The first time I saw An American Werewolf in London, I was like, meh. I didn’t get was so great about it. Then a friend of mine said: “What? Are you crazy? We’re watching it.” Then we watched it again and I said: “Oh, crap, I was wrong, this movie is great!” Then, a few years later my husband said: “I didn’t think much of it the first time I saw it.” On a mission to convert, we picked up a copy at a used record store and watched it together. I think I succeeded in my mission to prove this isn’t just a boring, average werewolf movie.
David and Jack are best friends. They’re also pretty normal American college kids, who really care only about exploring women’s bodies and the English

Only one of them is lucky enough to survive a mysterious ordeal and strike up a “friendship” with the cute nurse…
countryside. Their travels have taken them to a cold, wet and lonely place. The only place that seems like it will come close to offering shelter and hot soup is a pub called The Slaughtered Lamb. Inviting or not, the two have little choice and walk into the place. As cold and wet as they are, the locals don’t really take too kindly to the young boys, and after an awkward confrontation, they’re asked to leave – but told to stay clear of the moors and beware the moon.
Even though they try to play it off, the two are clearly spooked, and they manage to find themselves off the road and, you guessed it: on the moors. That’s when Jack and David are attacked by what can only be a werewolf. Jack doesn’t make it. David can barely remember what happened, but the
doctor and the authorities inform him that a madman attacked him and his friend. Unfortunately, this story doesn’t seem to fit with what David eventually remembers.
But the death of his friend and inexplicable events won’t stop a young boy from falling in love: after he’s released from the hospital, the cute nurse takes him home to stay with her for a while. The two are a cute couple, but it’s a little worrisome to David that he keeps getting visits from his rapidly-decomposing dead friend, warning him that during the next full moon, David will turn into a werewolf and wreak havoc.
Is David crazy, or is his friend actually real? Worse, is David actually a werewolf? Those folks back at the pub sure were hiding something, and David, his doctor, his lady friend and the city of London are about to
find out exactly what it is they’ve been keeping from everyone.
Aside from the fact that this movie seriously has some of the best special effects I’ve ever seen, it’s also a delightfully goofy, playful and maybe even relatable horror flick. As much as I liked Oliver Reed’s portrayal in Hammer’s The Curse of the Werewolf, I must say he is a little difficult to identify with. David, on the other hand, is a little more sympathetic: he’s just a young dude, maybe a little bro-ish, but not terribly so, off exploring the world with his best friend who ends up turning into a brutish monster. Oh yeah, and did I mention the special effects? Totally awesome. Definitely worth watching if you haven’t seen it. And if you didn’t think much of it the first time, give it another go – maybe you’ll change your mind!