An American Werewolf In London

Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne
Written by: John Landis

Director: John Landis
Year: 1981

Rating: * * *     Stars       +       (Fan Bonus *   )  Total: * * * * 

Two American tourists backpack their way across England's countryside, where they are attacked by a werewolf. 

David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) are college friends hitchhiking across the English countryside when they're dropped off at a small English village. Stopping in the local tavern to get out of the cold and wet weather, they're treated rather coldly by the locals who seem to keep to themselves. Eventually they do warm up to them a bit until Jack asks about the strange symbol painted on the wall. They're told to leave, but warned not to go in the marshes and stick to the roads. Of course, the two of them pay this warning little heed as they continue to banter endlessly as they walk and suddenly find themselves in the marshes, and off the road. Under the full moon they're attacked by a werewolf. jack is ripped to pieces, but as David gets attacked, the villagers shoot and kill the wolf. Unfortunately it's too late. The curse has been passed down to David.

Awakening in a hospital, David begins to have both nightmares and hallucinations. He believes his friend Jack is coming back from the dead to warn him of what he'll become and he should kill himself before it's too late. The Nurse, Alex Price (Jenny Agutter) a bit of a cougar, takes a liking to David, putting him up at her flat when he's released from the hospital. Of course, when the next full moon hits, David changes into a bestial wolf and begins hunting man in the urban landscape of London.

This movie is leaps and bounds over previous werewolf films simply for the special effects alone. The transformation sequences are frighting, and seem painful to endure. Flesh stretches, bones contort in unnatural configurations, hair grows out of the skin, features distort, all the while David screams in agony. Another thing that makes this film work is David's likability. David Naughton plays a lovable, unassuming character that is easily relatable to contemporary audiences. This makes the curse all the more terrible as we sympathize with his plight.

The juxtaposition of contemporary Americans trudging though English folklore is complimented by the notion of a wolf of superstitious legend hunting in a modern day city landscape. Comedic moments are kept to a minimum, and are practical to the narrative. For example, when David wakes up naked at the zoo and steals the kids balloons to cover up, are light hearted scenes that also illustrate the complexities he deals with while having this curse.

Even today, An American Werewolf In London holds up as a true fright-fest. There was a sequel of sorts made years later, An American Werewolf in Paris, which relied more on CGI and comedy, than true visual effects and horror. It was a passable follow-up, but nothing compared to its predecessor.

SEE THE TRAILER: An American Werewolf In London