An American Werewolf in London (1981)
In what will no doubt live on as his crowning achievement, director John Landis (Animal House, Innocent Blood) skillfully mixes the two genres that brought him the most success — comedy and horror — and the resulting dark laughs and legitimate chills are what give this agreeable tribute to Universal horror in the ‘30s its edge. As the two American students on a walking tour of England, David Naughton and Griffin Dunne add just the right amounts of sanguine and cynicism, respectively, to help cover the script’s obvious structural faults. Much of it plays like a series of strung-together skits, which in an odd way contributes to the film’s rewatchability. With the exception of the unclean Underworld quadrant and An American Werewolf in Paris (Landis played no part in the wretched sequel) it’s hard to go wrong a werewolf picture. A remake to be directed by John’s son Max Landis has been announced.