An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Plot Outline: Two American tourists are touring England when one night as they walking alone over the moors, they are attacked by a werewolf. One of them dies but the other survives and is taken to hospital where he not only starts to get close to a nurse but he starts having visions of hunting on four legs. As soon as a full moon comes, the next thing you know he is turning into the werewolf himself and savaging the people of London.

The Review: I've not been a fan of werewolf films in general (Dog Soldiers is pardoned from this statement) especially since having put up with the awful The Howling, which is one of the most over-rated horror films I've seen - not to mention it's endless array of sequels. An American Werewolf in London is nowhere near as bad as The Howling but it still falls short of what it's cracked up to be. Maybe this would have been better if it had been a straightforward horror film and not a comedy. I mean there are some scary and atmospheric scenes in this film such as when the two friends are walking in the darkness across the moor and can here the werewolf in the distance. That is a great scene but unfortunately, the comic aspect soon drops in. This is mainly thanks to the annoying sidekick who is dead but caught between two worlds and keeps decaying every scene. It's not funny - it's just gross and cheap humour to watch him talk as his cheek drops off or something similar. Compared to the scenes where an unlucky punter gets stalked through the London Underground and you'll see how scary the film can get. A good point about this film is that there is no CGI here, folks. What you get is good old fashioned make-up and it deservedly won an Oscar. The transformation scene is one of the best FX sequences ever filmed and it's amazing to think they did it using make-up and camera trickery (the best bit about The Howling was also the transformation). But there is just something that doesn't click for me with the film and it's the comedy side. The "undead" best friend gets annoying really quicky - take him out of the film and you'd have had another 20 minutes to throw in a few more scares and stalk scenes. This is one werewolf you're not going to get away from as the cast find to their dismay when they all try and outrun it.

Final Verdict: An American Werewolf in London isn't the classic it is supposed to be by any means. But it's the best werewolf film of the 80s and 90s and for a dose of 80s horror, you could do a lot worse than checking this out. But if you want a great werewolf flick, check out Dog Soldiers and put this little pup to the back of your mind.

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