An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

Director:

John Landis

Writer:

John Landis

Stars:

Joe Belcher, David Naughton, Griffin Dunne

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joe Belcher	...	Truck Driver
David Naughton	...	David Kessler
Griffin Dunne	...	Jack Goodman
David Schofield	...	Dart Player
Brian Glover	...	Chess Player
Lila Kaye	...	Barmaid
Rik Mayall	...	2nd Chess Player
Sean Baker	...	2nd Dart Player
Paddy Ryan	...	First Werewolf
Jenny Agutter	...	Nurse Alex Price
Anne-Marie Davies	...	Nurse Susan Gallagher
John Woodvine	...	Dr. J. S. Hirsch
Frank Oz	...	Mr. Collins / Miss Piggy
Don McKillop	...	Inspector Villiers
Paul Kember	...	Sergeant McManus

Storyline

Two American college students are on a walking tour of Britain and are attacked by a werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The werewolf is killed but reverts to its human form, and the local townspeople are unwilling to acknowledge its existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on four feet at first but then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he commit suicide to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural deaths.

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Plot Keywords:

werewolf | american | death | curse | nightmare | 

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Taglines:

Twenty years later, the Moon rises again... [20th anniversary re-issue]

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un hombre lobo americano en Londres

Filming Locations:

Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 3,103,703 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Lyncanthrope Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 92 min (heavily cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS (re-release) Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The episode of The Muppet Show playing on the television during David's nightmare sequence is The Muppet Show: Episode #5.8, but the portion shown was never shown in the US. This is why Americans often assumed it to be a fake episode and why Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog are credited.

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Goofs

When Doctor Hirsch is reading the newspaper about the murders, the first paragraphs of the news story relate to the murders, but the following paragraphs (in smaller font) relate to a completely different story (demonstrations by the New National Front).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Truck Driver: That way is Proctor, and over here is the moors. I go this way.
Jack: Thanks for the ride, sir. You have lovely sheep.
Truck Driver: Boys, keep off the moors, stick to the roads. The best to ya...
David: Thanks again.
[then to the sheep]
David: We'll miss you.
David: Bye girls...

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Crazy Credits

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy star as themselves.

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Connections

Referenced in Dog Soldiers (2002)

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Soundtracks

"BLUE MOON"
Music by Richard Rodgers (uncredited)
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart (uncredited)
Performed by Bobby Vinton
Courtesy of Columbia Records

User Reviews

One of my favorite films

While backpacking through Europe, two friends, David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne), find themselves out on England's moors, despite advice to avoid them. When a wild animal attacks them, one of them dies, and the other just might be turning into a monster.

Director John Landis' "pet project"--he had to sit on the script for 10 years before he had enough clout from other films for this one to be greenlighted--is an excellent, seamless melding of comedy and horror, with a surprising amount of brutality and one of the most wonderfully dark, abrupt conclusions ever made.

John Irving once said that he loves to put comedy and tragedy in close conjunction because each can make the other more effective. That's just the effect that the combination has in An American Werewolf In London. Both the comedy and the horror in the film are fully committed to, unlike many attempts to merge the two. If "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" is ever true, this is an example. The comic bits wouldn't be nearly as delightful if they didn't supervene on the disturbing, and the horror wouldn't have near the impact if they didn't arrive in the context where you half-expect the next moment to be just as lighthearted and amusing. Both the initial "animal attack" and the apocalyptic ending are perfect examples of this.

Aside from that exquisite unusualness, An American Werewolf In London has many other superb characteristics. The cast is perfect. Naughton, who also starred in the seriously underrated Desire, The Vampire (aka I, Desire) (1982), carries the film with ease. The cinematography is excellent. The shots of the countryside (actually filmed in Wales) are actually both beautiful and very eerie at the same time. The make-up effects are awesome, and the transformation effects are unsurpassed. The music, which is primarily a number of different "moon" related pop songs, is also perfect, partially because of the bizarre contrasts in mood that the music creates, which echoes the comedy/tragedy juxtaposition. Unlike many other films, every scene in this one is a something I'd like to spend years exploring. The settings, the characters, the scenarios are all so fascinating.

This film is a 10 out of 10 even with one hand tied behind its back. If you enjoy it, and you're open minded about newer horror film styles, the "sequel", An American Werewolf in Paris, is also worth a watch.