67. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

67. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
(1981)
Directed by John Landis

I've always been fond of this movie because it succeeds with a tricky endeavor by walking the creaking plank between horror and humor without going overboard. The horror elements are truly horrific, especially the explicit transformation sequence and the nightmare of the ravenous Nazi werewolves, and the jokes, morbid and generally unobtrusive, are pretty goddamn funny. Let me say right here that even though this is one of only two werewolf movies on my list I have nothing against werewolves. It just seems that this hairy monster has yet to be given the grand cinematic treatment it deserves. "The Werewolf of London" (1935) "The Wolf Man" (1941) "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957) and especially "The Howling" (1980) all have their moments, for sure, and recent takes on the old legend like the very impressive "Ginger Snaps" (2001) and the surprisingly good "Dog Soldiers" (2002) are encouraging and may gain lofty stature over time, but this hirsute shapeshifter has in most part been sadly underserved. I have a hunch that the greatest werewolf movie of them all is yet to be made but for now we can revisit "An American Werewolf in London" and that isn't so bad.