Thursday, November 18, 2021

An American Werewolf In London (John Landis, 1981)



I could say a lot of things about this movie, but I don't want to spoil the fun of not knowing what is going to happen to the film. An American Werewolf In London is a movie that balances perfectly between a humorous horror movie and a very serious scary film. And I think, beyond the other virtues of the movie, that combination of humour and morbid drama is what makes it such an important movie in the horror anthology of our planet. There is a somehow light-hearted agenda to the movie with a lot of humorous gags and on the other hand, there is definitely a dark side of the movie, a side that follows you till the end of the film. What begins as a an expedition film to northern England is becoming a horror film, a film that understands that laughter and sorrow go together and the more laughter a sorrowful act has, the bigger its dark effect is. One of the most iconic 80s movies, the flavour of the film stinks of 80s, a movie that has every side of cinema in it and a film that stays to this day a living myth of werewolf mythology. An American is a film that will never age, it has that style that becomes instantly a classic and a retro reference for future generations. I enjoyed the old school tele and the retro ads of Coca-Cola and Fuji. An American has a very specific taste, a very specific perfume that can't be mixed up with something else. It is a film that speaks a language that all people understand. It is an "urban" movie, a movie for the people, a movie for all the cinema fans regardless if they are watching horror films or not. An American is a movie that you put in your backpack when you go on vacation. It's a movie that you remember every Christmas and Halloween, it's a movie that follows you from a very young age till you are a full grown-up. An American Werewolf is a movie that follows you throughout your life. 

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