Legends of human beings transformed by enchantment into deadly beasts date back to ancient times. The legends vary widely with the cultures from which they emerge, but what do they really tell us about humanity? Many religions and philosophies view humans as transcendent souls locked in animal bodies. We strive to rise above our animal lusts, but repeatedly fall back into the patterns of the beasts. Most of the werewolf legends viewed the creatures as predatory beasts using their humanity to disguise their true natures until their victims were in place. Then, shedding their human skins, they would attack their unlucky victims. In motion pictures like Universal's Wolf-Man and The Werewolf of London, audiences saw a more sypathetic rendering of the werewolf legend as decent and noble men struggled with a curse that transformed them unwillingly into murderous beasts. The werewolf of legends symbolized the beast among us. The werewolves of the movies symbolized something even more disturbing: the beast within us.