Inga: Werewolf!
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Werewolf?
Igor: There.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: What?
Igor: There, wolf. There, castle.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Why are you talking that way?
Igor: I thought you wanted to.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: No, I don't want to.
Igor: [shrugs] Suit yourself. I'm easy.
- Young Frankenstein (1974)

Well the Vampires have had their turn, and now it's time to howl!
(Sorry...that was bad)
Anyway, it looks like the latest creatures of the night to get their long over-due props are...
WEREWOLVES!

Yes the werewolf is coming back.
Don't get me wrong, the vamps aren't going anywhere, you'll still have True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Twilight etc.
But even some of those seeming mainstays will get a little hairy.
(Ouch...sorry again)

The writer/producer/director of True Blood, Alan Ball has said that werewolves will soon be sniffing around ( I know,  I know, but it's just so easy!) Bon Temps.
They have already been mentioned on the show, so let's see how cool True Blood makes lycanthropes.
(I refuse to say Lycans, that was just Underworld jargon).
And of course Twilight's sequel New Moon will be bursting with werewolves.
The Wolfman, Universal Picture's upcoming new version on their own classic 1941 horror movie, starring Benicio del Toro will be coming out soon and the previews look awesome.
MTV is getting a series ready based on Teen Wolf (yes Teen Wolf).
The upcoming Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant has a wolfman in it.
And yes there is a remake of An American Werewolf in London in the works.

So whats the fascination?
Well Vamps are usually calm, seductive. self assured where Weres are animal.
Simply, Vampires are cold blooded, and Werewolves are hot blooded.
Plus, where Vamps lead a restricted lifestyle, Weres are pretty much free to do anything they want until it's their time of the month.
(::sigh::)

Of course Werewolf legend is as widely varied as Vampire lore.
Some have the Full Moon rule, but some can shift at will anytime, anywhere, and some don't shift, but still have their heightened senses 24/7.

Going back a bit, the first Werewolf film was 1913's The Werewolf.
Which you haven't seen unless you are REALLY old...or a vampire.
Unfortunately, all copies of this silent film were destroyed in a fire in 1924.
It's a shame too, because the first Were movie didn't have anything to do with Transylvania or even Europe.
It was based on Navajo legend.

Of course you got your first walking Were in 1935's Werewolf of London.
Then the classic Lon Chaney Jr film, The Wolf Man in 1941.
The Werewolf has managed to stay fairly popular in films since 1941.
In the 50's you had I Was a Teenage Werewolf (among others) , the 60s had several including 1961's The Curse of the Werewolf.
The 1970s?
Well the 70s might be best forgotten since we had such gems as Werewolves on Wheels, The Werewolf of Washington and The Werewolf of Woodstock (yes you read that right).
The 80s came in with a bang though, starting with one of my favorite werewolf movies, 1981's The Howling.
And An American Werewolf in London kept things rolling the same year.
In 1985 we had Silver Bullet and Teen Wolf both
The under-rated The Monster Squad came out in 1987.
The 90s had several Werewolf films, but nothing too spectacular.
But like the 80s, 2000 bounced back with Ginger Snaps (2000), another of my favorites Dog Soldiers (2002), Underworld (2003), Van Helsing (2004..say what you want about the film, I think the werewolf transformations looked great), Blood and Chocolate (2007) and Skinwalkers (2007).
Of course there were others, but those were my favorites.

Werewolves on TV really haven't fared that well.
The most memorable ones to me were Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the 2001 little seen series Wolf Lake.
And Henry Foss on Sy Fy's Sanctuary is a werewolf type creature.
(I think on the show he is called a class nine hyper-accelerated protean life form, which sounds really cool)

So it looks like now we can get ready for another Werewolf barrage.
But just remember.....

"Even the man who's pure of heart and says his prayers at night...
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright..."