Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night,
may become a wolf when the wolf's bane blooms, and the moon is full and bright.
The Wolf Man

Werewolves have been with us probably as long as vampires. Where do the myths come from? Possiblities abound. Most myths originate from fear and misunderstanding of events and people that are out of the ordinary. The fact that hair and nails can grow for a while after death were perhaps a cause for concern!. It was also thought that if a man's eyebrows met in the middle it was a sure sign that he was a werewolf. Hairs on the palms of the hands were a sign and another sign was if his ring finger and middle finger were the same length.
Legends abound around the world. The French werewolf being loup-garou, in Greece, vrykolaka. American Indians believed in skin-walkers and in Africa particularly Ethiopia, Morocco and Tanzania there were the boudas or werehyena. (see The Pack)

Although the image of the Werewolf is etched on every horror fan's imagination, there have IMHO been precious few really satisfying werewolf films. By this I mean a movie that not only incorporates good plot and characters but also a werewolf that really looks the part. Sad to say I have to include BtVS in that last category as between season two and the latter seasons Oz's werewolf make-up took a bad turn for the worse. So much so that by season four Oz and Veruca looked to me more like shaggy monkey demons than anything wolflike.

Released in 1941, The Wolfman starring Lon Chaney Jr as the man bitten by the beast and subsequently infected was the defining werewolf movie for the early years of the horror genre. The image of his werewolf was etched into our minds as 'the' look of a werewolf in much the same way as Karloff's monster became the archetype for Frankenstein's creation.

What must be the definitive werewolf movie of the latter part of the last century was 'An American Werewolf In London.' A superb mix of horror, humour, characters you can relate to and a stonking rock sound track... hold it... that sounds just like Buffy the Vampire Slayer! This film set a standard for werewolf movies that hasn't been bettered since.
Released just after that 'The Howling' wasn't a bad film either and for me has the some of the best werewolves I've seen. The way Oz looked in 'Phases' was very like the werewolves in this movie.

Marvel Comics 'Werewolf by Night' was another superb comic from the 70's horror boom. In this series one way of curing lycanthropy was for the werewolf to kill another of its kind. Joss obviously hasn't incorporated this into the BtVS lore otherwise Oz would have been cured after killing Veruca. What BtVS did take from Marvel however was the idea that their werewolves don't just transform on the full moon but also on the day before and the day after. This helps the storylines by not having to wait a month before something else happens!

Things to See and Read

As usual this list reflects my tastes in film and reading material :)
The Wolf Man - Lon Chaney Jnr as the man bitten by Bela Lugosi (as a werewolf, not Dracula). Back in 1941 the change from man to beast was state of the art and it's still spooky.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man - They are all in this one. Great fun!
The Beast Must Die - 1970's whodunnit/horror film very of it's period but good fun.
The Howling - Scary and good werewolves.
Wolfen - Not really a werewolf film but a very interesting twist.
An American Werewolf in London - My favourite werewolf film and it's got Jenny Agutter!
Dog Soldiers - 2002 and at last a werewolf film to rival the above. This may just be my favourite ever!
Werewolf By Night - Sometimes superb Marvel comic from the 70's horror boom. Written for a time by a guy named Marv Wolfman!