Netflix Picks: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

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MOVIE:
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

YEAR:
1981

CAST:
David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine

PLOT:

John Landis writes and directs this bloody yet black humor-injected thriller that tells the story of American backpacker David (David Naughton), who, after surviving a vicious werewolf attack that left his friend, Jack (Griffin Dunne), dead, becomes a murderous werewolf himself. Prowling the streets of London, David learns that his living-dead victims will wander in limbo until he is dead. This film garnered an Oscar for Best Makeup.

There are no other movies out there like John Landis’ AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, but in my ideal world there would be.  Every time I watch the film, I inevitably end up daydreaming about the subgenre it should have created if other directors or Landis himself had followed its lead. As it is, I’m left admiring WEREWOLF as the lone wolf it remains to this day.

When Landis wrote and directed WEREWOLF in 1981, he had already firmly established his reputation with his last two films—ANIMAL HOUSE (1978) and BLUES BROTHERS (1980). BLUES BROTHERS was second only to Spielberg’s 1941 in the category of most expensive films made up to that point and so it must have seemed strange when he decided to follow his success with an entry into the niche market of monster/horror. As you can imagine, the marketing relied on ANIMAL HOUSE puns and assurances of how much it will make you laugh.

The thing is, unlike the ads and the plot summary above would lead you to believe, WEREWOLF isn’t horror comedy like EVIL DEAD (released the same year) but something far stranger and more wonderful. Instead of high farce, Landis uses dark irony and subtle gallows humor. Rather than opening with the day-glo flash of a typical 80s opening credits and the clever camp of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves in London, WEREFWOLF opens with slow paced shots of the English moors and a haunting, country-western version of “Blue Moon.” Funny? Yes, but also bittersweet and even a little beautiful.

What WEREWOLF shares with his previous films is Landis’ commitment to selling each scene by playing it straight. The funny scenes are funny because the protagonists, David and Jack, are funny. The central romance between David and his nurse is understated and completely believable. And the horror elements are handled just as well, tapping Jim Henson and Rick Baker, who would go on to dominate special effects for the 80s, to create what I still find to be the best looking werewolf on film. WEREWOLF would convince Michael Jackson to later hire Landis for the gig of directing the video to “Thriller.”

Maybe the best thing is that Landis manages to works zombies into the film as well.  He introduces the idea that the victims of werewolves are forced to walk the earth undead, which sets up one of my all time favorite movie scenes.  Jack, who is killed by a werewolf early on, leads David into a porn theatre where David’s victims as a werewolf wait. After introducing themselves, they proceed to argue about the best way for David to kill himself and stop any further deaths. This manages to be one of the funniest parts of the film and the creepiest because, unlike most horror movies and many comedies for that matter, you care deeply about the characters.

Ultimately it comes down to this: if the thought of an earnest lovemaking scene set to “Moondance” by Van Morrison taking place in the middle of a horror film turns your stomach, I wouldn’t recommend this film.  But if you are intrigued by the idea of a film that can pull off the monsters and gore without sacrificing humor and well-rounded characters, check out AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON.

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is available on Netflix Watch Instantly here.