Battle Blog: American Werewolf in London vs. TheHowling Pt. 1

So I finally got around to re-viewing my two horror movies yesterday (sadly, I skipped Silver Bullet). I own these (on DVD and VHS in fact) and probably watch each at least once a year (usually about this time). Although I knew I was watching them for different reasons, I probably could have paid closer attention and all that. You will have to forgive me, but I am thiiiiiiiis close to finishing my first ever crocheted sweater, so my concentration was split a little.

As I mentioned earlier, I love both these movies for different reasons. I was pretty young when I saw them both, probably in my preteens, and even though neither kept me awake at night, each had stuff that made me want to leave the lights on just for a little while.

I’ll start with American Werewolf in London (aka AWiL). We begin with two young American college students, David (David “Makin’ It” Naughton) and Jack (Griffin “Sorry, I can’t think of a snarky nickname” Dunne) backpacking through Europe. They have made it to northern England by hitchhiking with a sheepherder. Unsure where to go next they head to a local pub called the Slaughtered Lamb where are not exactly warmly welcomed. After being denied food, they get some tea and listen to a bad joke. Jack notices a pentagram on the wall and decides to ask about it which causes everyone in the room to fall silent. They are then essentially booted out into the night with warnings to stick to the road, steer clear of the moors, and “beware the moon”. As they walk they veer off the road and proceed to get lost on the moors. They decide to try to find the road again, but then they start hearing odd animal howls. They then decide to head back to the Slaughtered Lamb but they discover that whatever is making those noises is circling them. They head in a different direction and Jack trips and falls. When David moves to help him up he’s knocked down by some type of animal which then attacks Jack. David freaks out and bails while Jack screams for help. David snaps out of his fear response and heads back to help his friend, but it’s too late. Jack is all torn up. David is then attacked and bitten before those pub locals show up and shoot the animal down. David looks over and sees a naked bleeding man before he passes out.

David is unconscious for a while, but when he wakes up, he’s surprised to learn that the officials believe he and Jack were attacked by a madman, that the attack was witnessed by two others, and that they aren’t interested in investigating his story any further. David insists it was an animal but his weird dreams and a visit from his dead friend Jack, who urges him to kill himself, make him think he’s going crazy. His story piques the interest of one of the nurses, Jenny and the doctor taking care of him. Jenny develops feelings for him and upon his release, she offers to let him stay at her place. Mmmmm-hmmm. The doctor decides to do a bit of investigating.

He heads out to the pub to question the locals about what happened. He quickly realizes they have lied and one guilt-riddled local warns him that David is in trouble, that he will change and hurt others before another scares him off. Meanwhile, David and Jenny enjoy each other’s company. Afterwards, David gets another visit from an increasingly decaying Jack warning him that he will change and he needs to kill himself before it is too late. He tells Jenny about the visit but she just blows him off and drags him back to bed. The next day, Jenny heads off to work reluctantly leaving David alone at her place. He gets locked out and has to climb back in through the window. He then spends the day restlessly wandering her apartment with no appetite. At nightfall, he suddenly screams, rips off his clothes, and agonizingly turns into a beastie!

He kills a couple on their way to a dinner party, 3 homeless men on a dock, and a young man in the subway. The next day he wakes up naked in the wolves’ cage at the zoo with no memory of the previous night. He steals a coat and heads back to Jenny’s place. She, meanwhile, has been nervously waiting for him. The doctor has called and ordered her to bring David in right away because he’s concerned about him. When he comes back, the couple grabs a taxi to the doctor’s. In the cab David learns of the previous night’s murders. He leaps from the cab and tries to get arrested, sure that he’s responsible for the attacks, but the police take him for a prankster. Jenny tries to get him to go to the doctor’s but he runs away, afraid he’ll hurt her.

He later calls his family before he spots decrepit Jack at a porno theater. He goes in and meets Jack and his other victims. They all try to convince him to kill himself before he kills others, but David’s too afraid. Meanwhile, the doctor is trying to convince police to help him look for David who maybe in trouble. Later, he changes in the theater and attacks other patrons. The police are alerted and the theater is closed off, but the beast burst through and terrorizes the streets of London.

He ultimately gets trapped in an alley where the nurse begs him to let her help. He moves to attack her and is shot dead by police. (Oh, yeah. Spoiler alert.)

To be continued...