“Keep clear of the moors.”
I’ve been a werewolf fan for pretty much all of my life. I can remember watching movies like Silver Bullet, Teen Wolf, The Wolf Man (my favorite overall), and The Monster Squad. As I got older (and braver), I watched The Howling, Wolf, and Dog Soldiers. Heck, I’m still watching werewolf films like Wolf Cop, Late Phases, and Underworld to this day. As much as I’ve enjoyed all of these films, the one with the coolest transformation is 1981’s An American Werewolf In London. Written and directed by Jonathan Landis (Trading Places, Coming To America, Twilight Zone: The Movie), it’s no surprise that this film is both a horror film and a comedy. What is surprising, however, is the fact that it works almost perfectly as both a horror and a comedy.
The film stars David Naughton as David Kessler and Griffin Dunne as Jack Goodman, two American college students who are on a jaunt across the North York Moors who happen to run into a werewolf. Poor Jack is killed, but David survives whenever patrons of the Slaughtered Lamb, a local pub, show up and blast the werewolf into oblivion. David wakes up a few weeks later in a hospital in London, falls in love with his nurse, Alex Price, and decides to spend a little time with her before returning home. He begins to have bizarre dreams and starts talking to Jack, now a decaying body, who claims that David is now a werewolf. Jack tells David that he has to kill himself in order to stop the werewolf bloodline and so that Jack can make his final exit to the afterlife. David debates and fails to attempt suicide and ultimately transforms into a werewolf, kills a lot of people, and then finds himself in an adult theater talking to Jack and the fresh crop of corpses that David has created. Alex and the doctor that patched up David attempt to save him, but what happens in the end? Watch An American Werewolf In London to see how the film concludes.
The film finds a very good balance between horror and humor. It also has what is considered to be one of, if not the best, transformation scenes of all time. The first-ever Oscar for Best Makeup was awarded to Rick Baker for his work on the film, a well-deserved honor. The wolf transformation scene is a masterclass in practical effects, blending makeup, prosthetics, wonderful acting from David Naughton, and camera trickery to turn David into a werewolf. The film also features an amazing chase sequence in the Tottenham Court Road London Underground station. The cast were all amazing and the music, featuring songs in which the moon is mentioned, is top notch.
I love this movie. It is my third favorite werewolf film overall (behind The Wolf Man and Teen Wolf) and features my favorite transformation scene. I even got to meet David Naughton a few years ago at Gulf Coast Fan Fest in Biloxi, MS. He was awesome and thought that it was a riot when I said that many people consider him to be werewolf royalty. If you ever get the chance to meet him, do it. You won’t regret it.
Thanks for checking out my post!
