September 27, 2009

I can’t remember the first time I saw An American Werewolf in London but I remember is scared the crap out of me. Perhaps it was the expertly written script that blended dark comedy and horror in a way that people had never seen before, or perhaps it was the expert direction of John Landis who was casting relative unknowns into starring roles and allowing them improvise much of their dialogue. Had anyone ever heard of Griffen Dunne (Jack) before, and the only time I had ever seen David Naughton (David) before was dancing and singing in those catchy Dr. Pepper commercials.

We meet our two young men as they are backpacking across England. As the sun goes down and the full moon rises they seek refuge in the local pub, but the regulars inside don’t seem too partial to outsiders, so the boys leave. Failing the advice to “stay on the road” they veer into the moors where a werewolf attacks them. Jack is brutally mauled and killed, but David survives and wakes up in the hospital a few weeks later.

Plagued with horrible nightmares as well as visions of his dead friend Jack, who keeps reappearing in increasing amounts of decay, David must come to grips with his fate. He will turn into a wolf at the next full moon and he will kill people. David must die, not only to save innocent victims, but to end the werewolf’s bloodline so Jack’s soul can move on to eternal rest. But Jack is in denial; perhaps in part to the advances of his attractive nurse (Jenny Agutter) who takes him home once he is released from the hospital. But there is no stopping the moon or the curse it brings, and David eventually turns into a werewolf and goes on a rampage through the streets of London.

Filmmaking: 7
An American Werewolf in London debuted in 1981, a time when you had comedy and horror but no real blending of the two. This led to lots of audience confusion and harsh reviews. Little did anyone know that John Landis was pioneering a genre that now sees several new movies being introduced each month. The humor was dark and woven into the script at an almost subconscious level while the horror and shock value was off the charts. I still jump when those storm troopers crash into David’s home and gun down the entire family.

Visuals: 5
The effects in Werewolf were so mind-blowing that they actually created a new category for the Academy Awards that year for Makeup then gave the Oscar to Rick Baker for his stunning work on the film. Even by today’s standards, the transformation scene is remarkable, perhaps unmatched by anything since. The makeup on David in one certain dream sequence is extremely disturbing with the sharp teeth, white face, and yellow eyes, and then you have the wonderful yet sickening effects for Jack.

This 1080p release on Blu-ray is sadly flawed with loads of grain, so much in fact it actually gets distracting for the first several minutes of the film. Things get a bit better once the film transitions into the city, but the blur and grain of anything shot out in the moors is worse than VHS. Colors are accurate without being too vivid, and contrast is fine for the daytime scenes but start to fall apart at night with washed out imagery. I wasn’t hoping for much from a 1981 movie so I guess I wasn’t too disappointed.

Sound: 5
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is serviceable. There is nothing really impressive going on here. You get a comfortable mix of dialogue, effects, and score with some minimal 3D sound placement used to create a sense of danger prior to the werewolf attack, and environmental effects open up the city soundscape a bit, but my rear channels were seldom called into action and my subwoofer trembled even less.

Value: 6
The Full Moon Edition on Blu-ray offers up a modest assortment of extra material starting with the impressive Beware the Moon, a comprehensive 13-part, 97-minute documentary that covers every facet of production from script to public opinion. It’s a must-see feature for any genre fan. This is followed with a 7-minute makeup effects feature, I Walked with a Werewolf, that showcases the skills of Rick Baker.

Moving on to the more traditional features, we have a rather short Making An American Werewolf in London 5-minute documentary and an 18-minute interview with John Landis, 12 more minutes with Rick Baker and makeup, 11 minutes focusing on just the hand scene, 3 minutes of outtakes, 2 minutes of storyboards, and almost 4 minutes of set photos in the gallery section. Last but not least is the feature-length commentary by David Naughton and Griffin Dunne who offer a retrospective and sadly forgettable look back on the film. Tack on BD-Live and D-Box and there you have it.

Overall: 7.3
An American Werewolf in London is a classic. It not only influenced and inspired the Motion Picture Academy; it may just have been the original comedy-horror film to launch an entire genre. Now that these movies are more commonplace Werewolf is an easier type of movie to accept today than it was in 1981, but even more impressive is the ability for all the stunning special effects and makeup to stand up to the test of time. It might not be as slick and polished as Van Helsing but it’s a lot more believable. Despite merely average audio and sound, this is still the best the movie has or will likely ever look and the price is right, so I definitely recommending picking it up.