Pwaters' Month of Terror Day 11: An American Werewolf in London

Hello ladies, gentlemen, and creatures lurking in the shadows!  This month, October, is a favorite among horror fans, such as myself.  My goal for the next 31 days is to share with you the scariest and best of the genre.  The films will range from old school classics to modern day gorefests (they won't be in any particular order).  So scout these movies out, grab a bag of popcorn (or a blood bag) and enjoy!

An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Dir. John Landis

For those who forgot to mark your calendars, there's a full moon tonight and the wolfbane is a-bloomin'; I thought a werewolf picture would be an appropriate choice for such an evening. An American Werewolf in London begins with two backpacking American buddies traveling through the England countryside.  They stop at a pub where they are warned of the dangers that may be outside; of course when they leave a huge wolf comes out kills one of the friends and attacks the other.  Luckily the creature is shot dead by the pub people, but unluckily for this now friend-less backpacker - he has the curse of the werewolf!

Although it's not the scariest movie of its kind (in fact I consider it more of a dark comedy), An American Werewolf in London has by far the best werewolf transformation scene of all time.  When the main character, David, goes through his "changes," you feel along with him the complete pain his body is facing.  Seeing a man's hand stretched out into a wolf paw, watching a guy's face forcibly push outward producing a muzzle: it's one of the most achingly realistic transformations ever caught on screen.  Rick Baker, one of the top make-up artists ever in the business, not only forever changed how special effects are created with his brilliant combination of robotics, makeup, and visual effects, but also won a special award at the 1981 Academy Awards (and ever since then an "Outstanding Achievement in Makeup" category has been featured on the Oscars list).

Although it may disappoint new viewers expecting a truly scary movie, An American Werewolf in London is still a dark good time with a handful of jump scares and revolutionary effects.  It does have a bizarre combination of comedy and horror.  John Landis, the director, is probably best known for directing Michael Jackson's extravagant 'Thriller' video and comedies like Animal House and The Blues Brothers - so it's not hard to see how the movie is filled with humor.  It's indeed a strange movie with odd dream sequences, and the main character's best friend shows up regularly even though he's dead, appearing on screen as a bloody messed up corpse but not much is made of it (he still jokes around as if he doesn't look like a pork roast left in the desert for five months).