"A naked American man stole my balloons..."

After watching two really mediocre attempts at horror, I resigned myself that good horror is hard to come by. Great horror is nearly impossible to find. Crappy horror is a dime a dozen. Probably two out of every ten horror films produced are even remotely entertaining...


Hence my little sit down with my flat screen and one of my all-time faves, An American Werewolf in London (1981).


Exactly the right mix of horror and comedy, courtesy of the brilliant John Landis (who on a side note, directed the late great Michael Jackson in his masterpiece video, Thriller.)....





So, in lieu of posting a review (cause if you haven't actually seen it, what the hell are you reading this blog for?) - I decided to pick 10 reasons I love "An American Werewolf in London".

Listed in reverse chronological order (for no reason other than that's just how I roll), here you go:

10) Nazi-monsters who jump into David's house all SWAT-like and wipe out his entire family and slit his throat. Ta-dah, it's a dream...... But wait! Then they jump through the window at the hospital and kill Nurse Price... Ta-dah... another dream... Time to wake up.




9) Corpse Jack sitting on the couch holding Mickey Mouse: "Hi David!"






8) Sex in the shower with someone you just met. Someone from another country. Who was attacked by a 'lunatic' on the moors. Who is having mixed perceptions of reality and seeing his dead friend, and is almost convinced he's a werewolf. But it's sex, in the shower, right? I mean, really?





7) The transformation + "Blue Moon". Brilliant.





6) The scary scene in the tubes - the man alone in the underground subway being chased... and he finally trips up the escalator. Only then do you see the werewolf coming on screen, and only then do you really see how BIG he is. Probably the scariest part of the movie.




5) The scene in the theater where all the folks David slaughtered are discussing ways he can kill himself. Jack is miffed that they are so cruel. "Do you mind? The man's a friend of mine..."

4) A werewolf running up and down Piccadilly Circus. Classic.





3) The Slaughtered Lamb - "You made me miss. I've never missed that board in my life...".....
"There's no food here!".....




2) Speaking of the quirky pub off the beaten path in East Proctor - how about the strange folks who congregate there who seem to know a secret but aren't tellin'. "Remember the Alamo!"

1) Stick to the road, stay off the moors, and beware of the moon.

(advice Jack wishes to hell he'd have listened to...)