One of the first retrospectives I did for Readers Digested was The Howling, a contender for one of my favourite werewolf movies ever made. The list isn’t that long sadly as, unlike some of the other classic movie monsters, it is arguable that the werewolf hasn’t been given that many great, let alone good outings on the big screen unlike his less hirsute neighbour, the vampire for example.
There are more things you can do with the vampire mythology, whether it show the hypnotic, seductive side of the monster or it’s more feral, brutal bloodlust. There’s less scope for gothic romance in a tale featuring a person that sprouts hair and kills.
In 1981, The Howling wasn’t the only film to feature werewolves/shape shifters. Albert Finney popped up in the underrated “Wolfen” which is well worth a watch if you’ve not seen it.
The pick of the bunch however in most horror fans opinion was John Landis’ “An American Werewolf In London“. This was one of the first adult horror movies I saw in its entirety. I may have been around 10 years old (possibly a little young) but I remember thoroughly enjoying it. The iconic cover on the video of the mid-transformation man/wolf drew many a rental in the early days of the service.
John Landis directed the movie and was known for the comedies he’d written and/or directed with his two most recent films being Animal House and The Blues Brothers.
Those who were drawn to the film based on Landis’ previous offerings may have been expecting something more like Young Frankenstein with the emphasis on the comedy over the horror. Hopefully they wouldn’t have been disappointed. As much as there are funny moments in American Werewolf it is a horror film with touches of comedy in it opposed to a laugh-fest with horror elements.
The film opens to the strains of “Blue Moon” by Bobby Vinton as we see a shot of the Yorkshire Moors. We meet our main protagonist, David Kessler (David Naughton), a young American man who is on a hiking tour of Europe with his best friend Jack (Griffin Dunne).
The landscape looks cold and miserable because it is cold and miserable and they dream of sunnier destinations as they head for civilisation, warmth and shelter.
They enter a pub called “The Slaughtered Lamb” and are greeted by silent stares from the locals including great British character actors including Brian Glover, David Schofield and the late comic genius Rik Mayall. It’s made quite clear that they aren’t especially welcome and this feeling is compounded after Jack asks about the pentacle that is painted on the wall. I’ve walked into a strange pub in the past that has been frequented by locals and received a similar reaction and it was not a nice feeling and led to a quick about turn.
Jack and David do not hang about and leave quickly but, not before being advised/warned to stick to the roads, avoid the moors and, bizarrely, to “beware the moon” which hangs full in the sky.
The two men do not heed the warning and, within seconds have strayed off the road into what looks like Baskerville territory.
They hear howling and the guttural growls of an animal that sounds unlike any that are indigenous to the UK. In a tense scene that reminds you that this is as much a horror film as a comedy, the beast circles them and when David trips we get an effective jump scare as Jack is attacked by a large creature that tears him to pieces before turning its attention to David. As gunshots ring out, David turns to see a human being dying, shot by the villagers of East Proctor (almost better late than never I guess) before slipping into unconsciousness.
When David awakes he is in a hospital in London. Traumatised by the death of his friend and his own attack he tells the police officers investigating the incident that he was attacked by a wolf-like creature opposed to a man though there are early indications of a cover-up in East Proctor. The two officers are played as a double act with Inspector Villiers (Don McKillop) the straight man to the clumsily incompetent Sergeant McManus (Paul Kember). David also receives a visit from an Embassy official (a cameoing Frank Oz) who comes across as a heartless arsehole.
The other two notable characters we are introduced to are Dr. Hirsch (John Woodvine) and Nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter) with both portraying likable characters. Hirsch goes far beyond the call of duty in his care and even visits East Proctor later in the movie to look into the case himself where he is informed by David Schofield that something unpleasant is soon to happen to David Kessler.
While in the hospital David experiences a series of strange dreams and while this is not something I’m familiar with in any variation on the werewolf story, they all work really well even if they make little sense beyond being visually effective. Maybe they are there to provide a jump scare here or there (as in the scene where David sees himself lying on a hospital bed in the woods and reveals a scary as hell demonic face) or just outright WTF (the gun toting Nazi Demon Monsters, which also gives us a wince inducing throat cutting scene as well as a dream-within-a-dream scare). Irregardless, they are memorable moments in a film packed with memorable moments.
Talking of memorable, David receives another visitor in the form of his friend Jack; his “dead friend” Jack. The makeup job here on actor Griffin Dunne is fantastic (more on this later) but his appearances (which deteriorate over time as his corpse continues to decompose), while pretty disgusting, does provide some levity and a few laughs despite the main reason for him showing up is to tell David that it was a werewolf that attacked them on the moors and that Jack is forced to remain in limbo until the werewolves bloodline is ended.
I have said before that we forgive things in films that we really like no matter how silly, unbelievable, far-fetched (pick your term) it is.
Buying into the fantastical nature of the werewolf mythology removes that from criticism, however, the relationship between Nurse Price and David does feel rushed and a little forced to create a love interest and it’s to their credit that the actors make it believable enough to not tarnish the story at all. It can’t be denied that it doesn’t ring true that Alex would invite a relative stranger back to her flat upon his discharge, especially one who has exhibited the level of mania that David has and, if you were to suddenly kiss the nurse who is providing you care, I very much doubt it would earn you an invite to shower with her back at her place as the Van Morrison song “Moondance” plays.