In 1981, John Landis was on quite a roll. The director had successively had three hits in a row that had put him on the Hollywood “A” list. In 1977, Landis teamed with Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers on Kentucky Fried Movie, a film consisting of several skits that all featured slapstick type humor. The film was the forerunner to several films produced by the Abrahams/Zucker team from Airplane! to the Naked Gun films.
Landis followed this film up with two monster hits that skyrocketed John Belushi to stardom. Animal House paved the way for everything from Porky’s to American Pie, and The Blues Brothers is the most raucous Musical/Comedy/Car Chase ever put on film. Each film took in over a $100 Million worldwide and gave Landis the opportunity to pick any project he wished.
Landis would go back to a script he had actually written years before. In 1969, Landis was a production assistant in Yugoslavia working on the Clint Eastwood film Kelly’s Heroes. According to Landis, while working in the country he witnessed a Gypsy funeral. During the process, the coffin was laced with garlic. Landis was fascinated by the event and after further investigation found that the garlic was to prevent the dead from returning to life. The man was so wrapped up in the event he wrote a screenplay about what it would be like if one of your friends returned from the grave. That screenplay turned into what would be another hit for Landis and one of the most enduring Horror Films of the decade.
An American Werewolf in London Starring David Naughton and Griffin Dunne.
Directed by John Landis.
Right off the bat, Landis sets the mood for the film you are about to watch. With the opening credits comes the sound of The Marcel’s Blue Moon. As an “in joke”, every song on the soundtrack includes the word moon in it. Landis really wanted to use the rendition sung by Bob Dylan. Unfortunately, the singer had recently found religion and based on the film’s content, refused to allow his song to be on the soundtrack.
From the film’s opening the shot pans down to see two friends, David and Jack, on a cross-country hike through Europe. The duo is on the English countryside hitchhiking and enjoying the sights. Originally, studio executives wanted this picture to be another vehicle for John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Landis was completely opposed to this, and eventually got his way.
Instead Landis eventually cast David Naughton and Griffin Dunne in the leads. The decision turned out to be an inspired one as the two have natural chemistry that is immediately evident. The banter between the two seems completely natural as if you’re listening to a conversation between two life long friends. Aykroyd and Belushi would have been distracting because of their star power. As is, the two actors cast seem like everymen, so their plight is more easily sympathetic.
Everything starts to go badly for the two when they enter a small country pub called, “The Slaughtered Lamb”. Landis does an expert job of creating mood in this section of the piece, as the patrons soon get belligerent toward the two Americans once they start asking too many questions. Forced to leave, the two decide not to heed the warnings of the barmaid to stay on the main road while traveling.
The plot of An American Werewolf in London is really nothing new to the genre. Very much like the classic 1941 The Wolf Man, our hero is attacked by a huge wolf like creature, after recovery he is returned to society, and then horrible things start to happen. The horrible murders of several people eventually build to a grand finale and then a final showdown.
The horror scenes of the film are handled with a lot of class and style. Where most filmmakers would have made a straight genre film with tons of gore, Landis instead crafts a picture of style and humor. The initial attack is handled with class and atmosphere instead of a sensationalist type filmmaking. The wolf is hardly seen at all and point of view shots are used quite effectively.
Jack dies in the attack in the English countryside, but as David recovers in a London hospital, his friend returns in a zombie/specter-like state. Jack explains that he is in limbo until the werewolf’s bloodline is finally cut. Unfortunately, David is now the sole heir to this werewolf legacy. These conversations are pretty hilarious as Jack seems to be decaying further and further as time goes on. Also, the energetic dialogue keeps up between the two. “Have you tried talking to a corpse? It’s boring,” Jack complains to his lycanthrope friend.
Griffin Dunne sells this character so well. His deadpan performance is a big highlight to the picture. Even as his body keeps degrading, he completely ignores it. As David keeps killing people, he even gets more company and confronts his friend about their fate. A hilarious sequence has Jack followed by a pack of corpses, trying to talk David into killing himself while all of them are sitting in a porno theater.
Often problems creep up in a character like David’s as many times an actor will simply rely on makeup to carry the performance. Apparently, Landis cast the actor after seeing him in a Dr. Pepper commercial. An American Werewolf in London works because David Naughton makes you believe his character is just your everyday college student, and not a Hollywood actor playing a werewolf. He is struggling hard with his inner demon and eventually has to own up to what’s going on.
Landis constructs bizarre dream sequences during this period of the film. In one David as a child is watching The Muppet Show when suddenly Nazi storm troopers burst through the door. At this point David notices that the troops are actually grotesque monsters. David also has several dreams about his transformations before they actually take place.
Things are complicated when Alex (Jenny Agutter), a nurse at the London hospital caring for David, falls in love with him. Agutter is particularly lovely in this role, allowing the onscreen relationship to avoid the tendency of feeling forced. When David moves into her flat, the scenes are filled with great optimism, but David’s fate is sealed.
When David’s transformation finally takes place, makeup maestro Rick Baker takes over. The initial sequence of transformation looks excruciating for David, making the experience visceral and heaping pathos upon the character. David’s hands elongate, and sound as if his bones are breaking. His spine looks as if it is going through the same process as he starts to take a dog-like form. For his amazing effort, Rick Baker would win his first Oscar.
Most of the werewolf scenes are actually a large and very life-like puppet. Landis displays a real flair in the killing scenes. These really break away from the comic aspects of the film and give you a really primeval experience. Point of view shots once again run throughout, shielding the monster to the point it’s hard to make him out. The monster’s full reveal isn’t really until the final chase at the film’s end.
Landis had previously orchestrated The Blues Brothers’ final chase through Chicago. That film’s finale was an orgy of Police cars, Nazis, cowboys, the National Guard and seemingly hundreds of cars crashing right on top of one another. An American Werewolf in London has a sequence not quite as lavish, but in the same spirit. The werewolf is loose on the streets of London and causing havoc. Police vehicles once again crash violently. Pedestrians are crushed in between cars. Not even England’s famous double-decker buses are safe from the melee.
The only problem with the film is perhaps the anticlimactic feeling of the film’s final moments. Up until that point, the film is expertly crafted with humor and horror used in equal measure. Landis was able to suck in his audience by making his characters as believable as possible, and then putting them in a horrible situation. You care about David and whether he’s going to make it or whether he’ll end up killing Alex.
The best films that deal with werewolves have an element of inescapable human tragedy. Lesser Horror films, such as Van Helsing, just have werewolves as another monster and nothing more. Werewolf films often are perhaps second only to Frankenstein pictures as having the highest quotient of human tragedy. An American Werewolf in London is near the top of the list not only because the werewolf itself looks absolutely frightening, it’s due to the fact that its human element is so identifiable. These people seem real enough that their tragedy affects us, not just scares us.
It’s really incredible that Landis could create a film with such insight, considering his previous big budget films were rambunctious and over the top. Unfortunately, Landis would never reach these heights again. Since An American Werewolf in London his filmography has been rife with mediocrity, but he will always have this crowning Horror achievement. Few filmmakers really get to make a picture that ends up being a hallmark of a genre. Landis can be proud to have one under his belt.
Picture Credits: impawards.com, badmovies.org, moviebox.se
