Director: John Landis
Notable Cast: David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny
Agutter, John Woodvine, Brian Glover
Writing about An American Werewolf in London is a
daunting task. There are a slew of other writers and film critics who have
analyzed the film from beginning to end for its cultural relevance, the strength of
execution, and its ability to weave genres and, truthfully, most of them are
smarter than I am. Nonetheless, I was tasked with the insurmountable task of
reviewing the new Arrow Video Blu Ray release of the film and, thus, it’s time
to wear my shoes and hike this mountain. To say that An American Werewolf in
London is an American cinematic classic is a bit of an understatement. It’s
a film that has lasted the test of time with its strange and off-kilter blend
of horror and humor, but it might be most remembered for how it helped to
modernize the werewolf genre along with the other big werewolf film in 1981 – The
Howling.