An American Werewolf In London
There were few directors in the late 70s to early 80s with the audacity and creative genius of John Landis, and his string of box office hits during the period showcased his original style in a way that combined elements of mass appeal and legitimately artistic vision, all before his career went south due to the unspeakable tragedy on the set of The Twilight Zone Movie (an obvious accident that in no way made him deserving to being relegated to the fringe unlike Roman Polanski and Victor Salva). This 1981 Grand Masterpiece, made at the absolute apex of his career, has often been mistaken for a horror comedy (so much so that it received frequent airings on Comedy Central throughout the 90s), but is actually a rollercoaster ride of gruesome scares sprinkled with some light humor mostly from the way the characters are written in order to give much needed levity to the proceedings. As a result, it became THE movie that defined the tone and style of much of the celebrated era of 80s horror, with enough gore, gruesome makeup FX, and an unforgettable werewolf transformation sequence that changed the face of cinema forever so much so that the Best Makeup Oscar category was created in its honor and handed over to Rick Baker for his amazing work. The film stars David Naughton (best known at the time for a series of Dr. Pepper commercials) and Griffin Dunne as two college students backpacking through the English countryside. They come to a mysterious pub called the Slaughtered Lamb where all the locals seem to be hiding a deep secret relating to the large pentagram they have up on the wall. After being warned to stay on the road and off the moors they continue on their way only to be confronted by—you guessed it, a bloodthirsty werewolf. Suffice it to say that the rest of the movie can be described as one long unending nightmare, as one of them is killed and the other finds himself in the hospital suffering from horrifying hallucinations and a visit from the undead apparition of his murdered friend, with all the signs and forewarning that he himself will become a werewolf and kill others in the booming metropolis that is London, all the while starting a romance with the beautiful, sympathetic nurse (Jenny Agutter) that he eventually moves in with. Landis paces the movie remarkably well, and seems to have something interesting going on in nearly every scene, with superb editing between the horrific imagery of the hallucinations to some rather mundane event in the next scene, and of course, what else can be said about the use of Creedance Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” as a precursor to our main character’s transformation, as terrifying for the viewer to watch as it is for him to experience, and shows both Baker’s and Landis’ genius in full throttle, using extensive makeup and hydraulics to accomplish in a very physical, realistic way how one becomes a werewolf, and remaining much more effective today more than ever, and without even a wisp of CGI in sight. The werewolf attacks themselves are completely terrifying without going overboard, only becoming especially gruesome when it’s called for, and of course the absolute carnage of the last 5 to 10 minutes when the werewolf gets loose in Piccadilly Circus, may remain forever untopped in its depiction of onscreen anarchy. Make no mistake: THIS is the film that redefined the horror genre permanently and irrevocably for all time, that despite its humor is FAR from being a light-hearted affair, and packs a terrifying, tremendous punch that makes it NOT appropriate for little kids but an absolute no-brainer must for anyone looking to seek out and view one of the greatest horror films of all time…
10/10