An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror comedy film written and directed by John Landis and starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne. The plot centers around two American college students who are on traveling to London and are attacked by a werewolf. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on four feet begins to suspect that something is very wrong.
John Irving once said that he loves to put comedy and tragedy in close conjunction to each other because each can make the other more effective. That’s just the effect that the combination has in An American Werewolf In London. Both the comedy and the horror in the film are fully committed to, unlike many other films’ attempts to merge the two. If “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is ever true, this is one of those times. If the film didn’t transcend the unsettling, the comedy wouldn’t be as funny, and if the horror didn’t break the comedic atmosphere often enough, then the movie wouldn’t be as scary. Both the initial ‘animal attack’ and the apocalyptic ending are perfect examples of this.
The special effects, done by the great Rick Baker, are absolutely astounding, arguably more believable than a lot of what we get today. The first transformation scene is one of the best to ever be featured in a werewolf film, especially with the convincing screams of pain from David Naughton. The actual look of the werewolf is also just as great, giving one of the most menacing and evil appearances I’ve ever seen. The howl sounds like a mixture between a man’s scream and an actual beast giving a call, a sound that sends a chill down your spine every time you hear it. These sorts of details remind you that even though there’s comedy in it, Landis did put great focus on the horror aspect of the film.
Aside from that exquisite unusualness, An American Werewolf In London has many other superb characteristics. The cinematography is excellent. The shots of the countryside (actually filmed in Wales) are actually both beautiful and very eerie at the same time. The make-up and transformation effects are unsurpassed. The music, which is primarily a number of different “moon” related pop songs, is also perfect, partially because of the bizarre contrasts in mood that the music creates, which echoes the comedy/tragedy juxtaposition. Unlike many other films, every scene in this one is something I’d like to spend years exploring. Even the ending, unlike other Landis films, is with a tinge of tragedy and sadness. This is not the ending a typical comedy director would bring, as by now we’ve really gotten on the side of David, the scorned protagonist turned bloody villain by way of a curse. It’s fun but not too goofy or bad B-movie-like, and it’s scary without being cheap. It’s basically the finest synthesis yet of gory theatrics with a cool sense of humor.
4.5/5 STARS