American Werewolf in London

Great film, horror and comedy seamlessly blended. Great commentary, David Naughton and Griffin Dunne really do come across like their characters (not least because they apparently improvised much of their banter and cracked each other up, Landis just deciding to leave it in for authenticity).

Wonderful music, such a shame they couldn't use 'Werewolves of London' or 'Moon Shadow' like they wanted to. Plus young Jenny Agutter in a nurses outfit RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Amazing that all the scenes in Yorkshire were actually filmed in Wales (as was Highlander), Surrey and Windsor.

Amazing documentary, almost as long as the movie itself. Only thing that could make it better would be Landis himself giving an commentary

Anyone else a fan?

 

Me too, I`m a massive fan! I still think the transformation special effects surpass most CGI work done today.

The phrase "You made me miss" is what me and my friends say to each other if we ever walk into a quiet room, and everyone stares at you!

Pity it spawned such a HORRIBLE sequel!

 

I've posted this in the sci-fi forum, but I post it here, too:

Yeah. Though it's not really a film that rewatch a lot, I remember how highly I rated it when I first saw it. I used to have a videotape of it somewhere... probably in a box in the back of a wardrobe.

The blend of horror, comedy, and romance, is perfect. Few films manage to blend genuine horror and comedy together, fewer still manage to give it a heart. It's funny, it's sad, and it has those werewolf transformation scenes that stay with you long after the film has ended.

Really quality stuff.

 

It's ranked #121 on my list of favorite movies, out of 1,372 movies ranked on Flickchart, so fairly high up there. Anything in my top 250 is more or less, in my view, a classic.

 

I would say it`s one of the very few films that has genuinely scared me (The Howling being one of the other ones, I have a thing about werewolves!)



EDIT a bit off-topic, but are you sure Highlander was filmed in Wales? I always thought the Scottish bits were filmed in Glencoe!

 

Some bits were but the battle scenes were all filmed in Wales

 

One of my all-time faves! I have the poster on my wall; I've seen it probably a hundred times on cable and video; I now own the DVD and have watched all the behind-the-scenes stuff; and I have several issues of Fangoria, Cinefantastique, etc. from back in the day discussing the making of the film. Others praise it as a fun and entertaining classic; I consider it an ultra-rare five-star film.

In 1981, I was 11 years old and a big fan of horror films like the original Wolfman, Werewolf of London, Curse of the Werewolf, etc. None of those could have prepared me for the shockfest that is American Werewolf. It scared the hell out of me.

After the first-act attack on the moors, I sat in that darkened theater with my hands over my eyes, peering through my fingers with a limited scope of vision, ready for and yet dreading the next gut-shocking assault on the senses. Whether it was David's dream-self opening his eyes and hissing vampirically on that gurney in the woods, Jack appearing behind him in the bathroom mirror, the monster-Nazi nightmare-invasion of David's home, or David's "lunar carnivorous activities" on his two-night rampage through London, I had never seen anything so viscerally terrifying (with the exception of The Exorcist, which I consider more psychologically frightening) in all my life.

For months or even, dare I admit, years afterward, I was afraid to so much as take the trash out on a dark, moonlit night! This in a suburban Houston neighborhood with street lights and neighbors' houses at either hand! I simply could not shake the feeling that that hideous, rage-faced wolf could be anywhere, waiting to spring on me and tear my throat out. I had to run up the driveway with the trash bags bumping and knocking against me, then dash back as quickly as possible into the house! It was weird. I was literally petrified with horror by that movie, even though I knew in my rational mind that such things did not exist.

Today, having seen the movie so many times and studied its production in depth, I can admire the film for what it is: a brilliant tour-de-force of black humor, shocks and jolts, genius make-up effects and puppetry, and a witty and intelligent script. If it is in any way flawed, it's simply that it isn't quite long enough; but then again, "always leave 'em wanting more" is a tried-and-true maxim of the entertainment industry. There need be no more; the film is note-perfect. Landis and Baker were born to make this film, and I seriously doubt that its high-water mark will ever be reached, let alone exceeded.

 

Good post Merlin, can I just say I had the same kind of trauma for years afterwards as well!

 

It's a very witty film that wears well.

 

Don't feel bad, my brother watched it and had to sleep in my bed that night

 

What`s people on here`s views on the sequel? Personally I thought it was pretty dire, not a patch on the original. It tried WAY too hard to capture some of what made the 1st one so good, and ended up feeling totally forced IMO

 

Yeah, Merlin, I'm 27 and I still won't watch the movie alone and/or in the dark. I think it traumatized me a little as I was 5 when I first viewed it.

Edit: that's the only movie I can say that about.