Horror Quote Of The Moment |
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Horror Quote Of The Moment |
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| An American Werewolf in London (1981) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 10 2015, 06:39 AM (253 Views) | |
| The Creature | Sep 10 2015, 06:39 AM Post #1 |
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Innocent Virgin
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![]() Two American college students are on a walking tour of Britain and are attacked by a werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The werewolf is killed but reverts to its human form, and the local townspeople are unwilling to acknowledge its existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on four feet at first but then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he commit suicide to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural deaths. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sure hope I'm not making a duplicate thread here for this great flick. I've searched for a topic concerning An American Werewolf, but did not find one. If there is indeed a place of discussion concerning this topic already in existence, may the mods that be feel free to rid of my error! I think John Landis' An American Werewolf in London is the greatest werewolf movie ever made. I love Universal's The Wolfman, Silver Bullet, The Howling, and I enjoy Werewolf in London (1935), Ginger Snaps, and all that...but An American Werewolf is simply my favorite of the lycanthrope horror sub-genre. Landis' film, along with Joe Dante's The Howling, assisted in resurrecting a sub-genre of horror which was primarily left by the wayside while slasher films in particular were exploding on the Hollywood studio scene and in box office sales. I mean, people shouldn't forget that despite the lack of excess which the werewolf movie genre lends itself to in terms of "how many movies of this kind there are"...werewolves still remain a very interesting (and very kickass, I might say) breed of monster. Werewolves are a vital part of rural mythology...maybe they're literary reflections of the untame beasts within ourselves? Anyway, back to discussing the movie... All of the elements in An American Werewolf seem to blend together and work to near-perfection, in my eyes. The unabashed horror (the werewolf attack scenes are pretty gory and brutal), the use of comedy and witty dialogue between characters, the few dream sequences, the background love story between characters David Naughton and Nurse Price...there's a nice variety, and more importantly it all works. What can I say? I just love this flick. I'm sure there's gotta be someone here whom shares my enthusiasm... Edited by Baby Firefly, Sep 10 2015, 07:23 AM.
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| Baby Firefly | Sep 10 2015, 06:47 AM Post #2 |
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The Devil Himself
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How in the hell did we have a thread for the inferior (but still fun) sequel but not this?! I love this movie to death. It's one of those movies that I didn't get around to until I was 18 or 19 and immediately regretted not seeing it sooner because of how good it is. Sure, there are some pacing issues and a few of the characters aren't anything special but for the most part it's fantastic and a lot of the effects hold up today.
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| The Creature | Sep 10 2015, 07:16 AM Post #3 |
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Innocent Virgin
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Yeah! You know, I've never seen the sequel. Obviously I wouldn't expect it to be near as great as the original, but I wouldn't mind checking it out for entertainment value... Those Rick Baker effects are now of legendary effects status, just as they should be. That minute/two minute transformation with Naughton is memorably amazing. The Howling ('81) has some fantastic stuff from Rob Bottin, but that scene in An American Werewolf beautifully captures the pain and agony of such a transformation. Which also quite clearly departs from Waggner's Wolfman, wherein Lon Chaney Jr. more or less just remains well rested in his chair with the time dissolves doing most of the magic. Edited by The Creature, Sep 10 2015, 07:16 AM.
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| Baby Firefly | Sep 10 2015, 07:21 AM Post #4 |
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The Devil Himself
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The sequel is definitely entertaining. Just don't expect TOO much from it. And I agree. The transformation in this is one of the best I've seen, if not the best. I like The Howling too but that's mainly because I love Dee Wallace, haha. |
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| The Creature | Sep 10 2015, 07:41 AM Post #5 |
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Innocent Virgin
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Despite not all of her characters having this exact quality, I've always thought of Dee Wallace as sort of a sweetheart. Can't tell ya why, she just comes off that way to me. Yeah, I'm a fan too. Come to think of it...I think the last thing I remember seeing her in was in The Lords of Salem, and before that The House of the Devil. Anyway, I'll just save it for the Dee Wallace thread. haha I couldn't give Rick Baker enough kudos for his work in this film. I mean, I'm not saying there are a few shots of the beast which don't look a bit questionable here and there, but for the most part, it's all great stuff. The choice of music for the soundtrack highlights the oddness of the flick as well. Songs like Bobby Vinton's "Blue Moon" and CCR's "Bad Moon Risin'" function as a stylish and lighthearted or maybe ironic way of creating an unsettlement. Those songs just kinda have fun pointing a finger at what the movie is going to be about. I don't think it was always the norm to do that in the time An American Werewolf was made. Though I admit I could be mistaken about that. Also, loving the inclusion of the poster and plot snippet into this thread! |
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| Ghostseeker | Sep 11 2015, 03:45 AM Post #6 |
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Random Redneck
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The atmosphere of the beginning of this movie is one of the best. Backpacking, the pub, then out in the fog. Amazing movie. IMHO, the sequel was actually really good. I loved it too. |
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| The Creature | Sep 12 2015, 04:56 AM Post #7 |
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Innocent Virgin
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It has a great atmospheric set up indeed, Ghosty. I love the tragic ending too...it emphasizes the fact that An American Werwolf is not a comedy...despite it having some really funny parts in it. You're not smiling at the very end of the picture, to be sure. Well, not unless you're totally deviant. hehe. |
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| Lon Of The Dead | Sep 12 2015, 05:24 AM Post #8 |
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Killer's Therapist
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Bottin's effects in The Howling certainly are fantastic -- which is expected, considering he borrowed a lot of stuff from Baker for that flick. Baker had been given the script for AAWIL by John Landis years before it even went into production; Landis had basically told him "If this ever gets made, I want you on the FX so start figuring stuff out now." So for years Baker had been exploring transformation FX possibilites specifically for that AAWIL. Bottin was Baker's protege, so he got to see Baker's long-in-development FX stuff beforehand. Now, that's not to say Bottin ripped Baker's stuff off. I remember Bottin saying in an interview that he'd told Baker he'd been hired on by Joe Dante to do the FX for The Howling, and was worried Baker might think Bottin was stealing his work. Baker instead gave him his blessing. That was wise of him; he got to see the stuff he planned for AAWIL in The Howling, was able to see what did and didn't work on-screen, and was able to apply it to his stuff in AAWIL. Hence AAWIL's slightly more advanced transformation FX. At any rate -- love this flick. Saw it for the first time on HBO way back in '82, when I was 10 or 11. Scared the holy hell out of me. But as much as it rattled me, the thing that hit me the most was when David Naughton looked into camera during the transformation scene. In my little kid's mind, it was like he was looking at me and begging for help. Not the collective audience -- ME. And I felt very sad that I couldn't do anything for him. Again, I was only ten or eleven lol |
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| Basi | Jan 12 2016, 05:24 PM Post #9 |
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Jock
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There is a lot of build up to the transformation and the transformation scenes was incredible , it was so well made, This movie not that gory but they add some really funny stuff in this movie, I was bit disappointed how they ended the movie, it just ended out the blue. like one moment there is a lot of action then all of sudden it was over. I wanted to see a bit of the aftermatch Acting was really good from the whole cast, I give this movie 8 out of 10 |
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| GL84 | Mar 28 2016, 03:46 PM Post #10 |
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Killer's Therapist
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While there’s a lot to really enjoy about this one it’s still slightly flawed overall. The opening here is among one of the most impressive parts to this one with the fun of their arrival in the country and their journey through the countryside, eventually winding up with the actual attack which is quite a dark and brutal effort which is far more inhuman and savage than expected before letting the big gundown finish As well,that leads into the main section of the film here where it starts to get into the growing realization of what he’s become as this is easily the best part of the film. The conversations with the gradually-decomposing friend showing up at the most inopportune times is a great building block while also managing some fine jokes at the comedic content of the situation, while far more engaging is the actual investigation done at the behest of the doctor into his condition after arriving at the hospital. That leads into some rather enjoyable times here where it really manages to continue on through a fine series of clues that gradually lead to the eventual discovery from the group which is how this one really gets a lot of good fun going along with the events leading up through the initial attack and overall build into how he got to become a werewolf. Once it gets past that into the action as well it’s a lot of fun here with the series of attacks found in the suburbs of the city and in the subway station that gets some pretty enjoyable times here along with the finale in crowded London makes for a lot of good fun. The design is pretty creepy, and looks like what a man who turns into a werewolf looks like, in terms of the werewolf as it looks incredibly scary and creepy. It's wisely kept out of the shadows in the beginning so that suspense is drawn up about what it looks like, and all we get are brief glimpses of something, and when the big reveal comes, it works wonders as it doesn't look like what you expected. There are only a couple of minor quips about this film. The first one is the slow beginning, as it takes a while for the film to really get going with the cheap jumps get a little tiresome after a while. The big stuff doesn't happen until an hour into the movie, so it does finish on a flourish but the opening is a long dredge. The humor is another big distraction as if it doesn't know if it wants to be a horror film or a comedy since the comedy can be a distraction for those that are into the hardcore horror aspects in the film. The last flaw here is about the storyline as it's one of the few that doesn't try to change the werewolf mythology and instead relies on viewers knowledge of previous werewolf movies to know the background for this one. Some of it is given in the film, but not really enough for first time viewers to werewolf movie to truly understand. Otherwise, this one is a lot of fun. |
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Do illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup? Some people are like slinkies: not good for anything, but you can't help but laugh when one falls down the stairs. My review blog: http://donshorrormovieblog.blogspot.com/ | |
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