Tonight brings the first full moon of 2025, and it happens to be the Wolf Moon. Not so coincidentally, this Friday brings the release of Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man. That means this week’s streaming picks are themed accordingly; we’re howling at the full moon over werewolves.
Only this time, we’re venturing beyond many of the essentials like An American Werewolf in London (Pluto TV), The Howling (VOD), Dog Soldiers (Peacock, Prime Video, Shudder), or Ginger Snaps (Peacock, Shudder) to spotlight lesser celebrated lyncanthropes.
The five werewolf movies offer everything from foundational classics to gonzo ’70s action and everything in between. Here’s where you can stream them this week.
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Bad Moon – AMC+, Peacock, Prime Video, the Roku Channel, SCREAMBOX, Shout! TV, Shudder
This adaptation of the novel Thor by Wayne Smith uniquely pits a werewolf against a dog. Photojournalist Ted Harrison (Michael Paré) returns home to reconnect with his sister and nephew, Brett, after losing his girlfriend in a grisly attack, but the family reunion is marred by a string of strange animal attacks. The only one who senses something amiss with Ted is Brett’s protective dog, Thor. And Thor is determined to keep his family safe no matter what. Written and adapted by Eric Red (The Hitcher), Bad Moon makes its German Shepherd, a very good boy, the unconventional hero of this horror story. While the movie boasts great effects, it’s hard to top the excellent and violent opening sequence.
The Company of Wolves – AMC+, Criterion Channel, Kanopy, NightFlight+, Prime Video, the Roku Channel, Shout! TV
Before helming Interview with the Vampire, director Neil Jordan introduced a coming-of-age fever dream fairy tale packed with werewolves. The story follows Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson), a young woman on the cusp of womanhood. When she falls asleep, she dreams of wolves and living in a fairy tale forest in the 18th century. Rosaleen and her Granny (Angela Lansbury) trade tales of werewolves, the film unfurling like an anthology. In true Grimm fairy tale fashion, these stories tend to be grisly. The Company of Wolves uses dream logic to walk the fine line between childhood and adolescence through multiple tales that use “Red Riding Hood” as a foundation. Heed Granny’s advice: beware the man whose brows meet in the middle.
Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf – Fandango at Home, Hoopla, Peacock, Prime Video, SCREAMBOX
Nick Damici (Stake Land) takes charge in this werewolf whodunnit as a blind veteran, Ambrose, forced by his son to move into a retirement community with his service dog. While Ambrose clings tightly to his independence, he’s viciously attacked on the night of a full moon. It kickstarts a series of murders and disappearances within the community; but no one believes Ambrose that a werewolf is to blame. Nestled within a violent werewolf movie is a heartfelt exploration of the pangs of aging and facing one’s mortality, anchored by another solid lead performance by Damici as the tough-as-nails Ambrose.
Wolf Guy – Arrow, NightFlight+
Renowned martial artist and actor Sonny Chiba stars in this wild action-horror hybrid as Akira Inugami, the sole survivor of a clan of ancient werewolves, who uses his moon-powered supernatural abilities to solve a conspiracy involving murder, a cabaret singer, corrupt politicians, and a plot to steal his power. While this Wolf Guy never fully transforms beyond an excess of hair and a feral disposition, he’s a pure, enraged lycanthrope. It’s gonzo action horror from the grindhouse era that seems to answer the question: what would happen if you dropped a lycanthropic action hero into a supernatural yakuza movie? Well, you’d get a wild, sexy, violent, and stylish genre-bender that also features Sonny Chiba psychically pulling his spilled guts into his body. That’s only the start of the insanity.
The Wolf Man – Peacock
Universal’s revered 1941 classic set the bar high for werewolf movies, especially when it comes to transformation sequences. It also set the tone for the tragic nature of contracting lycanthropy that would endure throughout the history of the subgenre. Lawrence “Larry” Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns home after the death of his brother. He’s hoping to reconnect with his estranged father and happens to fall for local antique shop owner Gwen (Evelyn Ankers). But poor Larry finds himself transforming when he’s attacked by an animal. The character’s circumstances, Chaney Jr.’s performance, and his natural personality all meld together to create one of horror’s most sympathetic movie monsters. The Wolf Man is a classic that deserves more modern love, and it’s worth revisiting with Whannell’s new take arriving in theaters soon.