Beware the moon…

It’s that time of year when the nights get colder, the dark gets creepier, the wind begins to howl and, if you’re anything like me, you long to have the crap scared out of you by a reeeeally good horror movie. The bad news? They are in short supply. The good news? Tonight, Maiden Alley Cinema brings you one of the best on the big screen: An American Werewolf in London in hi-def!

(insert wolf howl here)

Originally released in 1981, this John Landis (Blues Brothers, Animal House) both written and directed film is a modern (by 1980s standards) day re imagining of the tale of the werewolf that is one the most well done, ever, period. The story blends comedy and horror in almost equal measure and does it so well that neither element is ever compromised by the other. The story takes us, not surprisingly, to (guess where?) Europe where two wise-cracking college buddies, David and Jack, played by David Naughton (“Wouldn’cha like to be a Pepper too?”) and Griffin Dunne (son of late, great, celebrity crime chronicler and novelist, Dominick Dunne, and bother to the late Dominique Dunne, the actor that played the hickey-covered hysterical teen-aged sister in another horror classic Poltergeist and was later brutally murdered by her boyfriend at the age of only 22 - a year after the release of Werewolf) respectively, Landis quickly does one of the things he does best: establishes a believable, easy reporte between the two friends who are doing the ol’ “backpack across Europe” routine. We all know David and Jack. For instance (as David and Jack are walking the moors on a chilly moon bright night):

JACK
Did you hear that?

DAVID
I heard that.

JACK
What was it?

DAVID
Could have been a lot of things.

JACK
Yah?

DAVID
A coyote.

JACK
There aren’t any coyotes in England.

DAVID
Hound of the Baskervilles?

JACK
Pecos Bill?

DAVID
Heathcliffe?

JACK
Heathcliffe didn’t howl!

DAVID
No, but he was on the moors.

Wacka-wacka. Funny stuff. They’re just imagining things. Bad things don’t happen to the happy-go-lucky David and Jacks of the world, right? Wrong. Werewolf goes on to tell an improbable, sometimes funny, sometimes, scary, but increasingly eerie story that will stick with you. Like, as in, FOREVER. (I haven’t been saying “beware the moon” for 30 years for nuthin’.)

Werewolf was nominated for two Oscars and came away with one for Rick Baker’s ground breaking special effects make-up. Believe me when I say Landis’ transformation sequences fueled by Baker’s effects STILL stand the test of time as some of the best ever. This was the first of many Oscars for Baker who would later go on to win for: Men in Black, Harry and the Hendersons, Ed Wood, the Nutty Professor, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and, most recently, the Wolfman (2010). Baker also engineered the make-up for “Planet of the Apes” in 2001 (shout out!).

Also famously featured in Werewolf are pop moon classic songs “Bad Moon Risin’” by CCR and three versions of “Blue Moon” from Bobby Vinton, Sam Cooke, and The Marcels. Van Morrison’s “Moondance” is featured in a lovemaking scene. Interestingly, Polygram studio execs in all their usual infinite wisdom wanted mega-stars of the time, John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd cast in the leading roles (as if!). Wisely and obviously, Landis refused. Werewolf has gone on to attain cult status enjoying its most recent re-release in 2009.

Tonight’s special screening of Werewolf is also a fund raiser for the best little independent movie house in Kentucky. Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for non-members, and admission also includes two drink tickets (Schlafly Pale Ale!) and a themed food spread (any guesses?). Showtime is 7 pm. But get there at 6:00 for drinks, snacks and mingling with other smart people with good taste in movies like yourself.

Originally posted by occasional iList contributor Suzanne Clinton on her clever and witty blog, Bizzyville.