An American Werewolf in London
Dir: John Landis
1981
*****
John Landis's brilliant An American Werewolf in London is probably the best Werewolf film made so far (Teen Wolf coming a very close second). The special effects, all real I might add, are still unbeaten and are just as impressive today as they were back in 1981. Indeed, they actually won an Oscar and brought the overlooked horror effects guys into the well deserved limelight. There are so many classic scenes in the films that it's become a bit of a cult. I work very close to the London Underground station that was used in the film and I often see fans dressed up as Werewolves and posing for photographs there. What I love most about the film is how dark it is and how funny it can be. It's pure John Landis, the balance between horror and humour is a tricky thing to get right but he gets it spot on and much like the effects, I'm not sure it's been matched since. David Naughton and Jenny Agutter are both great in the leading roles but for my money it is the undead Griffin Dunne who really steals the show. I now always check the seat behind me in the cinema, just to make sure there are no rotting corpses there urging me to kill myself. Cult horror at it's best.