{"id":1667,"date":"2015-07-02T20:23:07","date_gmt":"2015-07-03T00:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=1667"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:04:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:04:59","slug":"an-american-werewolf-in-london-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=1667","title":{"rendered":"An American Werewolf in London-1981"},"content":{"rendered":"

An American Werewolf in London-1981<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director John Landis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #253<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed July 2, 2015<\/p>\n

Grade: B<\/strong><\/p>\n

A melding of British-American horror and comedy, An American Werewolf in London (1981) provides entertainment while also being a campy and silly.<\/p>\n

While two American buddies, Jack and David, traverse the English countryside with backpacks in tow on a spring break jaunt of sorts, one is viciously attacked and killed by a strange werewolf, setting off a series of strange occurrences that play out over the remainder of the film.<\/p>\n

From this point, the film is told from the perspective of one of the males, as the other appears to him in visions, warning him of his inevitable transformation into a werewolf.<\/p>\n

An American Werewolf in London does not intend to mock the horror genre, but it is certainly campy and over-the-top.<\/p>\n

Despite the cult-classic accolades thrust upon the film, which I respect, it is not among my favorites.<\/p>\n

I would have preferred it to tilt more towards the horror classification rather than the comedy, because it comes across as some spoof, with the main characters overacting.<\/p>\n

The film has a silly quality. It is light fare instead of dark or morbid, and even the kills are meant to be fun, not horrific. In a way, it is almost cheesy, and that is not a compliment.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that the film is completely subpar. It is decent, but not very believable, and I think that is a distraction and a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n

However, my favorite characteristics of this film are the makeup\/special effects and the musical score, which features such fitting treats as “Moondance”, “Bad Moon Rising”, and “Blue Moon”.<\/p>\n

Sense an intelligent theme? The makeup, especially during the reanimation sequences, is creative and still impressive today, considering the film was made in 1981.<\/p>\n

Besides, the best scene of the film is undoubtedly the “Slaughtered Lamb” scene when Jack and David stumble upon the aptly named pub filled with interesting, blue-collar-looking locals.<\/p>\n

When one of the tourists inquires about a mysterious five-pointed star on the wall, the pub dwellers grow angry and cold, leaving the young men confused and intrigued.<\/p>\n

This scene is full of interest, and I only wish the pub characters had more of a chance to shine, as they seem benevolent and have potential backstory.<\/p>\n

I would have enjoyed learning more about the history of these folks.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the focus is by and large on Jack and David and a poorly constructed love interest- Nurse Alex Price, who is not to be taken at all seriously and played for one-dimensional laughs.<\/p>\n

A lighthearted, sort-of fun late-night flick, An American Werewolf in London is a cult film, though I would not agree with the “cult classic” distinction.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations<\/strong>: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Makeup (won)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An American Werewolf in London-1981 Director John Landis Starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne Scott’s Review #253 Reviewed July 2, 2015 Grade: B A melding of British-American horror and comedy, An American Werewolf in London (1981) provides entertainment while also being a campy and silly. While two American buddies, Jack and David, traverse the English countryside … Continue reading An American Werewolf in London-1981<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[143,13,246],"tags":[10587,10588,10589,10586,10590],"class_list":["post-1667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1981-movie-reviews","category-horror-films","category-horror-comedies","tag-david-naughton","tag-griffin-dunne","tag-jenny-agutter","tag-john-landis","tag-john-woodvine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1667"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23019,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667\/revisions\/23019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}