An American Werewolf In London (John Landis, 1981)
"Beware the moon, lads"
It's a horror film, but it's funny! Landis' horror classic still stands strong today, which is testament to the amazing visual effects created by Rick Baker.
Jack & David are great pals. They are also Yankees in England, which means that they are outsiders. They wander across the moors (actually Wales, but countryside is countryside), where they draw suspicion from the locals. Despite vague warnings to "stay off t'moors" and to "stick t'road", the Yank pals go a wanderin' at night -during a full moon- and get attacked by some kind of mad beast. Jack gets killed, but David survives the grizly attack, and winds up in a London hospital getting looked after by the very lovely nurse Price (Jenny Agutter).
Sure enough, come the next full moon, David begins to change... it appears he is the remaining bloodline of the werewolf! He must kill or be killed!
Landis' script is about right for this type of genre; it meanders about a little bit too much, and lacks a little suspense at times, which appears to have been replaced with the comedy. But all those errors are small, as the highly effective, and bloodily realistic effects are the main reason to see this film. Landis litters the film with some very nice shock tactics, usually within dream sequences, and the growling DTS soundtrack on this 'full moon' blu-ray edition certainly add to the experience.
As I mentioned, Rick Baker's FX are remarkable, and even with the added definition and detail of this HD version, the FX still look amazing. In fact, the video quality on werewolf is also amazing. Sure, the early scenes on 'the moors', and some occasional interior shots can be a little bit noisy, but the AV on show here really is excellent. Universal have done a great job of a horror classic. Add to this some very interesting extras, and this truly is the ultimate release of An American Werewolf In London. I am very much impressed.
An American Werewolf In London is one of Landis' best films. Just check out the stunt-action carnage set in Piccadilly Circus. Oh, and watch out for 'Brenda Bristols'. What an enjoyable film this is!
