Sooo time is drawing in, the nights are stretching, the days are getting shorter, so why not do a post which warns of the dangers of the dark, especially out in the moors, as is the subject of this post and a classic modern comedy horror film, An American Werewolf in London. So get the backpacks on, stay on the roads, and off the moors.... (or so they say!).
The story begins in Yorkshire, where two young college students, David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) backpack across the moors. As it get's dark, during their travels, David and Jack head towards a local pub called "The Slaughtered Lamb". In the pub Jack notices a five pointed star on the wall, which causes the locals in the pub to go silent and become hostile, which causes David and Jack to leave. Before they go however they are parted with advice as to "beware the moon" and "keep to the road" which Jack and David end up forgetting as they soon hear strange howling noises in the distance as they unwittingly wander over the moors. The owner of the pub is distressed by the situation and urges some of the locals to go out and help Jack and David. Jack and David however on the moors hear the howling and growling noises grow nearer, as they decide to head back to the pub, they are attacked by a large animal, which kills Jack and injures David, but the locals show up and shoot the animal, which appears to be a werewolf, and afterward it turns into a dead naked young man, who lies in a pool of blood.
Three weeks later David wakes up in a hospital in London as he finds out that he went sent there by the locals. One of the hospital doctors, Doctor Hirsch (John Woodvine) tells David that Jack is dead, and David is later questioned by Inspector Villiers and the bumbling Sergeant McManus. David during his recuperation in the hospital starts having strange nightmares, the first of which is of him running naked through the woods, hunting a deer, he kills it and then eats it. David later has another nightmare where monsters in Nazi outfits raid his home and kill him and his American family. David then also starts to see visions of his dead friend Jack, who warns him that they were both attacked by a werewolf and that David will himself become one. Jack urges David to kill himself so the werewolf bloodline will be severed and Jack will be also forced to walk the Earth in limbo until the curse is lifted, as well as the fact that David will of course kill people once he transforms into a werewolf.
Doctor Hirsch who is concerned by the possibilities of the story decides to travel to Yorkshire where he questions the locals at the pub whio remain silent about it. However as Hirsch leaves, one of the locals suddenly blurts out the truth that David is sure to change into something but is interrupted by another local (Brian Glover) who silences him. Doctor Hirsch returns to London where he expresses his concerns to a young nurse, Alex Nurse (Jenny Aguter) who has been caring for David. David once his discharged from hospital, having recovered from his wounds, becomes attracted to Alex and they soon head back to her apartment where they have sex. Later that night David is paid another visit by Jack who by now is even more decomposed than on their previous meeting and he warns him again that in one day he will turn into werewolf on the first full moon, and that he must kill himself before he changes, which David angrily refuses to accept. However the next day as David sends most of it in Alex's apartment, as the full moon appears, he starts to feel excruciating pain as he begins his transformation into a werewolf. In his werewolf form, David kills and mutilates six Londoners, a young businessman, a couple, and three tramps.
The next day David reverts to human forms, waking up naked in a zoo, he has no recollection of what happened and heads back to Alex's apartment. David feels invigorated after his night even though he can't remember what he did, until he and Alex get into a taxi and the driver (Alan Ford) tells them of the news of the murders. David instantly gets out the taxi, realising in horror that Jack was right all along and he tries to turn himself to a local police officer who refuses to believe him. David then calls back home to speak to his family one last time and he attemps to cut his wrists with a pocket knife but decides he can't do it. David then sees Jack across the street in an even more advanced state of decay, they go into a porno theatre where Jack introduces David to his victims from the night before, who all insist he must kill himself to lift the curse. David decides to sit in the cinema until the full moon where once again he feels the surging pain in his body as he transforms once more which leads into a tragic climax........
At the time American werewolf in London really was something of an innovation in that it was one of the first films to blend in both comedy and horror together and here it was done so effectively. The film is also something of a tragedy piece as the two young Americans both fall victim to a werewolf and try and pass off David by sending him to London where he ultimately transforms. And the film has quite a few memorable scenes, particularly the one that stands out is David's transformation into a werewolf which was superb and featured brilliant make-up by make-up artist Rick Baker, who won an oscar for his work. The film also blends in the comedy really well in that even after David's first night of maschinations that there is still room for funny moments, such as when he wakes up naked in the zoo and he ends up stealing a young boy's balloons and then a woman's coat, after which he stands embarrassed next to bemused commuters at a bus stop! Then there also some chilling moments, such as on the London underground where the businessman hears the distant growls of the werewolf and he ends up running round the endless winding corridors of the subway before he falls onto a travelling elevator and we see the visage of the werewolf at the bottom advance on him.
Moving onto the performances section of the review, they are pretty good here, with David Naughton providing a funny and at times poignant performance as a young guy who is doomed after his attack by the werewolf. Naughton has some amusing moments such as where he realises the day after that he had turned into a werewolf the night before, and he runs off with Alex following him who asks him to be reasonable and he says "Oh sure, be reasonable! I'm a fucking werewolf for Christ's sake!!". Also where he wanders around Alex's flat, bored, on the day of the full moon, he looks into the fridge time and time again and says "I'm still not hungry!" and he looks look at himself in the mirror and says "Fi fi fo fum! I smell the blood of an English man!". Naughton's scenes with Dunne when David talks to the animated corpse of Jack are also excellent where in their second scene, David goes into the bathroom and looks into the bathroom wall cupboard which is slightly ajar and he closes it over and sees Jack in the background, and later as they talk David says "I refuse to listen to a walking meatloaf!".
Which brings me onto Griffin Dunne who is great as Jack, David's friend who is killed by the original werewolf and wanders the Earth as an animated corpse. Dunne's make-up for the decomposing Jack is also superb, especially in his first scene where we sees his scars are still relatively fresh and we see a little flap of flesh on his neck as he talks, its a gross but great little touch added by Rick Baker. Dunne also get's some great lines such as where he tells David how he had a good attendance at his funeral and that he ex-girlfriend ran into the arms of someone else "An asshole! Life even mocks me in death!". Also in this scene he tells David he must die in order to prevent him turning into a werewolf he says "I'm lonely. You know what its like talking to a corpse?? Its boring! Kill yourself, David. Take your life, before you take others". And also later in the porno theatre where he sits with him and David says "well are you going to say I told you so" and Jack replies "Well I wasn't going to say "I told you so", but I did tell you so, you schmuck!". And of course there is Jack's most memorable line where he tells David "Beware the moon, David...".
Jenny Agutter also provides a reasonably good performance, but she is hampered by some terrible and cringing lines of dialogue as well. Two examples of which are when she takes David to her home and she is quite frank with him about her feelings and says "I find you very attractive" and later after they first have sex and David has another encounter with Jack, she says to him "I'm torn between feeling sorry for you and finding you terribly attractive!". Gawwwwdd spare us! However Jenny's last scene where she confronts David in werewolf form is really good and she tells him she loves him before it all goes pear shaped.
The supporting performances are also excellent such as Brian Glover as the chess player in the Slaughtered Lamb who tells an amusing joke about The Alamo before everything goes series when Jack asks about the five pointed star hanging up on the wall. And he parts a warning to David and Jack before they leave the pub and he says "Go. Beware the moon, and keep to the road". And later on as he angrily stops one of the locals from talking and he shouts out "THAT'S ENOUGH!!" as he is determined to keep things quiet about the rumours surrounding the werewolf. John Woodvine also provides a good performance as Doctor Hirsch who is sympathetic to David's story and he ends up believing there is something seriously wrong, albeit a little too late. Frank Oz also provides a good small role in the film as a man from the American embassay who tries to talk to David in hospital, who grows restless while they talk, and as he leaves Oz says quietly to the doctor "These damn kids don't respect anything you do these days!".
The film also features some small bit roles for future British star actors such as Rik Mayall, who would go on to star in comedies such as The Young Ones, The New Statesman and Bottom. John Altman also appears who would go onto become the infamous "Nasty" Nick Cotton from Eastenders. And finally Alan Ford also appears in a brief role as a taxi driver, and he would later go on to appear in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrells and Snatch, as well as appear in TV shows such as Knowing me, knowing you with Alan Partridge.
Moving onto the direction from John Landis, who does an excellent job here as he provides a fine balance of comedy, drama and horror. And its good how Landis goes from providing some amusing cheap laughs, one of which is the hilarious moment where in the porno theatre David and Jack watch a naff porno flick, with a naked man walking in on a couple having sex and he says "How dare you that's my wife!" and the naked woman says "I've never seen you before in my life!" and the man says awkwardly "Oh sorry!" and leaves. And then he provides some chilling sequences, one which springs to mind is David's nightmare where he lies in a bed in the forrest and he opens his eyes and he has demonic eyes and fangs. Landis also squeezes in a recurring theme in his movies where he has a billbaord poster for a film called "See you next Wednesday" which features in the London underground scene. Landis also makes good use of the London locations such as Trafalgar square, the London underground and of course Piccidily circus in the film's climax.
The film also has an excellent score by Ivan Reitman who provides a dramatic one which perfectly suits the tone of the film throughout. The soundtrack also features some fine tracks such as Creedence clearwater revival's "Bad moon rising" and Van Morrison's "Moondance" and a version of "Blue moon" by Sam Cooke which are well used. And despite the film ending on a real tragic note it is neatly undercut by The Marcels doo-wop version of "Blue moon" as well.
As for flaws or niggles, American Werewolf doesn't really have too many that bother me except maybe that its just a bit unrealistic to imagine that Alex as a nurse would tend to David night and day in hospital as surely she would have to devote her time to other patients as well! Also the dialogue as already mentioned for Jenny Aguter's character really is terrible and banal and it seems strange how most of the rest of film is fairly well written yet it is somewhat uneven when it comes to Alex's character. Or perhaps John Landis who wrote the screenplay just isn't that good at writing parts for women!
Anyway that's it for my look at An American Werewolf in London which is still one of the great modern horror classics, which was unique in blending in elements of horror and comedy so effectively.
And on that note I shall farewell and beware... the moon.....
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