An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London caught me off guard in several respects. The practical effects are elite, and still hold up 45 years later, and this being the movie that won the very first Best Makeup award at the Oscars makes perfect sense. The werewolf transformation scene is still held up as the best of the werewolf subgenre and rightfully so. While this movie isn’t scary per se to an avid horror fan, the body horror in that scene alone more than makes up for it. Besides the effects, the dialogue in the film feels really natural and the comedy is well timed and incredibly timeless. E thinks the romance to be unnecessary, but I thought it made perfect sense to continue David and Jack’s storyline of youthful aspirations, and add further stakes and tragedy to David’s plight. I read that John Landis wrote this as a straightforward horror but then directed it as a comedy and it really does feel that way, as there is a lightness to all the lines that keeps an otherwise extremely dark movie balanced, and I feel the iconic ending to this film was it’s own brilliant comedy beat. I really vibed with it, and if you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend it.

-Z

A great blend of horror and comedy that holds up surprisingly well! The visuals of the werewolf in question were actually really impressive. There is a love story that feels a little unnecessary, but otherwise, the plot is really focused in and is really quite funny. A great October watch that I’d highly recommend!

-E

Z 8.75
E 8.0
J n/a

~ZEJ 8.38