An American Werewolf in London

[CAH]

The Official Discussion Thread For The Film.


I have to say it's one of my favorite films of all time, and probably my favorite horror film. (if it can be called that) I call it a horror-comedy.

I love every part of the film, and this scene, by far, has to be the Greatest Moment in Cinema History! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKgjUop81Tg


CAH

 

[Cyrusbales]

Well john Landis is probably one of THE most acomplished cult film directors. I quite like American werewolf, not my fav Landis film, but very watchable still, greatest horror film? not in my opinion, but prob makes it into my top 10 horrors.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Like it a lot

 

[CAH]

I just can't get over how freaking cool that transformation scene is in the film! So real...


The only word to describe AAWiL is 'classic' IMO.

 

[BeserkerHilf]

watching this movie makes me feel bad for john landis

 

[Cyrusbales]

watching this movie makes me feel bad for john landis

why?

 

[CAH]

Well john Landis is probably one of THE most acomplished cult film directors. I quite like American werewolf, not my fav Landis film, but very watchable still, greatest horror film? not in my opinion, but prob makes it into my top 10 horrors.

Landis is damn cool.

AAWiL was fantastic! The Blues Brothers was fantastic! It's all fantastic!


CAH

 

[Cyrusbales]

Landis is damn cool.

AAWiL was fantastic! The Blues Brothers was fantastic! It's all fantastic!


CAH

I agree, Landis has directed some great films, Trading places also springs to mind. Blues borthers is easily his best though. There are a good few horror films that are better than AMMIL, nevertheless, it still rests neatly in my collection

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I just can't get over how freaking cool that transformation scene is in the film! So real...

I to this day don't know how they did that, nor do I really want to know for it would spoil it.

I always thought it was funny how with all our advancements in special effects the Fly, the Alien (from Alien), the American Werewolf, the zombies/gore in Day of the Dead, the Predator, and the Terminators in 1 and 2 are ten times more real than these cgi/computer enhanced sh** they show today.

 

[CAH]

I agree, Landis has directed some great films, Trading places also springs to mind. Blues borthers is easily his best though. There are a good few horror films that are better than AMMIL, nevertheless, it still rests neatly in my collection

I completely forgot about Trading Places! It's dang funny...


But yes, Landis is a teriffic director and he seems like the nicest guy in the world!

I haven't seen An American Werewolf in Paris, but I know it can't be as good as the first. I think AAWiP was also directed by Landis, wasn't it?



CAH

 

[CAH]

I to this day don't know how they did that, nor do I really want to know for it would spoil it.

I always thought it was funny how with all our advancements in special effects the Fly, the Alien (from Alien), the American Werewolf, the zombies/gore in Day of the Dead, the Predator, and the Terminators in 1 and 2 are ten times more real than these cgi/computer enhanced sh** they show today.

Indeed.

I think CGI is stupid most of the time. Some of it can look real, but some just looks horrible.

I won't be using very much CGI at all in any of my films hopefully...


BTW, I also don't know how they did the transformation in AAWiL. It's so incredible for 1981 effects! I'm hoping they make a special edition dvd that shows how they did it someday. Or do they have one of those already?



CAH

 

[Cyrusbales]

No, it was Anthony Waller, he does french and german films. John Landis has made a few good films, but he's made some poor stuff too. I think BLues Brothers is masterfully his best. I wouldn't call him a good director, but I have massively high expectations though

 

[ToddIsDead]

AWiL and Blues Brothers are two of my favorite movies. Some real classic stuff there.

 

[CAH]

No, it was Anthony Waller, he does french and german films. John Landis has made a few good films, but he's made some poor stuff too. I think BLues Brothers is masterfully his best. I wouldn't call him a good director, but I have massively high expectations though

Yep.


The Blues Brothers is one of my top 5 fav. films. Maybe #1, not sure yet.

But An American Werewolf in London is also on that list, so...IMO John Landis is absolutely a fantastic director! Well, let's just say he's a fantastic writer because I believe he wrote both of the films.

CAH

 

[cryptic name]

i love American Werewolf. it's a classic and far and away the best werewolf made after The Wolfman. the comedy is perfectly placed and delivered very well, and the horror and tension are fantastic. of course the transformation is legendary, probably rick baker's best effort.
love the movie, love landis.

 

[ultimatefan]

Still the best werewolf movie ever - okay, The Howling is pretty cool too.

 

[tzarinna]

Love this movie,haven't seen it in awhile.

 

[BeserkerHilf]

why?

this guy had animal house, blues brothers, coming to america, trading places, american werewolf in london.


now he has blues brothers 2000, the stupids, and the honey i shrunk the kids TV show.


i pray he has a comeback soon. he deserves it.

 

[co2]

Funny this thread came about, because I just pulled this movie out and watched it night before last in honor of Halloween. YES, it is a horror movie (Landis said that was his intent), but it is also very funny. In fact, I think what makes it so effective is that it is so funny at times, that it disarms you...then it comes out of nowhere and grabs you by the jugular. Landis is a funny guy, so it works to the film's advantage. Plus that transformation scene is outright incredible. Up until then, transformation scenes were done like they had been since the original Wolfman..with the that fading technique which looked pretty bad. Baker broke through that in a big way, which is why he got an academy award for this.
I'm not a big fan of the genre, but this is for sure one of the best horror films ever made and may well be my favorite horror film.
Landis can be hit or miss though. When he is bad, he is very bad and when he is good, he is great. This and Blues Brothers may be his best.

 

[Cyrusbales]

Yep.


The Blues Brothers is one of my top 5 fav. films. Maybe #1, not sure yet.

But An American Werewolf in London is also on that list, so...IMO John Landis is absolutely a fantastic director! Well, let's just say he's a fantastic writer because I believe he wrote both of the films.

CAH

Although I love these two of his movies, his consistency is poor, out of LOADS of movies etc, he only made two outstanding ones, and the rest were mediocre at best. it's a shame, but still worth it for the two movies, but don't get him confused with a good director.

 

[CAH]

I agree, but I'm hoping like someone said above that he'll have a comeback soon.

He does deserve it.

I just thought of something! What if someone tried to remake AAWiL? I would hunt them down...and kill them, with the help of many of you Hypesters! I'm sure.

I once thought of writing a remake to this because I love it so much, but it wouldn't work. It may only work if Landis wrote and directed a remake, but probably not. What am I saying?!


CAH

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

I love it of course, but I don't understand the love for the tranformation.
It was wild for the time, pretty embarrassing now.

A huge reason that CGI is so superior to practical stuff of the 80's (When it's done well...WHEN IT'S DONE WELL...I know there's way more crap CGI in the world than breath-taking CGI.......however, there was a lot more crap latex/animatronics/bladder work in the 80's than the really good stuff)
Is that a creature has to be stationary, to accomodate the butt-load of wires and team of technicians/puppeteers.

That's what ruins it for me. If your hand started stretching out an extra foot long, you would not sit there holding it in front of your face and making a spooked face. I hate how there always either had to be obvious, jerky animation, or a big hole in the floor and a creature plopped down right there for every shot.

This mantra about "wow, the old rubber stuff looks more real than CGI." is absurd.
Watch Meet Joe Black. Now, imagine the car accident part, only instead, done with a dummy. , or scenes where a live person is talking WHILE they're head gets blown off or sheared in half.
In the 80's there was always the very clear part where the victim/changing person went from a person to a static dummy with tubing inside. It's much better now. (WHEN DONE WELL. I'm not talking about the dinosaurs in King Kong or Van Helsing)
And sorry, Gollum would've sucked ass if he'd been a thin man in a scuba suit with a mask on that can flare it's nostrils and raise it's eyebrows occasionally.

 

[Ice-man]

This was a great movie, but i like American werewolf in Paris more

 

[BeserkerHilf]

i hate you

 

[ShadowBoxing]

This mantra about "wow, the old rubber stuff looks more real than CGI." is absurd.
Watch Meet Joe Black. Now, imagine the car accident part, only instead, done with a dummy. , or scenes where a live person is talking WHILE they're head gets blown off or sheared in half.
In the 80's there was always the very clear part where the victim/changing person went from a person to a static dummy with tubing inside. It's much better now. (WHEN DONE WELL. I'm not talking about the dinosaurs in King Kong or Van Helsing)
And sorry, Gollum would've sucked ass if he'd been a thin man in a scuba suit with a mask on that can flare it's nostrils and raise it's eyebrows occasionally.

Watch the original Predator or Alien, neither were CGI. CGI has it's moments, but overall it's overused and to the expense of the movie quality.

The Alien and Predator looked real because they were real. So did Reagan in the Exorcist, or the Fly from The Fly. CGI certainly opens doors to do things you cannot do normally. But not every non CGI thing is done with dummys. It took very talented artists like Ted Savini to create the realism that went into Day of the Dead, and when compared to Resident Evil there is no contest, DOTD is better.

CGI is not used because it is "better", it is used because it's cheaper. It's a lot easier to render a Predator on a green screen then to give a guy 5 or 10 hours worth of make-up, wardrobe and prepping.

As for Gollum, watch the movie Freaks made in the 1930s, and tell me those real freaks (including Duck Lady at the end...which was make-up and effects) don't look ten times better than gollum.

You could easily find an actor to fit his role, put him through make-up and make that character...but most would choose not too, it's time consuming and costly.

And no they do not have to be stationary...

CGI definitely has it's purpose, and it's always great to use new technology. But that doesn't mean you throw quality out the window.