Werewolf Wednesday Final Entry

Title: An American Werewolf in London

Media: Film, written and directed by John Landis.

It is with a heavy heart that I offer the last entry for Werewolf Wednesday. Often regarded as the ultimate cult classic of werewolf cinema and director John Landis’s pride and joy, 1981 An American Werewolf in London stands as a titular piece of horror film pop culture. 

The film begins with two friends, Jack Goodman  and David Kessler, as they hike across the English moors. They encounter reluctant locals at a pub named The Slaughtered Lamb. Although the locals begin to warm up to the two men, they bristle upon Jack inquiring about the pentagram on the wall, eventually driving them from the safety of the pub and into the guarded night. Jack and David eventually lose the trail, and find themselves lost on the moors. The attack that follows kills Jack, and severely wounds David, plunging him into unconsciousness for three weeks. In that time, Jack’s body is taken back to the United States and buried in New York. Once David wakes, he has little time to grieve before he is tormented by strange dreams and the grotesque visage of his dead friend imploring David to take his own life before he transforms into a werewolf, and inevitably claims innocent lives, leaving him with the iconic warning: “Beware the moon, David.” 

At last, the haunting dreams, and warnings from the mangled corpse of his best friend begin to convince him at the very least that he is mentally unwell. Despite reaching this conclusion, he becomes romantically involved with the nurse Alex Price, choosing to stay with her after being discharged from the hospital. His romantic and sexual involvement with Alex acts as a physical distraction from the concerning reality that is continued to be presented to him through the visions of his dead friend. As the full moon approaches, David’s anxiety increases, and against Alex’s better judgement, she leaves him alone on the night of the full moon. 

The transformation sequence that follows is the work of practical effects master, Rick Baker, and due to his impressive work An American Werewolf in London was the first horror film to win an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. As David is forced to come to terms with his beastly affliction the following morning, his fate is sealed as he again fails to heed Jack’s warning before the next full moon. Despite the nature of the film’s horror comedy genre, the story itself is truly tragic as an innocent man is forced to confront a bestial nature completely beyond his control, and take the lives of multiple innocent civillians. 

To conclude, An American Werewolf in London set the stage for the immense potential of the horror genre, and particularly the werewolf as a powerful narrative device, and effective movie monster. 

As always, and without further adieu, be sure to appreciate your local monsters.