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Written by Mandroid3000
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AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON**** out of *****Genres
Comedy
Horror
Werewolves
1981
Written and directed by
John Landis
Cast
David Naughton .... David Kessler
Jenny Agutter .... Nurse Alex Price
Griffin Dunne .... Jack Goodman
John Woodvine .... Dr. Hirsch
An American Werewolf in London is known as a comedy-horror, but it’s first and foremost a horror film. The story line is grim and unforgiving, and when people are killed they get really messed up. But it’s also really funny. There’s a ton of great lines, and David Kessler, the man bitten by a werewolf finds himself in a lot of funny situations, none of which work to undermine the movie’s mood. The story line may be grim, but the characters aren’t, and that’s what makes this movie special.
David and Jack are American backpackers doing a tour of Europe. For some reason they’re trudging through the backwoods of England (Jack would much rather, understandably, be in Italy). They stop in a small village and visit a pub called The Slaughtered Lamb where the patrons are less than welcoming. After causing some friction when asking about a pentagram drawn on the wall they make a hasty exit. Despite warnings they cut across some moors and are attacked by a wolf. Jack is killed, but David survives his bites and wakes in a hospital in London.
David recovers physically, but he starts having some serious mental problems. He not only has horrible dreams, but his dead friend Jack keeps visiting him (including one great scene in a blue movie theatre playing a film called See You Next Wednesday which has the greatest soundtrack ever). Jack says he’s stuck in limbo until the last of the werewolf bloodline, i.e. David, is killed off. The solution, David needs to kill himself. But David isn’t sure if Jack’s real.
The Oscar-winning make-up by Rick Baker still looks great, and the werewolf transformation scene is justifiably famous. It stills stands head and shoulders above computer generated transformation scenes because it’s shot in excruciating detail, in bright light, and see that turning into a werewolf hurts like hell. You see shots of bones changing shape and hair sprouting through skin, accompanied by screams of pain and the song Blue Moon. Brilliance.
An American Werewolf in London glides effortlessly and naturally between scares, humour, romance, and pathos. The only patches where it bogs down are in the subplot involving Dr., Hirsch’s investigations, but this is a minor quibble. Overall, it’s one hell of a movie and deserves an audience far beyond horror fans. Mandroid says check it out, post haste.
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