Comments on: Movie: An American Werewolf in London

Post: Movie: An American Werewolf in London

MoonOrb — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 20:10:46 -0800

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

NYTimes: While the story is thin and much of the tongue-in-cheek humor is overdone, there are plenty of genuine jolts thanks to makeup guru RICK BAKER's eye-popping special effects. The werewolf, resembling a cross between a bear and a wolverine, appears frighteningly real, and, given the fantastic premise, the gore is most convincing (although surprisingly and refreshingly scant). The hospital dream sequences are creative, and the scenes in which the werewolf runs rampant through downtown London are particularly good. In all, An American Werewolf in London is an original, atmospheric film that manages both to scare and amuse.

Roger Ebert: Landis never seems very sure whether he's making a comedy or a horror film, so he winds up with genuinely funny moments acting as counterpoint to the gruesome undead. Combining horror and comedy is an old tradition (my favorite example is "Bride of Frankenstein"), but the laughs and the blood coexist very uneasily in this film.

One of the offscreen stars of the film is Rick Baker, the young makeup genius who created the movie's wounds, gore, and werewolves.

filmschoolrejects: 26 Things We Learned From the An American Werewolf in London commentary

Trailer

David's Transformation

By: Ipsifendus

Ipsifendus — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 20:48:47 -0800

I am not particularly prone to be frightened of horror films, but the opening moments of the movie nearly gave me a panic attack when I saw this, at the age of twelve, during an overnight visit to the home of the only friend I knew who owned a VCR then. It's a simple technique, but it's not one that I've seen used so successfully in many other places: create sympathetic fear by having the characters in the story be very afraid themselves. Griffin Dunne's delivery of the line "Shit, David. What is that?" is just amazing.

By: maxsparber

maxsparber — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 22:34:04 -0800

I find the Jewish subtext of the film interesting. It's only really made explicit in two scenes: the nurses talking about David Naughton's circumcision and the Nazi werewolf nightmare. But it feels meaningful, if barely present. The two protagonist are very, I don't know, NFTY nebbishy, both in their jokey chumminess and their general cluelessness. They seem less like work travelers than Temple summer camp graduates, and it heightens their foreigness and helplessness. I don't think there is much to be mined -- I don't think there is a blood libel parallel or anything. But Landis is a Jew and so he made his protagonists Jews, and I liked seeing that. It gave the film a particular flavor that seemed especially familiar, since I could have been one of those guys.

By: miss-lapin

miss-lapin — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 00:40:47 -0800

Oh there is so much to love in this movie from a very young Rik Mayall (Young Ones, Blackadder) in the Slaughter Lamb to Griffin Dunne's undead humor "Ever talk to a corpse, David? It's boring."

It's really difficult to make a horror comedy that actually is scary. The comedy usually has the effect of rendering the movie all out funny, but this movie really does it amazingly well.

Moonorb, I wish you had done this as part of the mefi-horror club!

By: Dip Flash

Dip Flash — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 05:29:45 -0800

I've never liked horror movies, but I saw this (in a theater, but not first release) when I was about 13, and loved it. The balance of scary and funny is good, and both are genuine rather than just cheesy.

I find the Jewish subtext of the film interesting. It's only really made explicit in two scenes: the nurses talking about David Naughton's circumcision and the Nazi werewolf nightmare. But it feels meaningful, if barely present. The two protagonist are very, I don't know, NFTY nebbishy, both in their jokey chumminess and their general cluelessness. They seem less like work travelers than Temple summer camp graduates, and it heightens their foreigness and helplessness.

I missed that totally when I first saw it, but the moment you point it out it seems remarkable, and definitely part of what makes the movie work as well as it does.

By: Kitteh

Kitteh — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 10:52:50 -0800

This is one of my all time favourite movies. I love it very much. From the terrifying sequence of David & Jack straying from the path (oh, the sounds of the werewolf circling them!) to the horrifying chase through the Tube station (every time I hear The Jam's "Down in the Tube Station after Midnight," I think of that scene), it is just brilliantly funny and scary in equal measures.

By: phearlez

phearlez — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 19:53:17 -0800

I'm too tired to talk much about this now; I'll see you next wednesday.

By: bakerybob

bakerybob — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 18:23:52 -0800

We loved the transformation scene in our household! Especially the part where he stares at the camera for an uncomfortably long period of time.

By: domo

domo — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:12:19 -0800

This is one of my all-time favorite movies.

By: nom de poop

nom de poop — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 07:03:11 -0800

The best werewolf movie!