Directed by:
John LandisScreenplay:
John LandisCinematography:
Robert PaynterComposer:
Elmer BernsteinCast:
David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, Rik Mayall, Frank Oz, John Woodvine, Sydney Bromley, Lila Kaye, Alan Ford, John Landis, Vic Armstrong, John Altman (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are savaged by an unidentified vicious animal whilst hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. David awakes in a London hospital to find his friend dead and his life in disarray. Retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse (Jenny Agutter) to recuperate, he soon experiences disturbing changes to his mind and body, undergoing a full-moon transformation that will unleash terror on the streets of the capital. (Arrow Films)
(more)Reviews (8)
The first thing to highlight about American Werewolf in London is without a doubt the absolutely breathtaking make-up and special effects used in the very authentic werewolf transformation scene. Even though this film was made in the early 1980s, the work with those effects still commands respect. The pretty horror atmosphere both in the moors and in London is also interesting. The final set-piece surpasses anything you can see in Alarm for Cobra 11. In short, a film that did not impress me in terms of cast and dialogue, but as a lover of werewolf movies, I enjoyed it.
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The scary scenes are genuinely scary. The London Underground... brrr! But the humour diminishes their impact. An American Werewolf in London is neither a horror comedy nor a comedy horror movie. It’s a schizophrenic hybrid that could have been either an excellent, atmospheric horror movie or an entertaining, parodic comedy.
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If I had to choose between horror and horror-comedy, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second: horror. That said, An American Werewolf in London is such a perfectly balanced blend that I can’t avoid the utmost satisfaction. But even so, I will always remember the scenes in the moors, the underground, the cinema, etc. The make-up and special effects are brilliant, the transformation scene in particular is very memorable. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the best horror films about werewolves ever made.
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This certainly has an atmosphere (mainly in the Yorkshire scenes), it’s nicely tongue-in-cheek and the movie reeks of Landis’ love of old horror movies from Universal. Of course, it can’t touch its aged (1935!) brother from London, although there are a couple (literally) of passages that could easily make it into the werewolf movie hall of fame.
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The gorgeous transformation of the werewolf makes this horror film a classic. But today, it's no longer surprising. The body count is small, it's more of a non-boring conversational drama. 55%
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Black and bloody fun with amazing make-up of the undead Jack, which even trumps the impressive transformation of a man into a monster. Perhaps only the ending was too, um, bland for my taste. What happened happened, and that’s it.
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In a way, I've always been quite attracted to werewolf movies, but, with the exception of Johnston's atmospheric The Wolfman, they’ve always been a complete waste of time. This film, however, delivered the right stuff. It has a great and really chilling atmosphere, a good story, a good amount of blood and really good and scary visual effects on top. I watched it in the evening in the dark and after I went to bed I kept seeing those thrilling scenes in the deserted park and the subway, or the now iconic shots of the transformation into a werewolf, which literally gave me goosebumps. There is no need to worry about the comedy side, the humour is present in an appropriate level and in my opinion it doesn't interfere with the overall flow at all. I would even dare to disagree with J*A*S*M and say that An American Werewolf in London is the best werewolf movie ever!
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Maybe it was the hangover, but I loved An American Werewolf in London. It was funny, the stunts and masks were absolutely perfect, and the main character acts just like Bruce Campbell.)
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