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| This poster for John Landis' An American Werewolf in London trusts its product (the movie) and the general public enough to let them know in advance that its ambition is to be both frightening and funny |
Two young, American men begin their European journey in wet Northern England, - where they are soon attacked by a werewolf! Only one survives, but an unfortunate repercussion of the attack is that he transforms into a beast and starts killing under the full moon in the clammy London streets.
Illinoisan master writer-director John Landis (The Blues Brothers (1980)) made with An American Werewolf one of the three best werewolf movies of all time in my opinion. With a relatively unknown but brilliantly cast acting troupe, Landis' own enthusiasm and love for old werewolf and horror movies in general shines through in his playful, youthful and creative script, which delivers an original angle, - the werewolf as a boy-to-adult-male transformation metaphor, - taken out in a number of highly memorable, sometimes funny and sometimes nightmarish scenes. The central transformation scene, arguably the film's highlight, is a scene that every one familiar with the film will look forward to, and Rick Baker's (Missing Link (1988)) incredible make-up effects are a vital part of the film's lasting power.
An American Werewolf in London is a horror classic that gushes with the vivid energy that its brilliant young creator Landis enriched it with. - Don't miss it!
Related posts:
John Landis: Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Deer Woman (2005) - Landis and son's solid Masters of Horror entry
Coming to America (1988) - Landis and Murphy's second amusing but less well-constructed collaboration The Twilight Zone (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Blues Brothers (1980) - Try to sit still to this one!
In this video from the 1982 Oscars, Johnny Carson introduces Kim Hunter and Vincent Price, who present the nominees for the first Best Makeup Oscar, which was won by Rick Baker for An American Werewolf in London
Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 61.9 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 6.19 times its cost)
[An American Werewolf in London was released 21 August (North America) and runs 97 minutes. Landis got the idea for the film, when he witnessed a gypsy burial ritual during production of Kelly's Heroes (1970) (on which he acted as assistant director and production assistant) in Yugoslavia in 1969. His script was shelved for a decade, while he built up a solid hit reputation in Hollywood, and financiers grew a willingness to bet on his wild ideas. Shooting took place in Wales and England, including London, from February - April 1981. The film opened #1 with a 3.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 30.5 mil. $ (49.2 % of the total gross), or possibly 31.9 mil. $ (different reports). Its international gross (30 mil. $), if accurate, indicates that it was a global hit. David Lynch's great The Elephant Man (1980) was not premiered for its makeup excellence at the 1981 Oscars, causing criticisms, and so a Best Makeup category was instated for the 1982 Oscars. An American Werewolf in London was nominated against Heartbeeps, and Rick Baker won the first statuette in the category. An unrelated sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) was made and flopped. Landis' son, filmmaker Max Landis (Me Him Her (2015)) is working on a remake of An American Werewolf in London at the moment (6/3/18, ed.). Landis returned with video documentary Coming Soon (1982) and theatrically with comedy Trading Places (1983), before his career was derailed by the three tragic deaths which happened as a result of a helicopter crash on his set of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). David Naughton (Cool as Hell (2013)) returned with 3 TV credits before returning to big screens in Hot Dog... The Movie (1984); Jenny Agutter (Child's Play 2 (1990)) returned in a 1982 TV movie, a video and a bit part before she had her next theatrical role in Secret Places (1984); Griffin Dunne (Straight Talk (1992)) returned in The Wall (1982, TV movie) and theatrically in Cold Feet (1983). An American Werewolf in London is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.75/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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