An American Werewolf in London

Hello. I am nothing, not a lie. No. I didn't mean either. Hello, Sydney. It's your killer host! My name is Parker, your resident horror fanatic. I'm Caroline, Scaredy Scream Queen. I'm Ian, Scary Movie Skeptic. And welcome to. What's your favorite scary movie is a horror film podcast where we're on a journey to find our favorite scary movie one at a time. Whether you hate them or love them, join us and discover yours. Spoilers ahead, so plan your movie screening every weekend before the episode release. No werewolves around here. However, on our TV screen tonight, there sure were, because we watched an American werewolf in London. Ah, Royto Chop. You know where we're not? London, England. Yeah, it's true.

It's true. So an American Werewolf in London came out in the year 1981. What a good year that was. Just kidding. I was not alive. So, fun fact for you: an American Werewolf in London won the first ever Academy Award for Best Makeup. And that award went to the makeup artist Rick Baker, who worked on this film and whose work you might recognize even in recent films like Jim Carrey's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And uh The Ring. And Maleficent. Have you ever seen cheekbones like Maleficence? Well, you have if you've seen it. Seen Angelina Jolie. She doesn't have those cheekbones. She has some good ones, though. An American Werewolf in London was written and directed by John Landis.

And let me tell you, he wrote the script for an American Werewolf in London and kind of shopped it around Hollywood to try and get, you know, work. And people either said, This is too funny to be a horror movie. Or they said, This is too scary to be a comedy. People didn't get it. And it took him creating some really big movies to get the work. He wrote and directed The Blues Brothers from 1980, and he directed National Lampoons Animal House from 1978. Even the tagline for an American Werewolf in London said from the director of Animal House, a different kind of animal. Clever. Alright, starting us off, we have David Naughton as David Kessler.

What a looker. Yeah, and uh, you know where I'm a looking? Between those legs, we saw a lot of wean. Barely. We saw some. When he was running around the zoo, he would cover up his wean, but then he would uncover to like grab a tree. I've seen it. I didn't catch those flashes, but um well you you had to be looking, and I certainly was. Uh he was a guest or has been a guest on pretty much every TV show that you can possibly imagine. Um Midnight Madness from 1980 and Steel and Lace from 1991. He's also a singer with a Billboard Top Ten hit from 1979, Makin' It. Damn. I can't say that I know that song.

I believe it was the theme song to the TV show Making It. So he was also in the TV commercial for Dr. Pepper and kind of was the face. And you know how much I love Dr. Pepper. So I really had a uh a strong relationship to this fact. Um, but fun fact, he was dropped from the Dr. Pepper brand because this movie had so many nude scenes. Two things I love Dr. Pepper and Dick, and it turns out they don't mix. Whoa. Um we also have Griffin Dunn, who plays Jack Goodman. Um Griffin was in After Hours from 1985 and Dallas Buyers Club from 2013. He directed Practical Magic from 1998, which has Sarah Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

Have you seen that film? I have not. It's a weird one. Um also I believe this was his debut as an actor. Um, he was also nominated for an Oscar for his short Duke of Groove from 1996. A man of many talents, a renaissance man. Uh Jenny Agate. Is that your British accent? Yeah. Jenny Agate uh was in Childplay 2 from 1990. Um she was also in the series called The Midwife, which I've heard is very good. Yeah, it's on Netflix. Um, and a few appearances in recent Marvel films. I just gotta say, she has great hair. Yeah, and I would say great face too. She's very beautiful. Beautiful, but like the hair was perfect and like thin and wispy and yeah.

I've I've heard that people do your hair when you're in a movie. Record scratch. Um Frank Oz, who plays Mr. Collins from the American Embassy in that weird little scene. Yeah, very brief. Um he was not only the director of Little Shop of Horrors from 1986, Little Shop, Little Shop of Horrors, but he also voiced many Muppets, including Miss Piggy in this very movie. Like what? Yeah. And also some Sesame Street characters and Yoda. Oh Adult Yoda. Really? Uh uh. Okay, well that took it down a few notches for me, but still cool nonetheless. Do you think Miss Piggy is my Muppet spirit animal? Oh my god, I hope so. She's the best one. Are you Kermit?

No. I'd maybe be like a Fozzie Bear, I think. Fozzle, like to give hugs, you know. I think Ann's a Kermit. Waka waka. The IMDB summary reads: Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. So are you a Kermit? Yeah, someone doesn't like fun. The Rotten Tomatoes critic score is an 87%, and the audience score is 85%. The critics' consensus is quote, terrifying and funny in almost equal measure. John Landis's horror comedy crosses genres while introducing Rick Baker's astounding makeup effects. Now, Ian, riddle me this. Are you a Kermit? Are you a Kermit? What do you think? I don't know. What do you guys think?

What other Muppet appeals to you? They're all creepy. What's a pretty big claim to just put out in the world. I'm not a huge fan, but like I don't think they're creepy. I think they're fun. Have you ever heard that Diddy? The Rainbow Connection? Yeah. I used to have many an emotional moment when I was a child that song. Swaying back and forth. Yeah, I would practice my voice to it. Can you do a Kermit voice? I would I would not want to do a first attempt here live on the air. Yes, a very beloved movie, as we see from such high critical acclaim and audience acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes. I think something very interesting about this movie is that up until now, horror comedies in the movies, I feel like didn't have this particular brand of being able to balance like high gore action with like silly events happening.

And I think it kind of set the stage for things to come after this, like the the Evil Dead franchise, or uh even now the effects. Like when I saw Ready or Not last year, I was a little bummed because I was like, Yeah, you're making jokes, but where is this like aesthetic of this like over-the-top body horror that I think this movie started the association of having like humor that can be part of the horror? I I love that about this movie. I think that sometimes gets confused with just like a bad B movie. But you think this is like a B movie? I love the um texture of all the effects in this movie, and when there's the wolf transformation that kind of set a precedent for what werewolf and other body horror things might could look like uh before CGI, I think that that scene is very like, wow, like I mean, showing off a little bit, calm down, but at the same time, like it is grotesque, but at the same time it's almost campy in that there's like there's fun and there's excitement to be had in like the wolf's like evil face snarling and ripping people up, and the way that the movie is cutting between that violence and like other things happening.

I think it like very similarly in other movies that don't have that like very low bar of humor across the board. Sometimes those scenes come across as campy. Mm-hmm So you're talking about other films? Yeah, like it was like right on it was like what I saw in this movie was similar to what happened in other movies, but like for some reason this movie maybe it was because I would you said that it was supposed to be like comedy, but I don't know if I would have guessed that right off the bat. Yeah, and I also think that's kind of my style of comedy. I have a hard time with comedy sometimes because I hate when you can feel how hard somebody's trying to make a joke.

And so I kind of enjoyed, yes, there are like slapstick moments in this movie, like when the investigator drops all of the bed pans on the ground and he can't fit them all back together and it's really loud, but also more subtle things like you know, the doctor talking on the phone about this guy that he doesn't want to have dinner with and he just tells him to tell him he's dead, and you know, moves I think things like that are funny. These kind of like in the background more throwaway lines where it's not like hitting me in the face with like, you know, well, I was gonna say fart joke. I don't like a fart joke.

I I don't I never mind a fart. But like, I don't know, movies like The Hangover, and uh I really hated game night from like two years ago. Yeah, stuff like that just really wears on me. I think it's really taxing to feel the effort of what's going on on screen. And I felt like this was a very natural uh comedy where some things are funny, some things are grotesque, and you have to kind of laugh at what's happening, and some things are just really bizarre, like some of the dream sequences. Uh, I think that this movie's a really unique combination of I don't know, you it if even if it's not like making a joke, you have to laugh at how like the insanity that's happening.

And I think that's always like I love Gremlins. Gremlins is just completely insane, and by the end you were just like, what is this clusterfuck? But it's it works, like somehow it just comes together and it's hilarious. So that's I'm very on board with this movie to say the least. Uh I was really in it in the beginning, and then as soon as he got to the hospital, I dropped off for like a solid 20 minutes. It's like 10 minutes into it. I know, and I was like, I I was so engrossed in the beginning part that as soon as it let me down for like a minute. No, it was just like, oh, it's spooky, like seeing your life reflected in all.

Well, I said this during the movie, but the blue backpack that David has, I pretty much have the exact same backpack. And you've done the you've ridden with some sheep and kind of trekked across the moors do like a hike like that. Yeah, we were gonna hike Ireland. Basically, yeah. Hopefully during the day though. Yeah, I don't know what they were doing. I walk around at night and it was raining. Yeah. Ian, what'd you think? Uh yeah, I mean interesting. I thought the obviously the makeup awards are just and fair. Very impressed for what year was it? 1981. Or 1981. The makeup was killer. Yeah, and actually a lot of puppetry went into this as well, which I I always like a puppet.

I think puppets are really fun. There's a reason why everybody's latching on to Baby Yoda, and it's because he's like a tangible, adorable thing that's not a computer monster. So fuck computers. Yeah. Uh so you may notice watching this movie, hmm, this looks like another piece of pop culture that seems very familiar that maybe has saturated, you know, the household a little bit more than maybe this movie did. No, think a little more broader. No, maybe think someone who has recently posthumously become cancelled. Caroline? Uh, it may look like Thriller to you, the music video. Oh well, Michael Jackson saw an American werewolf in London and loved it. And so they got John Landis. What? You're watching it in a porno place?

No, he got John Landis, the director, Rick Baker, the makeup artist, and a lot of other people from this, like the composer and the cinematographer, to make and write and script the thriller music video. And if you'll recall, the thriller music video starts out with Michael Jackson and a woman, and then he turns into a werewolf and attacks her, and then the zombies come out and they do their big dance. I see it. I see it now. Yeah. What it would be like to be rich enough where you're just like, I'm not sure. I like that movie. To do what I want. Yeah. So, I mean, he he could do that. And honestly, Thriller, I would say, I mean, I don't know anything about music, but that seems to be like the height of music video fame, wouldn't you think?

Oh, yeah. Everyone's seen it? I can just picture it in my brain right now. I imagine that that is the number one most watched music video of all time. I'm gonna Google it. I think I don't know Swift's like uh Okay, here it is. Maybe not number one, but it's in the top ten. According to who? Most influential music videos. The highest watched on YouTube is actually Desposito. Ah, desposito version. Oh, I don't think I knew there was another version. Well, yeah, it Justin Bieber ripped off someone else and just like, yeah, he came in and sang the beginning part, and that was it. Oh my god, tea being spilled here on the list. Good artist, copy, great artists.

So yeah, what's that thing about standing on shoulders? I don't know. In the top ten, we have Bob Dylan, we have Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, David Bowie, Ashes to Ashes, Michael Jackson thriller. You know, recently announced that Timothy Chalamet is going to be playing Bob Dylan in a movie, and I read the headline, and for some reason my brain went to Bob Marley, and I was like, um, that sounds problematic. At some at some point, we're gonna do enough of these, you know, artist movie remake things. What? That they're gonna have to cast me for someone. Take on me. They've done so many of these movies around artists. Oh, so you're saying they're gonna make a movie about our podcast?

No, they're just doing so many that they're gonna run out of people to play other people. That's true. So many. Also, Elton John is still alive, friends. What is happening? Fake news. Is he dead? No, he's alive. Fake news. No, he's alive. No, the movie. No, I'm just saying. What? I'm saying he die in a movie? No, but I'm just saying a movie makes it seem like a famous person is dead. Yes. That's why I speak news. He's agreeing. I thought you were just yelling things out. I just thought that was so weird that they went ahead and made that movie and he was still alive. I I I have nothing for you. Oh, Jesus. We're done with that conversation.

This is off the rails. I mean, they waited to be on rails. But you hear make never land until Michael Jackson was. You heard it here first on the podcast. Elton John's still alive. That is the tea. But he conveniently had that movie made. Well, I don't know if he had it made, but the movie came out and then he was like, I'm gonna launch one more tour. Sold out. Yeah, why wouldn't you? Tea Time. So a special section. Scary movie pod, tea time. This movie came out in 1981. As we've discussed, a bit of a slasher craze beginning at this time. The days of the monster movie were kind of over. And on top of that, the werewolf has always kind of been the underdog of the monsters.

You know, vampires, they're sexy. Werewolves, not as much. And so John Landis was actually very inspired by the Wolfman, the classic universal monster. You will have heard in this movie multiple references to the wolfman. So he wanted to make his modern take on the wolfman, and this is what we got. Funny enough, though, other werewolf movies were hitting the screens the same year. A lot of competition from The Howling, which is another popular werewolf movie that actually Rick Baker had signed on to do the makeup for, but him and John Landis had kind of come up with some of the effects and the ideas for what would happen in this movie. So when they started shooting an American Werewolf in London, Rick Baker left and uh returned.

He left the Howling and returned to American Werewolf in London. And I have to say, lucky for them, because he kind of became the crown jewel of the movie, you know. I think the makeup is part of uh, or at least one of the um, you know, number one cells of this film. Totally. Alright. Stop that microphone. Looks like you're gonna have to dig into our pot of Patreon money. I know. I need we need uh, you know, these wires because how else will my beautiful melodic voice waft into your ear holes and vibrate through your ear canals into your loins and neurotic st I gotta say tendons. There was a lot of sexual references in this movie.

Lot of sex. Lot of sex. Who doesn't like sex? Lots of showers, sudsy sex, boobs, lots of boobs. Yeah, I mean some boobs. That porn lady boobs? Porn lady boobs. I mean, they were there, yeah. Damn, they were large. Yeah, she probably has to see a chiropractor. The whole first act of the, or not first act, but first scene of this movie, kind of the prologue to the film's events, would be young David and Jack hitting the road and finding this bar, the slaughtered lamb. Hit the road, Jack. So they find the slaughtered lamb, and nobody wanted them to. Not a very friendly place. And I was so tickled by them being like, Do you have soup?

No. Do you have coffee? No. If you want something warm, you can have tea. Do you have tea? No. They don't have anything there because they don't want no people. But what this scene starts is kind of an undertone, a little examination of racism that I've noticed in this film, where the man makes a joke about this plane that is too heavy, and so they start throwing stuff out of the plane, and then it's still too heavy. So he says, A Frenchman says Viva La France, and he jumps out of the plane. And then somebody else jumps down, somebody else going through nationalities, and then an American man yells, Remember the Alamo, and he throws a Mexican out of the plane.

Oh, I get it now. Yeah, so that was the joke. And what I think's interesting about this is this is a joke about race. And this whole film is kind of looking at that. We get a few references to our protagonist, David, being Jewish. You may notice that they say he has uh what like an uncut weenie because he's Jewish. You may notice Jewish people had cut cut weenie. We cut weenies, yeah. Sorry, sorry. Cut weenie. And then they say that's normal practice now. Yeah, normal practice now. And then later in his dream sequence, a few things. One, menorah on the mantle place. Two, this dream sequence, you may recall he's in the hospital, falls asleep, and a slew of like alien, grotesque people shoot out his family and slit his throat.

Nazis. They've got on the uniforms and the armbands, and you may remember 1981, it's only like 40 years after the Holocaust. Less than, right? And the same year that the Berlin Wall fell, right? Ah, 91, not 81, I was mistaken. Yeah, so a little premature there. 91? That seems late. Yeah. Oh, not so long ago. Well, so I was just trying to think earlier, because I remember the first time I watched this, I was like, what the hell was that scene? And so I don't think there are any answers, but I was struck this viewing by these like subtle references to, you know, not only is he a fish out of water being an American in Europe, but also he is transforming into a beast, which I don't think is necessarily about race, but if you're looking at race, there are all these things about him being different and all these jokes being made, and he has this kind of fear in his brain planted.

So there's there's I think something interesting going on with his uh his race. They also made a point of him wearing an NYU shirt. Well, yeah, they said he was from New York. He's an American. Yeah. He went to yeah. He went to uh Europe after school. All that knowledge just going to waste. All that money, NYU, expensive. So that was my my first like main takeaway. Also, I just really love that like alien Nazi shootout scene. That is insane. And you even see like the bloody corpses of his child siblings, and they slit his throat, and then fake out inception. He wakes up in the hospital, nurse price goes to open the window, and he jumps out and stabs her again, and then he wakes up again.

That's kind of like one of the things that you know I think horror and comedy kind of combining to make just like this bizarre thing where you're like, uh, but then also like uh like I I love that. I love that. I think that's super fun. That's one of my favorite parts of the whole movie. Now we have a couple of different relationships. I've seen criticisms of this movie that the character development is not strong enough. I think that this is a movie about David, and actually I think we get to know him very well. And so the fact that we don't necessarily get to know his friends as well doesn't necessarily bother me because I feel like I know David fairly well.

Yeah. Do we though? I think so. He's kind of goofy, but he's also struggling with like his mental state. But that's bef that's after. I've like true David, we don't really know. Yeah, but he also seems loving, he latches on to these relationships, and I don't know, I think he's kind of like uh like a like a fun broy I think he's heavy bear. Yeah, he seems like a guy that I feel like I know in real life. Well, not like I'm that familiar with no, like I feel like he's similar to people that I know in real life. I feel like I had an image for him. Whereas, you know, Alex, Nurse Alex, I don't necessarily have as good of a picture of her because like she seems to be a woman of science at some points, because she's like wanting to look at the facts and get like the knowledge, but then yeah, like Ian said, she's willing to kind of cast off alarming things because she seems to have latched on to David so quickly.

Is it just me, or did the whole like hospital scene and the way the doctor and the nurses were in there, it just seemed like it was all very sexual. Well, they like put her in this cute little nurse uniform. But even the guy, even the doctor, it was just really weird. With like a tight belt around her. I don't think that I got that feeling. I definitely was getting sexual energy between nurse Alex and David the whole time, but I was not getting much between the men. But you know, Ian, you see what you want to see, so I uh support. Well, yeah, he said, but don't you guys have jobs to do? And they were like, Oh yeah, I guess I'll stop looking at this guy's dick.

Like I was saying, different relationships. And I think that I like I I like a lot that this movie is told through David's relationships. You know, it starts with him and Jack and their kind of bond, and I actually really like their friendship. I think it seems very warm and very kind, and you know, you don't always get really good looks at relationships between men and in media, and uh, I think that their relationship, I was very sad to see it snuffed out so early, don't you think? Yeah. Had they had a good rapport with each other? I wanted to see them fuck a little bit, like just a little. What an asshole though. He ran away initially.

I know. I I noted that moment because I was like, same. I would do that as well. Would you then feel the remorse immediately and the love for your companion and run back? Maybe once the werewolf was gone. Wow. The truth comes out. I'm just saying it's better to have one person dead than two. So would you jump back on the Titanic for me? No. Oh my god. But I would very highly encourage that you jump off of the Titanic with me. Women and children only, Caroline. Let's get you an address, bruh. Yeah, women and children and gays. Yeah. Peace out, Ian. Oh no, get him an address too. He's just like, well, Jack's dead. Hey, nurse Price.

Jack. Come back. Yeah, he never lets go of Jack, honestly. Oh my god. But he pulls Nurse Price back into his web of mischief. And you know, a bit of a love at first sight situation here. And I yeah, I'm not quite sure how long he spends in the hospital, but you know, three weeks. Very well, no, he was there for three weeks before he woke up. I mean, I could see a world where there's heightened emotions. Mm-hmm. You know, back in the day, if I was a young gun and there was, you know, an attractive nurse. She's feeding you like chicken fried steak, taking care of you. She's reading you books in bed. Hot. Yeah.

It is kind of like American dream, like nurse, sexy nurse helping you when you're down, doing sexy things, you know. It's not sexy, man. Have you seen Ian when he's sick? I mean, I I sure have. I've seen Ian fall to the floor clutching himself. And Caroline and I just being like, what? That's what I'm saying. I feel like I'm not saying you falling in love with Ian. I'm saying Ian falling in love with the nerd. I'm not gonna rush to his side. Because honestly, Nurse Price, she seems a little more skeptical. Don't you think? It takes her a little bit longer. He's like, hey, I love you, and she's like, record scratch, you know. She's like, I just used you for your body.

Exactly. And honestly, you know what's kind of hot? Those scratch scars across his chest boob. I thought about that. Kind of hot. I was thinking, I if I had to go through a horrific experience like that, I wouldn't be mad about coming out with a big scratch on my boob. And this episode's just been a Parker. The movie's horny. We're horny. It all works. With David Kessler with that head of hair, how could it not be? Oh, hell yeah. And do you know where else he's hairy? Everywhere, because he turns into a werewolf. But also when he moves his hand a little bit when he's nude, hairy. You know, grooming, I feel like maybe not actually he's pretty hairless everywhere else.

When he calls that young boy over to the bush that he's hiding in. What a creepy moment. Yeah, bush is the only thing he's got going on because back, chest, it's all pretty bald. Anyway, so yeah, hospital, yada yada. Kind of like the the part you gotta get through. Cause then this werewolf transformation that transpires after David moves in with Alex, you know, that's what we came for. Apparently, it took them six days to shoot this transformation scene. You can probably imagine a lot of makeup having to be done throughout it. They also raised the floor of the set they were shooting this on so that the puppeteers could be beneath him, kind of orchestrating the the form of the werewolf bursting through.

And yes, it I feel like where it's silly is that like we're just stare there's like a still shot of his back for like 10 seconds, and it's like long- I feel like that's where it kind of hasn't aged as well. But I think for me personally, the effect of like his back, like spine rippling up through his skin, and you know, later in the theater, his fingernails ripping or his claws ripping through his fingernails, and his face like bulging out and becoming this wolf face. I think that those things are actually really cool, and still, you know, if they were a little bit glossier in a theater today, I think the same effect would really work and be exciting.

I did get a little bit confused because we see this full transformation, and it's great, but then the next time that we see him attack, it looks like a completely different type of animal. Just some more hair. He's been growing it out, you know, he's advan he's you know, accelerated puberty. Maybe we just didn't see all of his hair. I just wish it would have been the beast that we last saw him transform into. I think that would have been much more effective. Maybe. Yeah, but also what I like is that they're very, you know, sometimes I feel like you're trying to cover up, you know, a lack of technology, but they show, like, they show things, they show it close up, they show things with full lighting up.

You know, they don't try and hide things behind, you know, like, oh, I can't really see that. Like, they're just gonna give it to us. They spent the money, they got the effects, and they were like, turn on those lights. I think that's really cool. Um, so he goes on a bit of a killing spree. The first one, this like PDA obsessed couple walking around their friend's apartment to try and give them a scare. Gross, they deserved that. How do you really feel, Parker? I think PDA has no place in this world. It's like living with you guys. Exactly. Y'all are always like, does this make sense? Yeah, you got a bedroom right back there. After that, he kills some homeless people.

But what I want to look at is this guy in the tube station, as I believe they call it. I think what's cool about this scene is that there's no music. They kind of forego the horror trope of having like the loud clangs and crashes. Instead, it's just a guy versus wolf. And how many times have you been in a s in an empty subway station and gotten a little spooked? Uh, I normally don't. I just if I'm by myself, I just walk as fast as I can. Because you're spooked. No, mainly because I want to get to go where I'm going, but I get a little spooked when I'm alone on a subway platform. I don't think if you like heard a little bit of a rumbling, would you stop and stand there and be like, what is that?

Or would you just keep going? I would keep going. Yeah. But you know, I'm not that man. Maybe he wouldn't. I did appreciate those like weird winding tunnels. Very real. We've gotten lost down there several times. I've never been to London, so I'm Oh my god, you haven't? Have you even traveled? I've lived vicariously through this film. Through us. I've seen the the tube station. And let me tell you, that guy takes a pretty hard fall on that escalator, and then a very spooky shot as he is ascending on his back, and you see the werewolf come out from the hallway. That's my favorite scene. I really enjoyed that. I wish it would have ended right there.

Because then it keeps crawling out. It keeps going, and I just think but then we join the perspective of the werewolf. It's kind of cool. That's what's cool about the whole scene. I just wish it would be a little bit more. But also, there's no way he would have survived that fall. Because his skull would have gone right into that escalator. Lodge. And those are sharp things. Escalators are scary. He did. Yeah, they're like man-eating machines if you let 'em. Yeah, my sister used to tell me that if I my shoes were untied, it would catch them and suck me into it. My mom told me that too. Because it would. I don't know. I don't think it's gonna suck my whole body into the extra.

Try it next time. You know, I will maybe. Report back. Maybe I will. So then he wakes up in the zoo naked. We get to see some dick, which is always nice in a movie, you know. Give the people what they want. And also, this is I think another example of the, you know, more comedic edge of this movie. You know, him taking the balloons from the boy, and the boy going, like, Mom, a naked American man just stole my balloons. And then him zipping across the zoo and grabbing that woman's coat. Poor woman. The best of the movie. Yeah, that made me lol. But what's unsettling about this is that he gets home to Alex and he's like, I just woke up in the zoo, and my zombie friend Jack has been appearing to me, and she's just like, Oh, you're so silly.

You're so silly. And then the doctor calls her and he's like, Is he acting normal? And she's like, Yeah, he's just like in a good mood. And he's like, Let's have sex. Yeah, so I was like, Okay, Alex, there's a certain point where you have to get out of denial. Alright, so let's jump into the finale of this movie, and then I want to, you know, talk about some larger thread things. David goes to the porno theater where they're playing a little flick called See You Next Wednesday. Uh, and you may have noticed that See You Next Wednesday was being advertised in the tube station where that man was attacked. I did see that because it was like join the biggest orgy or something.

Yeah, that's the kind of detail I'm looking for from my movies. You know, I want to be immersed in the world. Uh, I heard that originally John Landis wanted to have cartoons playing in this theater, uh, so that it would go from like real-life violence to cartoon violence back to real-life violence. But in the years between him writing the script and actually getting it made, Piccadilly Circus had changed a little bit and become more like Times Square at the time where there were porno theaters and splatter houses where they were playing horror films. They go to, um, he goes to see the porn movie, and this is where Jack introduces him to all of his victims.

Now there's this thread going throughout the movie that I find really interesting, where, I mean, so something I think the movie doesn't do that well is that I'm never under any illusion that he's not becoming a werewolf. You know, it seems pretty clear from every moment that yes, he will become a werewolf. Yes, he is the werewolf. But I like this thread that it has going through where he keeps having these visions where his friend Jack is telling him, you have to kill yourself for the good of everyone else. But then everyone else is telling him, like his doctors and at nurse Alex are saying, like, you're just having bad dreams and you're imagining this. So I think that to me, this is a very one of the more effective examples I've seen of like the mental state of someone who maybe is slipping a little bit, where all they know is that if they don't do something drastic that's put you know, could be harmful to them, maybe it's not always kill yourself, but um that just something is telling them, like, for the better good, you know, you gotta do this.

And I think that's really scary. He doesn't know if he's actually going to become a werewolf, he just knows that he needs to kill himself, or else, you know, apparently all these people's lives are going to be ruined, and he says people around you are going to start dying. I love that. I think that's a really powerful thing in this movie that holds a fearful place in my brain, in my heart. Kind of the apparently this was the first film to be allowed to shoot in Piccadilly Circus in 15 years. Nobody was allowed to do it. But, you know, John Lannis did a little schmoozin. He invited apparently like 300 police officers to the premiere of his movie, The Blues Brothers, and they were all super impressed.

So they let him shoot in Piccadilly Circus for a few days really late at night, and we get this insane car pile-up. I think this scene is just like Chef's Kiss, so cool, where you see people flying through windshields, you see people falling out of their cars and then getting run over, cars just slamming into each other, and somehow John Landis, I think it's really masterful that there is this insanity going on, but he's still keeping the thread of where all of his characters are. You see the wolf running and escaping, you see Alex and the doctor pulling up and getting out and trying to follow the thread and all the police officers chasing him. I think this is like the perfect example of like contained, controlled, intentional chaos where it looks insane to us, but we still know exactly what's happening.

I think this scene's really cool. Totes. And really gory and really violent, which is something, like I said, I always want in my horror comedies. That's the whole point. A necessity. I want to be grossed out. I want to be like, oh ha ha, ooh. Originally, when I saw this movie, the ending felt a bit jarring. You know, it seems to end very suddenly with the action, and it goes straight from a scene of maybe the emotional climax of the movie straight into this like silly credit song. I know that this movie got a lot of flack when it first came out. Roger Ebert wrote his review saying that the whole movie felt unfinished, and I believe um amateur.

What I love about the ending after I thought about it is that not necessarily one of the main subplots of this movie, but earlier David says that he thinks someone he loves or someone who loves him has to kill him for this to work. And so you have this tragic love story going throughout this whole movie where Caroline, you even said at one point where you were like, Oh, he's gonna kill her. So you're waiting for something terrible to happen because Alex and David is kind of they're kind of the light of the movie. You know, if you're rooting for one thing, at least for me, it's for them to make it out. You know, this Romeo and Juliet situation.

And it is just so tragic to me that she finds him cornered in the alleyway by the gunmen, and she says, Um I write it down. She says, Please let me help you. I love you. She's trying to sympathize and become. To the creature, which everybody is putting down and attacking, granted, for good reason, but she said, you know, I love you. And there's a moment where it's really close on the face of the wolf, and you see its kind of muscles, its snout kind of relax, and then it lunges, but they shoot him. And so I like this ambiguity of not knowing what was going to happen. Was he going to attack her? Was he going, you know, had she gotten through to him?

Was David even present in this wolf? Nobody knows because they kill him and he dies. You know, she cries, we see his dead body, and it cuts straight to credits. So I actually think it's a really beautiful ending. I really enjoy it now that I've kind of had a second viewing and I've thought through the events of the movie. I didn't see the ambiguity there. I thought he was attacking her. Uh yeah, I think he was gonna attack her. Something else that I think is fun to think about with this movie is that he dies, and you know, probably all these people are just going to go back to their everyday lives. You know, a lot of people have been affected by these events, but at the same time, the person who was affected most by these events was David.

And so if you think about it, everybody will return. He was just kind of this guy who dropped in, fucked everything up, and then got out. But in this world that David has, you know, either created in his mind or that is part of this werewolf legend, him dying actually frees all of these people who have been stuck in limbo with the bloodline of the werewolf. You know, there's always goodness, there's always scariness, but I think this is a really fun, bittersweet conclusion to this film. It's a good ending. I just think this movie is really I was smitten with it when I saw it the first time. I think it's a really cool movie. I wasn't a huge fan.

Sad. Yeah. I also think that there's a really interest uh not interesting, but a really fun, like, you know how some movies that maybe are a little older, even though they don't have to be, just have like that warmth of like this is something that I would watch when it's like rainy or when I'm sick. I'm that way with uh, you know, Little Shop of Horrors that we mentioned earlier, or um, I don't know, I feel like a lot of people are either that way with Moulin Rouge. I've never watched little I mean I've seen the the musical many times, but I've never seen the Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. The musical. Oh the movie.

I've never movie yeah, yeah. I've never seen it. You've seen the stage show though? Yeah, like a lot. Wow, interesting. In what context? I didn't even know that. Culture It was a movie. Yeah, yeah. Well, it was originally my mom choreographed it multiple times. Oh. Well, it was originally a low budget horror film, and then they turned it into a musical, and then they created a movie based on the musical. So there are a few instances of like weird cult B movies being turned into stage musicals that I would actually be curious to see. I was recently heard there's a reanimator musical, and I would love to see that. An American Werewolf in London musical. Oh god.

I think this movie would lend itself great to the stage. You just want to see how they make a werewolf. Parker's like we're three weeks into production. Yeah. Um, my last fun fact for you is that Elmer Bernstein, who was a famous composer at the time, composed the score for this film, but ultimately only composed about ten minutes because John Landis wanted to feature popular music throughout the movie. Oh my god, the weirdest part of this movie was the scene when she leaves the apartment and he goes and like tries to nap in the room and oh, there's like a little montage. What is a song? It is it does not fit. Well, there are three there are three songs used throughout the movie Blue Moon, Moondance, and Bad Moon Rising.

I think it's I think it's Bad Moon Rising. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not familiar with this. That was a painful scene. I was like, this is the worst scene ever. Oh, I thought that was a fun scene. It felt very like 80s comedy to me. It felt very like 10 minutes. It was it was funny at first and then it kept going. Like he just kept pacing in the living room. I'm like, we get it. See, that's kind of the stuff I'm talking about where I feel like I got to sit with his character and kind of like know what he's like behind closed doors. Nope. I liked it. Um, so anyway, he wanted to use this popular music and he did.

And uh, but sometimes he would use no music, like we discussed earlier with the tube station scene, where it's just kind of the horror of being in the moment with the characters. So I think there's also an interesting effect to the way that the music was used here. Not always to I think the best effect. I think like the music playing while they're fucking is kind of like, oh, okay. But uh I enjoy that there was quite at least that was quite a sex scene. Originally it was more intense and there was more violence in this movie, but they were going to rate it, I think like X or whatever that rating was at the time.

And so they cut some stuff so that it could be rated R. More sex. More sex. Wow. I know. Maybe we were going to see some erect wiener. Maybe some insertion. Maybe. Thrusting. I mean, if you're rating an X, you might as well make it double X. You never know. I did think it was weird. There was a lot of sex, but zero thrusting scene. Yes, they were. I was thinking this. I was like, hmm, sex. A lot of just like rubbin'. They were making rubbing, a little nibble. I know. Maybe he just kind of like laid on top of her and they were like, is this sex? The shower scene was really weird. She was taking a little nib.

Okay, okay. The shower was weird because you see her back and the suds. He's lathering her up. And then you see his hand perfectly placed, fingers together, rubbing. Hot. Like, no, no fingers. It was just like a Barbie doll hand. I don't think I believe that shower sex happens. Ever? Like, what are the logistics? It's slippery. Their shower was very small. That was a one-person stall. It's not as slippery. It's the inverse of slippery. I'm leaving. Give me the facts. No, I don't want them. Have you defiled our shower? No, no, no, not here. Not here. Hey, mom. Thanks for the. Oh my god, your mom listens? No, she does not. Wow, okay. What if she does?

Well, I feel like just watching the next one. In my own brain, that is all that shower sex can be is just like a little embrace. Because in my brain, I feel like too dangerous. But like don't get danger there. Don't get soap involved and you're fine. And you know, like, I don't know, like sometimes I'll be in the shower by myself and I'll be standing under the water, and my back is nice and warm from the water, but my front is cold, so then I have to turn around. Then my back's cold. If there are two people in there, one person's cold, one person's warm, or you're both drowning. It's true. I feel I don't buy it.

Is bathtub sex a thing? Now that I could get into. You know what I like being immersed in water. It would be a lot of splashing, but is that you know how some like bottub sex is a thing, right? You know, like back farts? So your body is, you know, slamming together, water spewing bubbles. Oh my god, a bubble bath. Oh, that sounds a shampoo. That sounds like bougie. Uh UTI. That sounds like it's gonna burn. Yeah. I feel like I've seen movies where like couples are in the tub, but they're kind of just like either like spooning or like laying on either side of the tub, and it doesn't seem very sexy to me. This might be the most off-the-rails episode.

All right, friends. Hot tubs, though, are large. Bathtub sex. Let us know in the comments what you think. Let us know in the reviews. Jacuzzi or no jacuzzi. Mmm. Yeah, jets or no jets. All jacuzzi. Wave pool. Public pool. Lazy river. Alright, alright. So normal pool. An American werewolf in London. Have you heard of it? No. Yeah, well, let's get back on track. Murders, galore. People dying left and right. Would you say one is more memorable than the next? I think I gotta go with the subway guy. That's where I would put my chips as well. I think the guy getting smashed from getting ran over by the car was just classic. That's real. Smashed in a hot tub.

Yeah, there are a lot of casualties in there. Yes, all of the smashing in the shower. No, all of the smashing in the cars, into it. Into it. But yeah, I'm going to say Subway Man was my favorite. Uh, on a scary scale, one to five, how would you rate an American werewolf in London? Two. Um, I don't know. I'm getting desensitized. You know, I never give a one because like there's stuff happens. A rom com would be a one. Yeah, I think I think you'd think a rom com is scary. I would allow a zero if something had absolutely like I could say a rom com could be a zero. Okay. I'd I'd also give it a two.

I think I would give it a one because less scary than other movies that I've given. Like, I think objectively there's less air quotes horror in this than like The Grudge, which we reviewed last week. I would say Can I change to one? You can change to one. I'm changing to one too. I didn't know a zero was allowed. It is scary, but it is amazingly like grotesque. Grotesque, which is great now. If you could add that to some of the movies that are kind of scary. Yes. That would be great. I don't want to be too much of like a gore hound, but like I love I love gory movies. I mean, not always, because like Jewon, when we watched that, it was not about the gore, it wasn't even necessarily about the killing, it was more about the tension of what comes beforehand.

The grudge that we saw last week. No tension. I hate the grudge. Here, uh when when there's opportunity for some like mushy-gushy bloody stuff, I wanna see it. So I would I would still give it a one though. And especially I think that, you know, it being 40 years old at this point, uh lends itself to a little less scare. Even even now, like I think originally the intention was to have it be a little campy, but I think even now it's like just kind of completely camp. Uh and I love that. Would you give an American werewolf in London a smash or a slash? I would give it a five-nail slash right across the boob.

Oh my god, hot harsh. I would have to give this movie a smash. And I also am going to give this movie a smash. I'm a big fan. Now, there was quite a few years later, a sequel called An American Werewolf in Paris. An American in Paris? It looked, it looks not hot. With Gene Kelly. I have heard that it is not so hot. So I will not be checking that out. Also, John Landis's son has said that he has written a script and is ready to remake an American Werewolf in London. However, some not great allegations have been made against him, and I think that movie will never be seeing the light of day. Canceled.

So yeah. Cancelled. Swan or sucks to suck. Yeah. Be a nice person, and maybe you can make movies. So, on that note, final question. What's your favorite scary movie? Unpopular opinion, The Shining changed my mind. Uh, I think that's a pretty popular opinion. That's true, that's true, it's true. I want to. You are in large company then. I want a new one. So someone give me something good. Ion Rare X-boy. That's the saddest of them all. No, that's a good movie. Hey, let him love what he loves. I'm going to say my favorite scary movie. Black Christmas, you're off the list. I'm going with an American werewolf in London. More than The Shining? The Shining's been off my list for a while, Ian.

Uh, yeah, that's my hot take, is actually I don't love that movie. I think it's a little overrated. Anyway. Alright. So, next time on What's Your Favorite Scarie, we are going to be covering a movie that is not for the faint of heart. It is one that, you know, viewer beware, because you're gonna see some stuff. We are watching Martyrs, uh, the French film from a year that I have not yet written down. Tune in next week, and while you're waiting for that beautiful episode to hit you in the face like a fist, uh, you can head over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a rating and a review, and that would be so helpful, and that would just let us know that you love us.

Yeah. My name is Parker Heron. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter and Letterboxd and the slasher app at Parker Delray. My name is Caroline. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter at Caro Manifesto. My name's Ian Hoyt. You can find me in New York if you try hard enough. Oh. You can find all three of us, the whole podcast crew, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at ScarymoviePod. You can also send us your feedback and your love at scarymoviepod at gmail.com. You can see everything that we have to offer at Scarymoviepod.com, including some hot reviews and our calendar that we're updating every month. And if you want the news ahead of time and you want some hot newsletter plural newsletters and some podcast bonus episodes and awesome things like that, you can head to patreon.com slash scary moviepod, where we're posting extra special bonus content.

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