|
 AN
AMERICAN
WEREWOLF
IN
LONDON
With
David
Naughton,
Jenny
Agutter,
Griffin
Dunne,
John
Woodvine,
David
Schofield,
Rik
Mayall,
Lila
Kaye,
Frank
Oz
Written
&
Directed
by
John
Landis
Released
in
1981,
this
movie
actually
came
a
very
long
way.
Director
John
Landis
wrote
this
in
the
late-'60s,
but
no-one
seemed
to
grasp
the
combination
of
horror
and
comedy.
This
was
just
as
well,
since
the
stalling
made
it
possible
for
one
of
the
world's
top
make-up
FX
artists
to
rise
to
prominence
and
develop
what
led
to
the
(still)
amazing
benchmark
transformation
effects.
On
a
full
moon
night
two
American
lads
(David
&
Jack)
are
attacked
while
backpacking
through
the
moors
in
England.
Jack
is
mutilated
and
killed,
and
David
wounded.
The
attacker
was
shot
-
but
while
it
was
the
corpse
of
a
man,
at
the
time
of
attack,
he
was
everything
but.
Soon
after,
while
recovering
(and
falling
for
the
nurse
taking
care
of
him),
David
is
visited
by
the
hideous
corpse
of
Jack,
telling
him
he's
a
werewolf
and
that
by
the
next
full
moon
he
will
turn
into
a
monster
and
kill
people
-
unless
he
kills
himself
of
course.
That's
easier
said
than
done
in
any
circumstances,
and
besides,
if
he'd
done
that
we
wouldn't
get
to
experience
the
extraordinary
(pre-digital)
prosthetic
special
make-up
effects
by
Rick
Baker
(winning
an
Oscar
for
his
fantastic
efforts).
The
sequence
where
David
changes
into
a
monster
shows
every
detail
and
remains
a
cinematic
landmark.
Baker
and
Landis
were
destined
to
make
this
movie,
having
had
their
first
collaboration
on
Landis'
first
movie
Schlock
(1973).
But,
while
unforgettable,
make-up
is
not
the
movie's
only
feature
-
the
pitch-black
sense
of
humour
Landis
gave
the
piece
further
added
to
making
it
a
movie
unlike
any
other
before
it.
This
type
of
horror-comedy
theme
has
become
commonplace
(like
Zombieland
for
instance),
but
decades
later,
this
movie
is
still
so
watchable,
so
funny,
so
entertaining
and
downright
incredible.
A
true
classic.
For
those
of
us
who
endured
dodgy
VHS
tapes
watched
to
ribbons,
this
Blu-ray
release
not
only
gives
it
to
you
in
the
best
picture
and
audio
quality
yet,
but
also
bulges
with
fantastic
extras.
Some
of
these
include
a
highly
informative
making-of
documentary,
which
also
featured
on
the
DVD
release.
But,
a
great
addition
is
the
feature
length
retrospective
documentary
Beware
The
Moon
(which
won
Best
Documentary
at
the
2009
South
African
HORRORFEST
Film
Festival).
It
revisits
many
of
the
locations
and
cover
in-depth
interviews
with
the
movie-makers,
including
actors
portraying
major
and
minor
characters.
After
its
screening
at
the
2009
South
African
HORRORFEST
Film
Festival
(where
John
Landis
could
unfortunately
not
attend
due
to
being
in
production
on
a
new
project,
Burke
and
Hare),
both
he
and
Rick
Baker
were
inducted
into
the
South
African
HORRORFEST
Hall
Of
Fame.
6
/
A
-
Paul
Blom
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
-
A
-
B
-
C
To
win
a
Blu-ray
copy
of
AMERICAN
WEREWOLF,
click
here
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