Dir. John Landis, UK/USA, 1981, 97 mins
Cast: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne
Review by Dave Smith
Two Americans on holiday in England accidentally wander into a pub called ‘The Slaughtered Lamb’, where the locals are hiding a terrible secret. Asked to leave after they offend said locals, they are given one piece of advice – “Don’t stray from the path” – which of course is precisely what they do. Attacked by an unknown creature, David (Naughton) wakes to find himself in London under the care of Nurse Alex (Agutter), who soon falls for his charms and invites him to move in with her on his release from the hospital.
However, he begins to suffers terrible nightmares, plus he begins seeing his dead, steadily decomposing friend, Jack (Dunne), who tells him what he is becoming and warns him that he needs to kill himself, before someone else befalls the same fate. David at first struggles to believe what Jack has told him, but after a number of unexplained events happen, he finally accepts that Jack was right.
The scenes of David transforming into the werewolf were at the time ground breaking, earning makeup artist Rick Baker the first ever Academy Award to be given to a special effects artist. Given today’s computer generated effects, the scenes may appear to be slightly dated, but in some ways they give a more ‘real’ feel of the agony, as every cell in David’s body is altered.
Though sometimes considered a comedy/horror, it is probably more accurate to think of this as a horror film, which contains comedy. Yes, there are parts, which are laugh aloud funny, such as David trying to be arrested by a police officer in Trafalgar Square and shouting: “Queen Elizabeth’s a man! Prince Charles is a faggot! Winston Churchill was full of shit! Shakespeare was French!” It’s a ploy that doesn’t work. “If you carry on like that sir, I shall have to arrest you!” – “That’s what I want you to do, you asshole!” But there are also a lot of blood and gore and scenes, which will make you jump a mile. The movie also has a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek soundtrack.
Even after 28 years, An American Werewolf in London is still well worth watching, and can give one or two modern horror films a run for their money.
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