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vertov
Jun 14, 2003

hello
Directed by: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter

Prior to making An American Werewolf in London, director John Landis had established himself as a popular writer/director of comedy films. With this project, he branches out to the horror genre, but preserves his sharp sense of humor and timing. The film opens with a pair of friends traveling across Europe over their summer break from school. After they make their way to an unwelcoming tavern (the Slaughtered Lamb), they continue into the moors by night, finding themselves hunted by a giant wolf. One of them (Griffin Dunne) is killed in the attack, but the other (David Naughton) survives, and spends a few months recovering in a hospital. From there, he finds himself affected by the werewolf’s curse, and is haunted by the undead spirit of his friend, who tries to convince him to commit suicide, which will end the line of werewolves and free the spirits of his victims.

The performances and Landis’s direction give the film a great quality of dark humor, playing with the audience by cracking jokes in even the most gruesome and horrifying scenes. The tone of the film is a great mix of comedy and horror genre elements, and is one of the best hybrids of its kind (many of which were made during the same era). Naughton is funny and likeable as the lead, and he plays the crisis of identity that his character experiences quite well, gaining the audience’s sympathy despite the rampage he goes on across the city.

One of the most impressive aspects of the film is the award winning creature effects and make up by Rick Baker. In one of the most stunning effects sequences ever filmed, David Naughton is slowly transformed into a werewolf before the camera, showing every last moment of the process, comically set to the tune of “Blue Moon.” His transformation is measured and painful, but incredibly effective at capturing the characters agony and horror.

An American Werewolf in London is one of the few strong entries into the werewolf subgenre, creating a believable monster completely unlike the phony wolf man of the old Universal films. The sequel, and American Werewolf in Paris, has none of the same cast or creative crew behind it, and is a vastly inferior, almost completely unrelated film of mediocre merits. Stick with the original in this case. The Howling is another rare example of a good werewolf film, and was coincidently released the same year as this one.

PROS: great creature effects, interesting blend of horror and humor
CONS: somewhat abrupt ending

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

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Scratch2k
Jul 30, 2002
( . ) ( . )
One of the first true horror movies I saw as a kid and it scared the everloving crap out of me.

4/5

The Phantom Goat
Oct 6, 2003

Where my moviez at?
perhaps the best mix of horror/comedy in a film ever. Add that to amazing special effects and you're left with one hell of an amazing movie.

4.5/5

dojokm
Sep 20, 2001

quote:

CovetousCreatur came out of the closet to say:
perhaps the best mix of horror/comedy in a film ever.

Sums it up perfectly. It's a hilarious dark comedy that has bits of horror throughout. I rented it not expecting much and I was blown away. One of my favorite horror movies ever.

RexDart
Apr 13, 2003

What you describe as the "somewhat abrupt ending", I describe as a complete lack of ending. An ending is more than just the final scene + roll credits. This film doesn't really seem to have a discernible shape to it. Of course, alot of B-movie horror films have that problem, abrupt pointless endings, and characters who never pull us into the flow of the story in the first place. But a movie with a decent director and what almost passed for A-level actors back in its day (though not superstars to be sure), this one should have done better, and didn't. When this film came to a close, I wasn't quite sure I'd seen a film at all.

If it's supposed to be a mixture of comedy and horror elements, I'd expect to either laugh or be scared, and I can't recall doing either.

2.5

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