Any Horror Fans not aware of this Film? Any Non-Horror Fans fail to hear about this one by now? This is An American Werewolf in London, a 1981 Film that was a game-changer for the Genre. It was the first Film to win an Academy Award for Make-Up Design (a category made that Year). Since I've already covered The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (which was given an Honorary Oscar for Make-Up), I've got that bit of Film History covered now. If you don't know the Film, I'll summarize it for you well enough. The Film really affected Pop Culture History- going so far as to affect future works too. This Film got John Landis the gig doing the famous 'Thriller' Video. I should really watch that 'Making of Thriller' VHS I bought, shouldn't I? Here's what you want to know- will I be the guy to tell you that this is a bad Movie? Will I risk my life? To find out, read on...
A pair of (apparently-Jewish) Students are backpacking across Europe.
On the way to Italy, they go through the mossy hills near London.
They don't make friends with the Locals.
Despite the warnings, they don't stay on the Road and run afoul of a freaky creature!
Only one survives and he begins to experience weird symptoms from his wounds, including strange dreams and freak-outs.
Is this padding or foreshadowing?
Our Hero's dead friend keeps showing up, in spite of, you know, being dead.
He explains that his soul can't rest until the Werewolf dies.
I like this little wrinkle and I sure hope that they won't overdo it in the Sequel.
Eventually, he's let loose from the Hospital and ends up staying with his favorite Nurse.
He's left alone while she's at work and he does what all guys do when left alone- grow lots of hair.
Give them that Oscar!
He goes out on the prowl and gives us plenty of Poor Bastards of Cinema. Dare I?
The most famous- this guy who is apparently THE ONLY ONE in the Subway/Underground.
It is a bad and good Ad for it, I guess.
Things get worse for our Hero as he knows what he has become and can do nothing to stop it.
On the plus side, the Nazi Werewolves are just a dream sequence...for now.
Will he be able to stop himself from killing more people on the next Full Moon? Will these Films ever get that Full Moons happen once a Month?
Nope. They're dead.
He's dead.
The *abrupt* End.
A classic- plain and simple. I will say that the Film is definitely all over the place. In one Scene, you have some slapstick. In another Scene, you have people being killed. In all of the build-up, you get lots of spurts of Horror- like the infamous Nazi Werewolves- intermixed with the humor. Looking it all of these years later, you know what to expect. I would be curious to see how it felt watching it brand new when it came out. Was the mix of Horror and Comedy distracting or engaging? I'll never know. I will say that the Make-Up work is still top-notch. It earned that Oscar- no question! As an avid Horror Film Fan, I know to look for the little cheats- like when he turns over to allow them to swap out his real legs for fake ones- but it doesn't make them any less impressive. With its reputation, I was expecting to see more of the beast. I think that may just be a credit to the Film- people remember seeing more than they actually did. As we'll see later, you can show it too much if things don't get done right. The question I will try to answer later is this- is this the best Werewolf Film of 1981? It is a tough decision! If you like Comedy with your Horror and can accept a longer build-up, this will delight. It still stands up after all of these years, even if you can see things from a different angle...
Next time, I look at the 'Sequel' that disappointed people back in 1997. Will I be the one to tell you otherwise? Stay tuned...
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