 |
|
|
|
| | | |
| MatchFlick Member Reviews |
All Movie Info
Starring:
David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine, Lila Kaye, David Schofield, Brian Glover, Rik Mayall, Frank Oz, Paul Kember, Sydney Bromley, Frank Singuineau, Michael Carter, George Hilsdon, Alan Ford, Christine Hargreaves, Susan Spencer, John Owens, Vic Armstrong, John Landis, Joe Belcher, Sean Baker, Paddy Ryan, Anne-Marie Davies, Colin Fernandes, Albert Moses, Michele Brisigotti, Mark Fisher, Gordon Sterne, Paula Jacobs, Claudine Bowyer, Johanna Crayden, Nina Carter, Geoffrey Burridge, Brenda Cavendish, Christopher Scoular, Mary Tempest, Cynthia Powell, Will Leighton, Elizabeth Bradley, Rufus Deakin, Lesley Warde, Gerry Lewis, Dennis Fraser, Peter Ellis, Denise Stephens, Linzi Drew, Lucien Morgan, Gypsy Dave Cooper, John Salthouse, John Altman, Keith Hodiak, Roger Rowland, John Cannon, Simon van Collem, Don McKillop, Bob Babenia, Ken Sicklen
Directed By:
John Landis
Written By:
John Landis
|
|
|
| |
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Jarrod 
March 10th, 2008
|  |
'An American Werewolf in London' is probably the best werewolf movie ever made, or at least my favorite, along with The Howling. It also matches The Howling in the distinction of having the greatest (certainly the most convincing) transformation, which is not only gruesome, but also looks very painful, which it most assuredly would have to be. David and Jack (David Naughton, Griffin Dunne) are tourists in England, backpacking their way through Europe. They find a nice little country pub with a hostile and superstitious clientele, who warn them ominously about full moons and a creature that seems to be lurking in the moors. They don't heed this advice and get attacked by a werewolf, which the locals kill. Jack dies; David survives, and wakes up in a London hospital. There, he falls for a cute nurse named Alex Price (Jenny Agutter). She offers to let him share her flat (and bed) until he fully recovers and can find a way home. David thinks he has gone insane when he actually sees Jack, who appears multiple times in various forms of decomposition (thanks to the Oscar-winning makeup of Rick Baker) to tell David that he is now a wolf and the only way for both of them to be free of this curse is for David to kill himself. David is obviously hesitant; it takes a whole night of bloodthirsty carnage for it all to sink in. The film is both funny and scary, and strikes just the right balance between horror and comedy, especially with Jack, who is eventually nothing more than a skeleton, his whole face rotted away, and joined by David's other victims, who cheerfully discuss with him the ways in which he could commit suicide, all while sitting in a porn theater.
It is a triumph for writer-director John Landis, and it was this film that got him picked by Michael Jackson to do his landmark video for Thriller. Of course, John Landis should be able to nail the comedy, since he is the man responsible for Animal House and The Blues Brothers. Watching this allows one to understand what a complete misfire An American Werewolf in Paris was, and how it tried to be a horror-romance rather than a horror-comedy. I don't know if this movie quite surpasses The Howling, but it comes close, and certainly has a stronger sense of humor. David Naughton is better-known for being a one-hit wonder, with his chart-topping single "Makin' It", which got him a spot in a Dr. Pepper commercial. Thanks to VH1 for that useless knowledge.
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
