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This week on The Rotten Horror Picture Show Amanda and Clay head across the pond to merry old England for a tale of horror and humor, of love and lycanthropy, and friends and fangs, with 1981’s classic cinematic comedy of monstrous macabre, An American Werewolf in London!
David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), two American college students, are backpacking through Britain when a large wolf attacks them. David survives with a bite, but Jack is brutally killed. As David heals in the hospital, he’s plagued by violent nightmares of his mutilated friend, who warns David that he is becoming a werewolf. When David discovers the horrible truth, he contemplates committing suicide before the next full moon causes him to transform from man to murderous beast.
Join Clay and Amanda as they bark at the moon over a nurse who misunderstood the Hippocratic oath, Frank Oz as a person, Frank Oz as a Muppet, a friendship that never dies (or at least one that gets to try and kill yourself), fashion choices that tell all kinds of stories, and a heaping helping of deepy questionable parenting!
1981 was the year of the wolf, with not one, not two but three werewolf movies all coming out more or less at the same time – must have been something in the air! Interestingly enough, all three of them could be considered black comedies, which begs the question, what is it about werewolves that were deemed so inherently funny at the time? Is there something about the concept of turning into a wolf that is more naturally funny than vampires, Frankensteins or zombies? Regardless of the reason, we’re glad 1981 got extra hairy and brought the world some fang-tastic fright flicks!
So put on your best puffy winter coat, pull a pint at the Slaughtered Lamb, and howl at the moon with us…if you DARE! It’s “An American Werewolf in London”!