Review of An American Werewolf in London (1981) by Jeremy K — 19 Feb 2014

You wouldn't think there could be any werewolf film to top "The Wolf Man." This movie doesn't quite do that, but it does a very good thing for the werewolf film: it modernizes it, keeps the myth intact while still doing something different. That's what you get with "An American Werewolf in London," a great special effects show that has plenty of character as well as humor.

David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) are college kids backpacking in England; they stop one night at a pub called The Slaughtered Lamb. They ask about a pentagram on the wall, but are met with hostility from the patrons. They leave with warnings of "Beware the moon" and "Keep to the road." Of course, they wonder off the road as a full moon rises; then a large animal attacks them. Jack is killed but David survives and awakens three weeks later; then Jack's corpse tells him that he is now a werewolf.

This does not play out like a typical horror movie. As I said, this movie has a lot of humor, yet it doesn't feel satirist or smarmy; it mostly comes from the dialogue as well as some of the images. When we first see Jack as a corpse, the first thing he says is, "Can I have a piece of toast?" The movie's full of little moments like that which just crack me up, especially the brief moment when Dr. J.S. Hirsch (John Woodvine) is on the phone. "Just tell him I'm dead!" he says. Director and writer John Landis had recently directed "Animal House" and "The Blues Brothers," and he transitions well into the horror genre.

Of course, I have to mention the werewolf transformation scene. When David leaves the hospital to stay with the beautiful Nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter), he transforms while she is out. We see every single excruciating detail of this change, from his hands to his face to his legs, etc. The effects were done by Rick Baker using prosthetics and fake, robotic body parts. It's really outstanding work, and Baker won an Oscar for it; he would go on to win another one in 2010 for the remake of "The Wolfman," and he's won several others for his work in other film genres.

But while the transformation scenes look outstanding, the effects when he's an actual werewolf don't always look right, in my opinion. He somehow looks entirely different when he's an actual werewolf compared to when he's transforming. Also, the editing when he's attacking is way too choppy and fragmented; sometimes I can barely see what's happening. It could've been tightened up much better in moments like these.

But there are other times when the editing is quite clever. Throughout the film, David has some very unusual dreams; however, they don't play out like typical horror movie unusual dreams. For one thing, the movie makes it clear they're dreams. That's something I really like seeing in movies, when they show dreams without trying to fool you into thinking they aren't. It allows us to see what's really happening with the character's subconscious. And they aren't the typical shock-then-wake-up dreams; sometimes a shocking moment happens, and then it goes to an entirely different scene without a real transition. I would call this lazy, but it's somehow very clever here. However, there are a few typical dream scene jump-scares as well.

The ending is also something of an issue. It's set up well, but it seems like they didn't really have any ideas left. It's just a short chase scene, a little emotional talk, and then it's basically over. That's really a shame, in my opinion, because the majority of the film had so much creativity and had so many memorable moments; the ending just doesn't really follow through with it.

But it doesn't ruin the movie; if anything, it's just a tad weak. The rest of "An American Werewolf in London" works extremely well. What I admire most about the movie is basically how it tries to be different. It doesn't play out like a traditional horror film, and it's all the more enjoyable for it. The performances are solid, the dialogue is memorable and it's a good new twist on the classic werewolf story. It could've been tightened up a bit, but it's still very good.