The 1981 John Landis film An American Werewolf in London basically hit the scene as an instant classic and not only helped set the tone for the 80s being one of the greatest decades for horror, but it also modernized a multitude of classic horror conventions. An American Werewolf in London is a film that plays with the tropes of its genre by showing them honestly and truthfully, but through a late 20th century, Landisian lens. Up until this point, the werewolf subgenre had been played to death. Decades of films had come along, with a long-running Wolf Man series in particular telling the same sort of story over and over. It was time for a new take, one that John Landis was the perfect fit for. Between the familiar-yet-fresh take on the gothic imagery of the Universal Horror films, the film's dark comedy, and the iconic werewolf transformation, An American Werewolf in London injected some life into old school monster movies like no other.

The Road to 'An American Werewolf in London'

David Naughton as David Kessler in the painful werewolf transformation scene in 'An American Werewolf in London.'
Image via Universal Pictures

The road to this update on the werewolf subgenre was a long one. Landis grew up a fan of adventure movies like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, a picture that kick-started his love for movies and, more specifically, monsters in movies. He began working on film sets in his late teens and, while working in Europe, came up with the idea for An American Werewolf in London. This was the late 60s though, and Landis had never directed his own feature, so he opted out for slowly fleshing out his idea over the course of a decade. In this time, he would make a few films that would give him some real credit as a director and build up the kind of resume that would eventually prove An American Werewolf in London as a movie worth financing. He started things out with a low budget horror-comedy, Schlock, followed by 3 comedies in a row, Kentucky Fried Movie, Animal House, and The Blues Brothers. By this point, he was recognized as one of the most promising and exciting directors coming up in the business, and with a repertoire that bolstered a few comedies and a monster movie, it seemed like the perfect time to get rolling on his long gestating werewolf picture.

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The Dark Comedy of 'An American Werewolf in London'

Griffin Dunne as Jack Goodman with half of his face mauled in 'An American Werewolf in London'
Image via Universal Pictures

An American Werewolf in London is regarded by Landis as a straight-up horror film, but the man should give the film's comedic bits more credit. His take on the mythology of werewolves remains tragic like most others, yet his particular sarcastic and wise-ass brand of comedy makes this new take a breath of fresh air. While the film is super depressing and largely plays on a real downbeat as we wait for David (David Naughton) to either turn into the werewolf or die, Landis will throw a joke in every so often to cut the tension. This is best exemplified in the scene in which Jack (Griffin Dunne) first appears after having died, sending David into a muted shock. You expect him to lead in with something profound about the night that the two were attacked, or some insight on life after death, but instead, he asks "can I have a piece of toast?" The two go on to nonchalantly discuss Jack's funeral, while David goes back and forth between treating his current circumstance as normal and outlandish. It's bleakly hilarious, showcasing Griffin Dunne's comedic chops better than anything. Before Landis came along, you wouldn't ever find a scene with this much wit in a movie about werewolves.

'An American Werewolf in London's Relatable Cast of Characters

David Naughton as David Kessler and Griffin Dunne as Jack Goodman standing next to each other in the dark during their walking tour in 'An American Werewolf in London'
Image via Universal Pictures

The film's lead characters also help modernize the classic monster movies. Before, movies within this genre were typically led by middle-aged men, but here, our lead, David Kessler, seems like the kind of guy that you might find hanging out in the background of a party in Animal House — a far cry from The Wolf Man's Lon Chaney Jr. (this is not a knock, Chaney rocks). David starts out the film with his similarly jovial friend, Jack, as the two make their way backpacking through the English countryside. The two of them joke with each other and try to keep things light after entering The Slaughtered Lamb, a pub full of stand-offish folks. More than any monster movie that came before it, this setup makes the characters of An American Werewolf in London immensely relatable. You feel as though you're right there, caught in the midst of this hostile and awkward situation with the two of them.

As the film goes on and David tries to recover from the attack, he gets caught up in a bit of an unrealistic relationship with his nurse, Alex (Jenny Agutter). If it weren't for their chemistry, their romance might have dragged the film down a bit. Their relationship starts out giving the film a heartbeat, yet, in the end, makes things all the more tragic. You may or may not necessarily buy in to what Landis does with these characters at first, but by the film's finale, Alex's loss in David's death only makes things more devastating. Werewolf movies and monster movies hardly ever had a real romance to get invested in before this film, but with An American Werewolf in London, the stakes are higher because of it.

'An American Werewolf in London's Classic Gothic Touch

David Naughton as David Kessler in the painful werewolf transformation scene in 'An American Werewolf in London.'
Image via Universal Pictures

John Landis made sure to bring the gothic touches of classic monster movies to his own as well. It doesn't matter if we're in classic horror locals like the English countryside or an old, musky bar, or we're in a modern setting like a subway station or an apartment, An American Werewolf in London retains the visual sensibilities of old black and white monster films. Everything is covered in shadows and laden in fog, and scenes are shot in an old-school wide sense with a decent amount of coverage. It feels very similar to the classic monster movie's visual sensibility. Landis used the film's muted color palette to help deepen its depressing feel, something the black and white Universal monster movies never had the chance to take advantage of. Images of 80s London also give the film a nice new visual change of pace within the subgenre. Lastly, we can't forget those fantastic puffer jackets that David and Jack rock at the beginning of the film and on its iconic poster. You'd never catch Lon Chaney Jr. stylin' in one of those!

What About the Actual Werewolf-isms?

An American Werewolf in London mostly keeps the rules of werewolf transformations intact, as opposed to flipping the script and creating a whole new mythology. After being attacked by the werewolf at the beginning of the film, the previous man to be cursed dies and passes it along to David. As usual, he has until the next full moon before he transforms to live the life of a normal human. When he does change, he spends a lot of time attacking people on all fours, running around in a menacing way that audiences hadn't really seen in werewolf movies before, but not a concept unfamiliar to werewolf stories in general. Jack's soul being unable to rest until the werewolf's curse is lifted is a fresh idea though, giving the film a bit of a ticking clock feel and setting up the idea that David has to die before the film wraps up. Until then, Jack's appearance continues to get more and more disgusting and decayed. It's a fantastic display of the work done by the film's special effects team, led by effects guru Rick Baker.

The best modern twist in An American Werewolf in London is its ability to display a werewolf transformation on-screen well-lit. The scene in which David first changes into a werewolf is the most famous in the entire film, and it's because it rocks. Until this point, audiences had only seen folks change into werewolves through shots cross-dissolving into each other, obscured in the dark, off-screen, or any other way of making ends meet so that we can just get to seeing the monster on screen. Here, Landis makes it happen in an apartment where all the lights are on and no one around to distract the audience from what's happening. It's slimy, hairy, nasty, and super uncomfortable, and that's why it rocks.

An American Werewolf in London is one of the best horror movies of all time, and a great modernization of classic horror film tropes. It's scary, funny, has a super underrated cast, phenomenal effects, and a wonderfully realized, thought-out vision by John Landis. The film acts as an interesting example of a filmmaker taking a particular genre that they love and have studied, then going on to tell a new and interesting take on said genre, as opposed to taking the easy way out and remaking a classic. Studying the classics is important, and the more people use them to springboard off into their own new stories, the more fun genre films will be. Movies like An American Werewolf in London don't replace the classics, they simply show their love for them and create conversation between new and old stories. Hopefully, a fan of An American Werewolf in London will soon tell a new werewolf story, using this classic as a stepping stone in the monster's mythology.