This week they’re crawling out of the woods in force – werewolves that is. It was a full moon on Sunday so it’s hardly surprising.
Tonight’s lycanthropic film tells a tongue-in-cheek tale about two American youths who are attacked by a werewolf on the Yorkshire moors. Read more about it here.
It stars David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter, and it’s directed by John Landis who also directed Michael Jackson’s Thriller video two years later.
An American Werewolf in London joined The Howling and Wolfen in forming the pack of wolf movies that hit the big screens with their shapeshifting storylines in the early 1980s.
The film’s themed soundtrack features a selection of songs all related to the moon – I guess it wouldn’t be incorrect to call them looney tunes.
The legendary line “this is a local shop for local people” from the hugely popular League of Gentlemen TV series was undoubtedly inspired by the scene in An American Werewolf in London where the two guys walk into the Slaughtered Lamb pub (which itself was probably inspired by The Wicker Man).
Needless to say, the film has a cult following and features on most top ten werewolf movie lists.
Come back on Friday when I’ll be getting my teeth into another wolf film. In the meantime, I’d love to know if you have a favourite movie from this genre.
Definite favourite has to be Teen Wolf starring Michael J Fox. But we’ll see how Twilight sequels New Moon and Eclipse fare. Plenty of werewolf action in those too.
Twilight is really quite good. I was surprised. The director and a lot of the people involved are women and it brings a totally different feel to the movie. The women’s roles actually are interesting, and not just a damsel in distress.
I don’t get the global Robert Pattinson obsession, but I enjoyed Twilight too. The dialogue is a little stilted, and the characters spend far too much time gazing at each other, but the setting and atmosphere really bring the story to life. I’ll certainly be curious to see New Moon and Eclipse.