QualityApeMan An American Werewolf in London is a lighthearted werewolf horror film from director John Landis.It might not be the best horror film ever made, but it's definitely among the best werewolf ones and is just such great fun.Even today the creature effects are pretty special. Landis plays it intelligently by only showing glimpses of the werewolf until the finale - the protagonist himself doesn't even transform until about two thirds though the film! The transformation scene itself is one of the highly-praised examples of practical effects in horror history. The way the limbs grow and extend just looks incredibly realistic and is much better than the shiny-looking CGI we see these days (cough, cough I'm looking at you Wolfman 2010). The make-up on David's friend Jack is great too, slowly progressing from freshly-killed to decomposing, skeletal mess.There are some very odd surreal moments thrown in including one with Nazi Werewolf Stormtroopers and two creepy little girls with a dog, some hilarious moments like the film-within-the-film See You Next Wednesday, and even some sweet, touching moments.Last but not least there is also an awesome moon-related soundtrack from the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Van Morrison and multiple artists with their renditions of Blue Moon.An American Werewolf in London is probably my favourite werewolf movie, and is among my favourite horrors in general. Definitely recommended!

hellholehorror I would love to have grown up in America just so that I could watch this film from a true American perspective and truly appreciated it. I thought that it was a very good film but you could tell that it was an American writing because of the slightly alternate perspective on the English culture. This is a horror film with light comic undertones which I think were actually ahead of its time. The style is distinctly seventies even though it was made in the eighties. The story plays really well with solid progression and interesting sub-plots never taking attention away from the screen. Ignore the unbelievable elements and this is an amazing werewolf film. Probably the best werewolf film sandwiched between Ginger Snaps (2000) and The Howling (1981). I think that the light humour and interesting storytelling and some pertinent moments really make this a leader in the genre. I loved the detail of London conversely I hated the stuffy British people. The final scene was a climatic masterpiece probably never seen before or since to the same quality. It is not especially scary but I would still highly recommend this. Horrifically eerie, made me think that it could happen to me.

jimbo-53-186511 Two American college students are on a walking tour of Britain where they stumble upon a local pub known as the Slaughtered Lamb. They converse with the locals, but feel out of place and decide to leave early despite being warned about venturing outside on a full moon. Shortly after they leave the pub, the two students are attacked by what appears to be a werewolf and one of the students gets killed where the other one lives. The surviving college students attempts to tell his story, but it seems that no-one wants to believe him...Landis sets this whole scenario up in wonderful fashion and considering that he is an American film director he does seem to have an excellent grasp of some of the customs that we have in the UK. The whole xenophobia angle to the narrative is presented wonderfully; the Americans are received with a predictability frosty reception (and believe me this is typical of a lot of pubs in England whom are very unreceptive to strangers). However, the Americans soon feel rather uncomfortable in this close-knit public house and decide to venture out on their own despite some of the publicans advising against this...**************SPOILERS FOLLOW FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS****************However, the moment that both of the American students get killed the film ultimately becomes weaker and perhaps that is partly down to Landis as a director. Landis is used to directing a lot of comedy films and that shows here as he does give this film a kind of goofball charm to it, but part of the problem here is that this seems to be a comedy-horror which I didn't find particularly funny and was also a film that I didn't find particularly scary. The fact that it is so daft means that it works slightly better as a comedy than a horror, but I'm not entirely sure if that was Landis' intention. I'll give him some credit though as he does add some weight to the narrative by playing this out as some kind of fantasy or dream on the part of David Kessler - this is the only rational way that I could accept what was happening... Rolling with it on this basis I did enjoy it, but I have to admit that all of the scenes towards the end showing all of Kessler's dead or undead victims and Jack Goodman talking in the cinema may have come across as being profound, interesting or funny at the time now look silly, cheap and rather unnecessary and serve as more of a distraction now than anything else. Although I must admit that the moral debate that occurred in these scenes did provide a rather interesting social commentary.Whilst I found An American Werewolf in London to be reasonably enjoyable I didn't think it was brilliant as for me it didn't entirely work as either a comedy or a horror. In fact, the most interesting thing about it was trying to determine what was really happening and what was going on in our protagonists head... There is definitely a meld between fantasy and reality. This is worth a look if you're a fan of comedy horror type films (if nothing else Landis does keep things moving well and the film doesn't really hit any dull spots). However, if I'm totally honest I didn't find the story that involving and felt that Landis had made the film a little too silly at times.

thiszizlife A lovely start to a film. Taking us along down the river of no return with David and Jack. Expect a lot of jump cuts in this film. The dialogue is okay, but the message is unclear. Still, the film could be used as a metaphor for old yuppies giving bad advice like "go for a walk" when you express discontent. And for people that struggle with opening and closing doors and entering rooms, this could be a good entrances into a room practice. John Landis subscribes to a good deal of attention to detail in these opening scenes. It's like we are running with the bulls in Plamplona Spain. Would've liked it better if Landis gave us a more realistic howling sound then what we got; and, it would've been cool if he aimed the camera at the creature as it was howling, dripping saliva. The howl sounded too faint in a crucial role, introducing us to the monster. Lots of anxiety and stress put into the making of this film. But it pays off! Landis does an excellent job at keeping us on the edge of our seat. This is done in one way, by dissolves, especially, the one used for the nightmare scene. I will say that his talking friend, the dear dead friend whom gives insight on the supernatural. It's a rare beauty, gift, and blessing when you see the special effects crew decide to give a close up of their work like this. In this case, Tom Hester and the makeup effects crew, did a wonderful job. The visual hallucinations in this film are right on, too. This is confirmed mostly from his friend Jack, of course, whom David keeps seeing. How Jack was able to get all the other members of his "undead" club membership together for a meeting seems unrealistic. Skipping ahead though, redemption granted. This film could be a lesson in camera work. Mainly POV. The wide array of neat angle shots help, such as the ones in the rain whilst you hear loud thunder claps. These sound effects get you involved. Nice if you like surround sound. However, nothing is consistent, and there are cold spots where the film loses its energy drive and dies out. Fortunately, the film has a killer soundtrack. Yes! Wait for it... we get a killer song by Creedance Clearwater Revival, the song Bad Moon Rising. Get ready because the famous transformation scene is right around the bend. Be careful, you've been warned! This scene has awesome attention to detail as well,  which is not easily viewed. The dude in the subway is so screwed! not to mention he looks like Michael Cera. Mayhem at its best during the action sequence of the snapping Werewolf scene while the orgy film is rolling. Some strike outs in this rocking film, sad to say. The overuse of London sirens, and some screen shots. This is a sad film, funny, and funny acting all rolled into one. Check this one out, this film Rocks!! Props!!