A Reel 40: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

“Stay on the road, Keep clear of the moors.”

 

This month marks the 40^th anniversary of John Landis’ horror/comedy, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. 

 

The hairy beginnings of AMERICAN WEREWOLF go back as far as 1969, when a young John Landis was working as a production assistant on KELLY’S HEROES in Yugoslavia. There, Landis observed a group of gypsies performing a ritual during a burial to prevent the body from rising from the grave. Inspired, Landis developed his idea into a script about two American backpackers in Northern England who are attacked by a werewolf, with one surviving with the terrible curse every full moon, and the other doomed to walk the Earth undead until the curse is lifted. 

 

Nothing came of Landis’ script for over a decade, and he went on to direct hits such as ANIMAL HOUSE (1978), and THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980). Although most studios considered the WEREWOLF screenplay, which was a blend of horror and comedy, to be too scary to be a full-blown comedy, he eventually secured a deal with PolyGram Pictures to bring the wolf to the screen. 

 

Filming would take place on location, with David Naughton playing David; the young man who is bitten by the wolf and transforms into the creature every full moon. Griffen Dunne plays his friend who is killed, and comes back from the grave with a warning for David; kill yourself and end the bloodline. The lovely and talented Jenny Agutter plays a nurse who falls in love with David. Makeup and visual effects were handled by Rick Baker, and Elmer Bernstein provided the score. The film’s soundtrack also featured pop-hits with “moon” in the title, such as Blue Moon, Moondance, and Bad Moon Rising. 

 

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON was a critical and box office hit, earning $62 million worldwide against its $5 million budget. It would win the first-ever Academy Award for Best Makeup, along with the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. Today, it is considered a milestone in the horror/comedy genre and for its innovative makeup effects. 

 

*

 

The history books may label AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON as a hybrid of horror and comedy, but this Blogger, like many others, find the film to be a true horror classic. Yes, it has some dry humor, humorous exchanges, and a quirky situation or two…but the horror elements outweigh all of that. From the startling transformation scenes, to the unsettling nightmares, to the horrific makeup done on the mauled bodies of the walking dead, to the foreboding atmosphere, John Landis delivers a film full of terrors. The humor balances it out and the film never takes itself too seriously as there is a self-awareness that grounds it. After 40 years, this wolf has lost none of its bite. 

 

“Beware the moon, lads…”