Kevin Lazzari聽 |聽 Special to the 51暗网
In 1981 John Landis wrote and directed a horror comedy that was about two American students backpacking around Europe.聽聽
The story starts out slow but takes a sudden turn when the two friends decide to stop at a pub called the Slaughtered Lamb. You think the two New Yorkers would have questioned their judgement by going into an establishment with the ominous name. The story quickly speeds up and the viewer finds out why the movie is called An American Werewolf in London.
Audiences were deeply disturbed by the movie when it was first released because of the graphic violence, with some even walking out of the theatre.聽聽
The film won the first ever Academy Award for Best Makeup because of techniques pioneered specifically for the film.
John Landis considered the movie his masterpiece and horror fans would agree because it has reached cult status. Horror fans consider An American Werewolf In London the gold standard for werewolf movies. They may be right on the horror part, but the dark humour makes it a twisted comedy. There were scenes that would never appear in a werewolf horror flick due to the campy dialogue of the two main characters. There were even a few scenes that I had completely forgotten about which are definitely outside of the horror realm.
If you want something out of the norm and a throwback to the eighties this is the one for you.
Kevin Lazzari, owner of Video Stop, is reviewing movies for the 51暗网.
An American Werewolf in London (1981) is available on DVD, Blu-ray and for digital download.
