Night 27: ‘An American Werewolf in London’ (1981)
This is part of the ‘31 Nights of Horror Classics’ series, which I’ll be doing for Halloween 2017. Every night of this month, I’ll be watching a horror film made before the 90s and I’ll be posting a short review here.
David (David Kessler) and his friend decide to take a trip through rural England. They stop by a local pub, but the residents are not too keen on their presence and end up throwing them out. In the middle of nowhere they are attacked by a monstrous creature that kills Jack (Griffin Dunne) and hurts David severely. When he finally wakes up at the hospital, his friend’s ghost visits him and tells him he is now burdened with the werewolf curse. His only solution? To kill himself before he hurts anyone else.
An American Werewolf in London is one of those films I think I saw as a kid, yet I couldn’t remember a single thing about the plot. I do know that it’s almost universally acclaimed as one of the best werewolf movies out there, which is why I was truly looking forward to re-watching it. However, after doing so, I think what I ended up with was a mixed bag of both good and bad elements.
On one hand, I really enjoyed the balance of humor and scares. It never tips the scale to favor one over the other, which is one of my main complaints about some of the classics I’ve watched for this series of reviews. The movie has some genuinely creepy scenes, but also some laugh-out-loud moments. And both work really well together.
The best embodiment of this is the deceased Jack. Although he has a truly terrifying design that only gets creepier as time passes, he’s also absolutely hilarious.
Some other great elements of the film are the effects and attack sequences. Even though the design of the wolf disappointed me, there is no denying that the transformation scene is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Similarly, some of the scenes where the monster chased and attacked someone were riveting, and they were shot in a way that keeps you at the edge of your sit.
Where the movie loses me is in some of the narrative elements.
On one hand, the superfluous romance didn’t work for me at all. Although we are led to believe some time has transpired, helping it develop organically, what we end up watching on the screen is something that feels rushed and only skin-deep. It makes the final scene less successful when it aims for a gut-punching finale.
The protagonist himself was also a big problem for me. From the moment he ran off from his friend, to his too-happy-go-lucky behavior, he didn’t manage to elicit any sympathy from me, which is an issue for what seems to be a character-driven story.
The story itself is very straightforward, yet devoid of any layers. The main character doesn’t even get a real arc that you can get behind, so we end up watching a collection of really cool moments with little substance in them.
Still, for a Halloween night with your friends, I think you might enjoy it. The movie has a lot of issues, but it has enough action and funny bits to keep you entertained.
Grade: 7/10. Fun.
Scare Factor: great scary moments.
Gore/Violence: prepare for a lot of blood.
Nudity/Sexual Situations: a lot. And I mean A LOT!
Previous Night: ‘The Invisible Man’ (‘33)
Next up: ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers (‘78)
