Eighties Movies You Probably Haven't Seen (12)

An American Werewolf in London

So basically David Naughton and Griffin Dunne are fucking around on the English moors while on a Euro trip together. Unfortunately, they've chosen the night of a full moon to do so, a problem surmised when one of the locals morphs into a monster and runs amok. 

Griffin's murder is brutal. Even by 2017 standards this scene still has me by the balls, and I hope it is the same for you too. 

Some time later David wakes up in a (surprise!) London hospital, believing his buddy is still alive. Scotland Yard, already on it, insists his friend has been killed by a mad man with the strength of ten. But David's violent nightmares (only John Landis could get away with that Nazi intrusion) tell a different story. 

David gets released from the hospital, and decides it best to shack up with his nurse while biding  time on a now very botched vacation. Before long he is in for a ruder awakening, as enough time has apparently passed for us to be on to another full moon. 

A key transformation scene up ahead; I realize this is 1981, but any "strings" showing which may contaminate authenticity can and should be forgiven, as this will still be a truly disturbing sequence. 

The staging of the London werewolf victims largely comes off as subtle until our protagonist is forced to face them all at a porno theater in Picadilly Circus, where they insist he must take his life in order to break the curse. 

No one's counting on a happy ending here, let's be honest. 

The big picture: Landis manages to integrate his brand of campy humor with genuine scares very well, perhaps better than most. This is still a horror comedy, but it's the chills which have held up respectably. 

To be enjoyed with a high percentage imperial pumpkin drink.