Have you tried talking to a corpse? It's boring.

Amongst the video/DVD collection of the Watchmen, there lies some rare gems. There also lies a lot of crap, but that's neither here nor there. But one of the best is the quite brilliant An American Werewolf In London. I first watched this film years ago when I was way below the age certificate and still wearing Spider-man pajamas. (last week you mean? - Ed) suffice to say, it scared the heebyjeebez out of me, and haunted my dreams for quite some time. But, I soon watched it again and again, loving the scares, the effects and the comedy of the film.


"It's circling us. Aah fuck."

The film concerns the misadventures of two American tourists; David and Jack, who on their way to Italy, take a detour through England and its moors. This proves to be a very very bad idea. The two find themselves in the small village of East Proctor. A village seemly without any females, bar the standoffish barmaid. Soon, the two hapless Americans outstay their welcome in the local pub and set off on their travels again in the night, heading a warning of "Beware the moon, and stay off the moors" But there is a full moon out.. Soon, they find themselves lost on the moor, far from anything except a very big hungry wolf.


Warning: lots of violence, bloodshed and explicit language follows. Naturally.


David soon finds himself in a hospital in London, seemingly ok. But if he's ok, why does he keep dreaming about running naked through the woods? And why does his recently deceased friend Jack keep appearing in front of him with dire warnings about what will happen to David at the next full moon?

I watched this film the other night again, and it still holds up as a great movie. The storytelling and acting are top rate, it's a shame a lot of the cast, bar Jenny Agutter, didn't go on to greater things. Griffin Dunne as the sarcastic Jack is especially good, even when ripped to shreds and progressively rotting throughout the film.


Griffin Dunne, could have been Two Face y'know.

One of the best things about this film is it hardly ever shows you the Werewolf itself. You see the transformation, and you see occasional shots of its mouth, but you never truly see the full wolf for more than a few seconds and that's mostly at the very end of the film.

One of my favourite scenes is when David wakes from a nightmare to have some breakfast only to see his friend Jack appear in front of him. Jack of course is very dead and has half his face missing. But of course, this doesn't damper Jack's perky nature at all.



If you haven't seen this film, then do so - for it may be 20 years or so old, but the transformation scene is still amazing and you'll enjoy laughing and then getting scared shitless. You'll also always think twice about using Tottenham Court Rd underground station ever again.

More info at IMDB and the official website

And remember, there is nothing mediocre about Debbie Klein's body.