An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London

Director: John Landis. Cast: Joe Belcher, David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, David Schofield, Brian Glover

A good (actual a great) friend of mine posted about this film not long ago and ever since I’ve had a sudden urge to re-watch it again after years and years of abstinence.

I would have loved to have been able to see people’s reactions at the time, watching this unusual mix of horror, gore and comedy. It was certainly a first! And you know what? The comedy is still funny (“a naked man has stolen my balloon”) and the horror is still damn scary (the atmosphere in the woods at the start, the scene in the “tube” station… ). I’d love to test it with somebody who has never seen it. This film still contains one of the biggest jump scare I can ever remember in any film (the nightmare within a nightmare).But the real novelty here was actually to see both genres working at the same time within the same scenes as you keep finding yourself laughing and covering your eyes at the same time (the final mayhem in Piccadilly Circus is still incredible: masterfully choreographed and edited).

The choices of music was also very inspired, from the old classics blue moon (and its wacky rendition over the end credits, to brilliant Moondance by Van Morison And then of course the special effects, which were revolutionary and still very effective 40 years later (yes, you heard me right: this is its 40th anniversary!). It may have lost some of its edge and yes it does have some flaws (the abrupt ending always bugged me a little bit) but I’ve been claiming for years that this was one of my favourite horror movies of all time and tonight I’m going to stick with the statement.

I’m happy to report that I still love it and found things in it which are not just unique, but have hardly been done better since.