AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981 - HORROR / COMEDY / WEREWOLF FLICK) **** out of ***** OR 8 out of 10
(Did you hear something fart out there on the moors, dude?)
CAST: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine, Don McKillop, Paul Kember, Lila Kaye, Rik Mayall, Sean Baker, Brian Glover, David Schofield.
DIRECTOR: John Landis
IT'S LIKE THIS: For anyone planning to go backpacking in England soon, I highly suggest watching our next "31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN" review. If you still want to go to the UK after seeing it, then please at least update your life insurance and settle up all your personal affairs. Trust me - this is a movie that the British Tourism Board doesn't want you to see.
Our two protagonists are American college students doing the tourist thang in England. They are David Kessler (David Kessler) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne), and let's just say that these two goobers have a different idea of a British vacation than I do. If I can't stay in a hotel, then I'm staying in the States. To be fair, though, David and Jack probably have budget constraints. But, come on: they're both fairly decent-looking guys. Surely trading sexual favors for free room and board is an option.
Whatever. Anyhow, we first meet our not-long-to-this-Earth Yankee twosome as they are trekking along the foggy, damp, cold moors of Yorkshire in the middle of the night. Yes, already this adventure is looking pretty awesome. At least the full moon is out so David and Jack don't have to worry about stumbling over a tiny mountain of cow dung. Thank god for small favors. Oh, and did I mention there's a full moon out? I did? My bad. I just wanted to make sure that I did point that out. A-hem!
Anyway, David and Jack eventually stumble across a swinging pub in the middle of the moors called - and I swear I'm not making this up - "The Slaughtered Lamb." Yup, like I said - the trip is just turning into one hell of a blast. Fortunately, the crowd inside the pub is pretty amiable and friendly. At least up until the moment, Jack notices a pentagram painted on the wall, which prompts him to ask at the top of his voice: "What's that for!?" Let's just say the entire pub goes dead quiet abruptly - and gives a collective glare him like he just let loose a loud foghorn of a fart.
Well, it's pretty much downhill from there because the mood of the "The Slaughtered Lamb's" patrons curdles faster than fresh milk in the Equator. Sensing that maybe, just maybe, they should've just kept their fucking mouths shut, David and Jack hightail it out of there and onto the moors. After they leave, the pub owner (Llla Kaye) tells the patrons that "someone should go after them..." I wonder why? Could there be something... dangerous out on the moors? Is that pentagram painted on the wall there to protect the bar from... something? Hmmmmmmmmmm....
Before we can ponder this too much, David and Jack suddenly hear some, uh, howling off in the distance. That's when they decide to return to "The Slaughtered Lamb" - asshole patrons or not. Unfortunately, before they can even take a dozen steps back in the direction they came from, something leaps out of the dark and makes hamburger out of Jack - and takes a chomp out of David. Fortunately, before the "thing" can turn David into meatloaf, too, those jerks from the bar finally show up with the guns to help our two Americans. That bar lady probably said she'd never serve another fucking drink ever again if they didn't go after our heroes and save them from whatever is lurking on them thar moors.
So the "rescue team" of drunk bastards shoots whatever animal is attacking David. The strange thing is, when they go off into the dark to find the body, they just find a naked man curled up on the ground. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... That's weird. Could've sworn there was a big-ass furry thing with claws and fangs just standing there a minute ago. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
Cut about a month or so later to London, where David wakes up in a local hospital. Naturally, he's feeling like a shit after having been mauled by that marauding naked man. His attending physician, Dr. Hirsch (John Woodvine) says that he just needs to take it easy and get his strength back. Well, I wouldn't take it too easy, David, because London hospitals are pretty expensive and let's not forget you could barely afford to stay in a hotel - which is why you and your pal got your asses ripped off and handed to you on the moors of Yorkshire in the first place. Just keeping it real.
Well, apparently, David is either a trust fund baby or has someone rich hiding on the sidelines who really loves him, because he seems to take his sweet ol' time getting better. Of course, if I had a nurse who looked exactly like Jenny Agutter, I would probably be doing some malingering, too. Her name is Alex Price and you know she just can't wait until it's time to give David a sponge bath. And vice versa. Yup, looks like Davey's luck has been holding up: he survived a vicious, bloody attack and has a nurse as hot as Jenny Agutter fawning on him. If it weren't for the slight inconvenience of his best pal Jack being, you know, dead as a door nail the trip would be perfect.
Well, the sudden nightmares that David starts to have where he dreams he's a wild beast running through the forest and slaughtering deer are also kind of a downer. Oh, and I should add that Jack also starts appearing to David in ghostly, ghastly form - looking exactly like he did when he was murdered. Jack pretty much gives David the 411 from beyond the grave, and it goes a little something like this: "Dude, I was killed by a werewolf and you got bitten by him - which means when the next full moon comes, your ass is going to get REALLY hairy. Oh, and you'll grow fangs and claws, too. So you should kill yourself while you're ahead - because London has strict rules against stray animals. Just my two cents."
Then David's cravings begin...
Is Jack's ghost right? Did a werewolf kill him and bite David? Is that why the bar patrons were so jumpy? Are the townspeople hiding something? And what happens when Dr. Hirsch goes to the town to dig more into the mystery of what killed Jack? What will he find out? And how will things turn out between David and Alex when he checks out of the hospital and checks in to her apartment? Aren't they taking this relationship a little fast? And what happens when the "animal" inside David finally erupts? How will Alex defend herself?
Easy: rub his hairy belly, dear, and watch him turn to putty. Watch out for that kicking leg, though. And don't forget to toss him his ball.
BUT SERIOUSLY: in 1981, back-to-back Werewolf Films were released that did well domestically and internationally. In fact, these two films are now widely-recognized to be classics. These film were THE HOWLING (review # 526) and our latest "31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN" review: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. While both tackle the subject of lycanthropy and infuse their respective narratives with black humor, THE HOWLING is much more of broodingly atmospheric horror film, while AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is a hybrid of horror, romance, and comedy. And, save for the early sequence in the Yorkshire moors, the latter has a less claustrophobic feel than the former. Ultimately, despite their superficial similarities in subject, the execution and plot structure of these two diverge notably.
I prefer THE HOWLING a little bit more than AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON because I like more horror than humor in a fright flick. I've alway been a firm believer that a movie should know what it is at heart before trying to add on some "accents." For example, SCREAM was a scary, entertaining film because, even though it had lots of humor, the yuks never got in the way of the horror, the way it did in THE CABIN IN THE WOODS. There's an old Chinese proverb that says: "He who chases two rabbits, loses both...." That's how I feel about films that try to equally straddle two or more genres - invariably they end up losing all their target audiences, because the whole is often much less than its parts.
Fortunately, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is that rare Horror/Romance/Comedy that is scary, touching, and funny - all in equal, effective measures - without the entire narrative suffering as a whole. Credit must go to John Landis' assured direction and an engaging cast that knows how to play it for laughs - and for real. Landis never neglects the "horror" part of the mix as he is humanizing the characters through humor and building up the connection between David and Alex. He also deftly combines chills and chuckles in all the scenes where Jack's eviscerated ghost (and the ghosts of David's victims) come back to "counsel" David. In the hands of another less skillful director, this delicate balance of humor, scares, and romance may have come crashing down - but Landis makes it work.
David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, and Jenny Agutter are top-notch and sharp in their leading roles. The side players are mostly Brit thesps who lend solid support to the central trio and, in addition to the local English locations, imbue an air of authentic quirk to the proceedings. The climax in Leicester Square in downtown London is particularly colorful. Overall, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is more of an entertaining roller-coaster ride than a true horror film like THE HOWLING, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
After all, some people like their horror to be mixed in with the jokes to the point that they are screaming and laughing in the same breath. Fortunately, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON does this very gracefully - and therefore very effectively. Unlike certain recent films I could mention.
I'm looking at you, CABIN IN THE WOODS.
