An American Werewolf In London (1981)
This is partly for bulldog and partly for myself as it's still one of my favourite Horror films. I first saw this film about a year after it's release on pirate video so that would make me about 10 at the time and it still hold's up superbly.
The basic premise of the film is that 2 young American tourists are in England and they are attacked by a werewolf. One dies and one lives, thus ensuring that the werewolves line continues. Sound boring and far fetched? The film is exactly the opposite. John Landis (Blues Brothers) wrote and directed a film that works on a myriad of levels. It's a culture clash film, it's a black comedy, it's a horror, it's an homage, it's a love story and never once do any of these attributes threaten to derail the story.
I give massive kudos to Landis for setting his film in England and not make stereotypes of the English and fully embrace English humour and incorporate it into his film with aplomb. He also uses so many cinematic devices and still get's a cohesive whole. There are vivid, surreal dreams, brutal violence, quirky characters and astonishing pre CGI F/X that are still a joy to behold even today.
We also have the fantastic soundtrack, with every song incorporating the word 'Moon' into the title and again it's effortless and not a cheap gimmick. Even at a young age I could see the correlation between contemporary music and the moving image. This is never better than the sex scene matched to Van Morrison's 'Moondance' which is still a great use of music.
An American Werewolf In London is a superlative movie on every level and is still the Werewolf movie to beat. Extra points to any who recognise the American embassy guy
