BEFORE: Well, I guess in some circles this would be considered a classic. Let's talk about synchronicity for a second. My friend Andy is in town for the New York Comic-Con, which starts tomorrow, and at dinner we were talking about the old Dr. Demento radio show from the 80's and 90's (a syndicated show that played mostly novelty records). The host frequently interviewed comedy guests, such as George Carlin, Terry Gilliam, and John Landis, the director of this film. I'm proud to say I later met all three of those men - I met Mr. Landis last year at the San Diego Comic-Con, when he happened to walk by our booth.
THE PLOT: Two American students are on a walking tour of Britain and are attacked by a Werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The surviving student begins to have nightmares...
AFTER: And in another bit of synchronicity, the pub seen at the start of the film is called The Slaughtered Lamb, and Andy and I spent an evening, years ago, in a NYC pub of the same name, with a couple of comic-book writers, who were working on "Iron Man" comics at the time, if memory serves.
While the werewolf transformation effects in this film were considered groundbreaking at the time (thanks to FX man Rick Baker, "Monster Maker"), the film takes much too much time in getting to them - almost 2/3 of the film passes before the first transformation.
And David's (imagined?) conversations with his dead friend make up an innovative way to advance the plot, but are also something of a narrative cop-out.
Someone had fun with the soundtrack - "Blue Moon", "Moondance", and "Bad Moon Rising" feature prominently, but unfortunately not Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London", probably because it doesn't have "moon" in the title.
Starring James Naughton (perhaps most famous for his Dr. Pepper ads in the 70's). Griffin Dunne (last seen in "Johnny Dangerously"), Jenny Agutter (last seen in "Darkman"), with cameos from Frank Oz (last seen in "Spies Like Us"), and Rik Mayall (seen playing chess in the pub)
RATING: 6 out of 10 pints of Guinness
SPOOK-O-METER: 8 out of 10. The English moors are genuinely spooky, and those transformations look genuinely painful.
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