The happy singing-dancing guy on TV who asks us if we want to be a Pepper is stretched in agony until he becomes a big bad
American Werewolf in London. Like those California self-helpers in
The Howling a few years ago, English moors vacationer David Naughton just wants to take it easy--but the ghost of Lon Chaney jiggers them all to hell, and even a man who is pure in heart and so on--except now it’s one horrible hair at a time, teeth growing like painful roots up, not down--and somewhere in there Freud shows up, and the wolf gets sexy, firelight dancing in a get-in-touch-with-your-REAL-self woodland bop--or a flickering
See You Next Wednesday, the skin flick poor David watches, sort of--distracted as he is by the rotting corpses of his victims--and that porn title stuck in my head, opening a little memory-drawer--and of course: It’s the last words Frank’s parents say to him in
2001, their birthday greeting sent into outer space: “See you next Wednesday”--but, John Landis snarls, it aint happenin, kid--and those Golden Oldies on the soundtrack play him off, dead in the alley, “Blue Moon” doo-wopping away--while in
The Howling the nice news lady gets to howl on-camera as a cutely coiffed Thing. Some fun.
The happy singing-dancing guy on TV who asks us if we want to be a Pepper is stretched in agony until he becomes a big bad American Werewolf in London. Like those California self-helpers in The Howling a few years ago, English moors vacationer David Naughton just wants to take it easy--but the ghost of Lon Chaney jiggers them all to hell, and even a man who is pure in heart and so on--except now it’s one horrible hair at a time, teeth growing like painful roots up, not down--and somewhere in there Freud shows up, and the wolf gets sexy, firelight dancing in a get-in-touch-with-your-REAL-self woodland bop--or a flickering See You Next Wednesday, the skin flick poor David watches, sort of--distracted as he is by the rotting corpses of his victims--and that porn title stuck in my head, opening a little memory-drawer--and of course: It’s the last words Frank’s parents say to him in 2001, their birthday greeting sent into outer space: “See you next Wednesday”--but, John Landis snarls, it aint happenin, kid--and those Golden Oldies on the soundtrack play him off, dead in the alley, “Blue Moon” doo-wopping away--while in The Howling the nice news lady gets to howl on-camera as a cutely coiffed Thing. Some fun.
Meh.
ReplyDeleteThis film DID have some of the best special effects of the decade...
But other than that the plot itself felt uneven.
Nathanael: Do you mean "American Werewolf" or "The Howling"? I think the former--and yeah sure the plot is choppy; but that's the tone of the thing, evil adolescent slapstick brutally unsympathetic toward its likable characters/victims. Maybe Landis is a werewolf.
ReplyDeleteWhoops, my bad.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I was talking about the first American Werewolf.
I have yet to see this one...
Ah, the gaps in communication engendered by the interwebs! This is a piece on the first "American Werewolf"--but it also mentions "The Howling." I was simply wondering if your original comment referred to "AW" or "The H." Nevermind--and have a good New Year.
ReplyDelete