiast Joe Dante makes at his models. Dee Wallace is an investigative reporter in search of a serial killer. When she wanders into a dingy porn theatre on the wrong side of town, she finds herself face to face with a hairy wolf man. Following her therapist's advice, she goes on a nature retreat to recover from the traumatic encounter. But what's that waiting for her deep in the forest? More werewolves! Played by a pack of cult actors like John Carradine and Slim Pickens. An atmospheric 80s classic with special effects that still manage to impress.

And to start off the evening, we'll heat up the room with the wild and frenzied Italian production La Lupa Mannara aka The Werewolf Woman. The films opens with a naked woman dancing savagely in the middle of a forest before transforming into a female werewolf. Fast-forward a few hundred years and we find her descendent, a young woman who believes to be possessed by Great Grandma's spirit every full moon. The film clearly opts for a sexual take on the werewolf myth, ultimately degenerating into a trashy mix of horror and eroticism. The erotic scenes are so forced they quickly become ridiculous pretences to work in some classic pulp archetypes (i.e. the psych-ward nympho lesbian). Definitely for fans of the genre.