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AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
Nobody ever regretted staying off the moors Yet another one of those movies where I went in wanting to like it more than I ultimately did, but I feel less badly about it than I do with, say, Hellraiser. Released during the short-lived early-80's werewolf boom, John Landis's movie is essentially the smartalecky kid-brother entry, persisting in winking and nudging even when it's otherwise doing an admirably good job of trying to scare us - but failing for all that, because of all the winking and nudging. I can dig a good horror-comedy as much as anyone, but horror and humor don't have to be so at odds with each other - and if they are, then it's gotta be funny. No wiggle room on that one. It begins with two American college kids played by David Naughton and Griffin Dunne, who are similar enough in look, dialogue and action that I mostly told them apart by the colors of their coats. They're backpacking across the desolate moors of England, totally ruin a pub's rousing good time by asking about the pentacle on the wall, and then they get mauled by a large animal - Dunne to death, Naughton only to the hospital. You've read the title, so you can figure things out from here. Beyond that, a pretty nurse (Jenny Agutter), by Naughton's request/demand, treats him like a small child - feeding him, reading too him. She ends up presumably tucking him in too, since very soon she lets him stay over at her apartment and never mind the couch. And Dunne is not entirely written out of the story yet, returning in a few scenes to haunt and taunt his surviving friend (great makeup as he looks worse for wear with every scene). Once he dies, Dunne is easier to tell apart from Naughton and steals every scene he's in except for one with an irrepressibly cheerful undead couple. The actual werewolf, when we finally get to it causing mayhem, ultimately kills more people by standing around and snarling than it does by actually getting its paws dirty. But the transformation into it is...well, let's think about this one for a second. There are a few "moon" songs from the 50's and 60's on the soundtrack, even one during the agonizing-looking transformation scene, which completely neuters it. The effects themselves are great, and Naughton plays the agony to the hilt - this is the one scene from this movie that everybody remembers. But the experience of actually watching it is different because that music keeps telling us we're watching comedy. Same thing with the movie's sad ending whose power disappears as it, already abrupt, smash-cuts to "Blue Moon" which, if you'll recall, could not possibly begin any more goofily. So, yeah...it's not scary. Is it funny? Depends on if you like smug, Bill-Murray-circa-1982-or-so one-liners and wisecracks. There are some more inspired moments, like Naughton's crash-and-burn attempt to explain to his family overseas what's been happening to him, and a really weird dream sequence with monster Nazi stormtroopers. It's lively enough; Agutter's a charmer even if I can't figure out what the hell she sees in the big sissy she's treating, and once in a while some comic idea sticks and squeezes out some giggles. But gimme The Howling any day. (c) Brian J. Wright 2006 BACK TO THE A's BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE |