An American Werewolf in London is a comedy-horror film, released August 21, 1981. It was written and directed by John Landis, most well-known for movies such as Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Coming to America. The movie revolves around two young Americans, David Kessler and Jack Goodman, who are attacked by a werewolf while on a backpacking trip in the English countryside, all while the locals refuse to acknowledge the creature's existence to those outside the village.
While critics didn't know what to make of it at the time, the movie has recieved praise for it's groundbreaking balance of humor and horror, as well as the makeup effects from the incredible Rick Baker. It helped jumpstart the careers of the two main actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne, as well as bring American attention to the British actors/locations within the film. It was awarded the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film, as well as the very first Academy Award for Best Makeup. The movie has since been regarded as one of the best horror films within the werewolf subgenre.
Plot
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The movie starts out with our two protagonists, David Kessler and Jack Goodman, on the back of a truck full of sheep. They hop off and begin walking on the road towards the village of East Procter. On the way, Jack talks about Debbie Klein, an old friend he's been trying to get with for years, and how he plans to make love to her once the two reach Italy.
The two boys reach East Procter, they find the pub, The Slaughtered Lamb. When they enter, they are given unnerving stares by the locals. While there, Jack notices a five-pointed star on the wall, pointing out how it's been used in movies as a ward against supernatural creatures. David insists he doesn't ask about it, but Jack does so anyway. This causes the pubgoers to become instantly cold and hostile, effectively kicking the boys out. Before they do however, they warn them to "stay off the moors, stick to the roads, and beware the moon".
While out on the moors, David and Jack get lost in the cold. After hearing a horrifying howl, they realize that a monster is out there waiting to attack them. They try to avoid the creature, to no avail. Jack is attacked first, being brutally killed. David is attacked next, but is saved by the locals after the werewolf is shot.
Three weeks later, David wakes up from a coma in a hospital bed in London. There he meets Dr. Hirsch, Inspector Villiers, and the nurse Alex Price, who later becomes a love interest and a source of comfort during his stay. During this time, he insists that he was attacked by a wolf, despite the authorities claiming it was an "escaped lunatic". While he begins to recover from his injuries, David begins to have gruesome nightmares. This ranges from him killing an eating a deer, witnessing a monsterous version of himself awaken in a hospital bed, and watching a group of werewolf Nazis kill his entire family.
The morning he's to be discharged, David sees Jack, horribly torn apart from the werewolf attack. After attempting to remain casual with him, Jack says that he has appeared David to warn him about the werewolf curse afflicting the both of them. Since David was attacked by a werewolf and survived, he is now a werewolf too. Jack tells him that he must kill himself before the next full moon, both so Jack can finally be put to rest, but to also prevent David from turning into a wolf and murdering innocent people.
Alex offers David to stay in her apartment after his discharge from the hospital. While she admits that she's attracted to him, she is also expresses concern about his current mental state. The next morning after the David and Alex have sex, Jack reappears again, now being in a deeper state of decay. He warns David about the full moon rising that night, and tells him again that he must kill himself. However, David refuses to believe him.
Meanwhile, Dr. Hirsch travels to East Procter to visit the locals there and ask about the attack that occured there. The pubgoers deny that David and Jack were even there, or that there is any sort of monster that lurks in the moors. However, as Dr. Hirsch begins to leave, one of the villagers approaches him, admitting that letting them leave the pub was a mistake, and warns him that David will become incredibly dangerous when the moon turns full.
That night, while all alone at Alex's apartment, David becomes under the influence of the full moon, and transforms into a werewolf. The whole process is incredibly painful, with David attempting to apologize to Jack for not listening to him. After the transformation is complete, he is able to escape Alex's apartment and goes on a killing spree. This includes mauling a young couple, three homeless men, and a man within the London Underground subway.
The next morning, David wakes up naked at the zoo within the wolf exhibit, with no recollection of what happened. After breaking out of the cage and stealing both a kid's balloons and a woman's coat, he heads back to Alex's apartment. Alex receives a call from Dr. Hirsch, asking her to bring David to the hospital. This ends up failing, as David hears from a taxi driver about the murders the previous night, realizing that he is the killer. He runs off and away from Alex, all while trying to get a street cop to arrest him. Later on, David calls his family to tell them he loves them, then makes an unsuccessful attempt at suicide.
When Alex returns to the hospital, Dr. Hirsch explains his theory about David's mental state to her. He hypothesizes that because of the mass neurosis displayed by those living in East Procter, their belief in the werewolf has caused David to believe that he has become a lycanthrope as well. Dr. Hirsch explains that he must not be arrested, but brought back to the hospital.
Afterwards, he sees Jack once again outside of a porno theater, in an even more dramatic state of decay. He enters the theater, where Jack introduces his fresh victims to him as a way to explain why the curse must be ended. The group then talk about different suicide methods, and which one they believe will be the most effective. However, the conversation is cut short when David transforms again, breaking out of the theater and causing complete chaos, decapitating Inspector Villiers in the process.
Alex and Dr. Hirsch are informed of where David is, and drive there to investigate. Once Alex sees David being back into an alleyway by the police, she breaks out of the car and the crowd of people/cops blocking the way. As an attempt to subdue a werewolf David, she expresses her love for him. However, the attempt is futile, and he is shot and killed by the police after he jumps at her. In the final moments, Alex sobs over David's body, which has now turned back into human form.
Adaptations/Fun Extras
I will be honest, this section is both for me and for you. For me, in the sense that I can finally organize all of the cool things I've found relating to this movie. For you, because you can go do some more exploring into this film if you so choose!
Adaptations
Yeah so there was a radio drama remake/adaptation for this movie. Kinda wild, huh?
It was made for BBC Radio 1 in 1997. Quite a few people from the original actually reprise their roles (ie Jenny Agutter as Alex, John Woodvine as Dr. Hirsch, Brian Glover as the chess player, etc.), although David and Jack are played by different actors (I actually really like William Dufris as Jack!).
While you definitely should listen to it simply for the novelty of it, there is actually a lot of world building in this not explored in the film! Jack has a much bigger role in this than the film (his interactions with the dead werewolf Larry are really funny), as well as Dr. Hirsch and the pubgoers of East Procter. There's also more explanation of not just how the werewolf curse works, but also how it affected the villagers and their way of life. There's also some added characterization to David and Jack. For example, the radio drama confirms that Jack is also Jewish, and David makes a comment that's of him admitting he's gay(?).
Since you can't really have straight-up horror on radio, there is more comedy than horror. This makes the audio drama a bit corny at times. Also, the voice acting can be a bit too much at times. Still, this is an absolutely fun time, and worth visiting if you're a big fan of the movie!
Meco - Impressions of An American Werewolf in London
Another extremely odd adaptation, Impression of An American Werewolf in London was released by the disco artist Meco, shortly after the film was released. Prior to this album, he was mainly known for doing disco remixes/arrangements of popular movies, such as Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz. He also composed some of his own music too.
Currently, I couldn't tell you why Meco wanted to make a disco-pop album about American Werewolf, but he did. To be honest, the album actually goes hard. Most of the songs are covers of songs from the movie (ie Blue Moon, Bad Moon Rising, etc.). There are also a few tracks that are interpolations of the pieces composed by Elmer Bernstein that actually are pretty sweet. However, the more disco inspired cuts are not my thing at all.
Fun Extras
A documentary about the making of the film, released in 2009. It was independently made by Paul Davis, and considering how he got almost everyone on the project to be interviewed by him, it's actually really impressive! It used to be only accessible through DVD collections, but it was released to Archive.org not too long ago. It's definitely worth a watch!
Why I Love This Film
When I was about 15 or 16 years old (can't recall exactly when), I was finally ready to watch my first horror film. I know for some that seems ridiculous, but I was pretty sheltered from things like that. I never really watched anything remotely intense or scary with my parents until I started college! But a lot of my friends had seen horror films, and were willing to try anything once. I wanted to watch something with them, both so it could be bonding experience, but also as a means to have support should I get too freaked out.
I was one of those kids who watched a lot of WatchMojo.com videos on YouTube. Don't ask me why. When I was about 12 or so, I saw one for "Top Ten Werewolf Transformations", and An American Werewolf in London was either #1, or was at least very close to the top. I vividly remember seeing David Naughton, covered in sweat, looking in complete horror at his hand extending out into a digusting claw. I don't know what about it got my attention. I think it had to do with the expression on his face. See, most werewolf media I was familiar with involve werewolves who are either aware of their condition, or have transformations that are quick and/or painless. David's though, was a different story. Seeing the confusion, pain, and terror in his eyes really stuck with me for a long time.
So, when it came to finding a movie to watch, I knew exactly what to choose.
In fairness, I watched quite a few clips online of the movie before I decided that this was the movie I'd watch. It was mainly short clips of the many scenes where Jack comes back from the dead, including the porno theater scene. I believe I also saw some quick shots of the Piccadilly Cirus scene too, though not all of it. I even watched the final scene where David is killed by the police. But I knew I had to watch it in its entirety.
I eventually did, and my friends and I absolutely loved it. For months, we would quote the movie as we were walking to class. We'd talk about how awful Jack looked, and how painful David's transformation appeared. In particular, we loved the scene at the zoo, as well as the porno theater scene. We collectively called it "peak cinema".
A few years went by, and the COVID pandemic happened. No one was really allowed to go outside, and I was feeling quite lonely and bored. I decided that i was gonna watch some movies on my laptop, and I had been wanting to rewatch this movie anyway. I think it was then and there that I really became so infatuated with this film. I talked to one of my friends about how well the characters were written, how gruely the makeup looked, and all that. But it was second time around that I began to notice things about the movie that led me to believe that the movie could potentially have some larger themes in it than you would first realize upon first watch. I based my theories around the nightmare sequences, as well as the potential role Jack played. Speaking of Jack, I loved his character so much, and it made me want to look more into films that had is actor, Griffin Dunne, in them. This led to a whole other rabbithole that I won't go into right now.
I bring this all up because I think it plays so much into why I love this movie as much I do. Like sure, the makeup effects are awesome and still holds up. The movie is funny and have some pretty zany moments. And of course, the acting is great! But there's so much more to this that makes this an all-timer for me.
I really love weird media. I love where there's an interesting genre fusion, or where there are moments that are just so odd you don't know what to make of them first. I also love stuff that has a simple premise, but has room for so much subtle nuance, that even rewatching multiple times you notice something you didn't before. An American Werewolf in London scratches all those itches for in the most satisfying ways.
Yes, it is a comedy-horror film, but not in the way you would expect. It is very funny, but this movie can be genuinely scary or unsettling. It can even get depressing or upsetting at times, even if it's more of a feeling that creeps in rather than expecting the audience to be sad or whatever. Plus, it's the kind of movie that actually takes both its scares and its humor very seriously, something I think more modern comedy-horrors don't really know how to do. I think even to this day, people still don't really know what to make of this genre fusion, specifically done in this fashion.
I think in terms of broader themes, there are a lot of topics that I tend to resonate with when consuming media. Trauma, guilt, loss of control. Even of you don't want to go into full "analysis mode" over it, you can't deny that the movie is kinda about those things. And I love stuff that touches upon those themes in interesting ways, especially the way it's done here.
Do I think this is the best movie ever made? That's hard to say. I'm not really an expert in filmmaking to be honest. But I love this film because of the emotional potency of it all. The movie is full of different emotions, and it explores all of them really well. I also admit that I have some nostalgic reverence for the movie too, as it not only helped me get through some rough patches, but it also allowed me to become closer with my friends both in high school and college. All of that combined has to count for something, right?
