Werewolf Must See
Bad Moon and An American Werewolf in London

First up is Bad Moon. Its pretty much a bare bones dvd but it did have an excellent transfer. It does falls short of being called a classic I still think its a solid entry and a must see for all Werewolf fans. The movie stars MIve been in a werewolf watching mood ever since I saw Dog Soldiers the other day. Dog Soldiers was solid but it didnt hold up quite as well as I remembered. I decided to seek out and rewatch two movies that I havent seen in awhile, but I remembered to be werewolf classics. Did they hold up and remain classics? Yes and No. First movie ariel Hemingway(mother), Mason Gamble (son) and Michael Pare as Uncle Ted and the werewolf. Truth be told the main star of the movie is the German Shepherd Thor. The book, the screenplay was adapted from was told from the perspective of the German Shepherd. A major part of the movie does the same, and focuses on the dog's point of view or it shows how the dog reacts to the wolf.

out in the secluded part of the woods. At night when the moons full he ties himself up to a tree with handcuffs so he wont go on a killing spree. One night he gets free and goes on a killing spree. The movie starts off showing Michael Pare on a expedition is South American country where him and his hot girlfriend are attacked by a huge werewolf. He blows the head off the wolf but suffers severe injuries in the attack. The movie flashes forward a few months back in the states and he finally contacts his sister to let him know that he's back. He's living alone in a motor homeTheres not a lot of gore but what there is, is done very well. The next day Ted asks his sister (Mariel Hemingway) if he can come live in her backyard in his motor home for awhile. After he goes to live there, Thor goes crazy because he knows that something is up with Ted. One night Thor goes into the woods and sees Ted in werewolf form tied up to a tree. A few days later Thor attacks Ted and Mariel has him taken away by the pound not knowing he was just protecting her. On the final night of the movie Ted turns into a werewolf and goes after his sister. The boy lets Thor free from the pound and there is a big showdown at the house, with Thor as the final victor. The effects of the wolf itself were pretty good overall. The transformation was done by cgi, which is not as good as practical effects but whole hell of a lot better done than other recent movies such as Cursed, Underworld and Van Helsing. Its a short movie overall but definitely well done. I definitely wish there were a few more killings and ran a little longer. While not quite a classic I still highly recommend watching it sometime. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a moon howling 6.5 out of 10.
The second movie im reviewing is An American Werewolf in London directed by John Landis, who is probably best know for directing "Animal House", Michael Jacksons "Thriller" and Eddie Murphy's "Coming To America". Rewatching this I knew the Academy Award winning make up and transformation effects were good but I didnt know that much about the rest. I think overall it holds up pretty well.
The story is pretty basic. Its about two friends that are backpacking across Europe and they get attacked by a Werewolf. One friend dies and the other survives but gets mutilated pretty bad. David Naughton who plays David (surprise) is the survivor of the attacks, becomes a werewolf himself. His dead friend Jack played by Griffin Dunne periodically shows up to him as a mutilated ghost and tells him that he is trapped on Earth and cant die until David is killed, thus ending the bloodline which frees him to move on. David of course thinks he's going crazy talking to his dead friend and of course is reluctant to kill himself. After David heals fully he hooks up with a local nurse hottie and goes back to live with her.
Of course he eventually turns into a werewolf and goes on a killing spree which goes up until the end of the movie. The scene where he wakes up naked and has to run around with balloons covering him up is pretty classic. The humor is spot on and actually a little bit more subdued than what I remembered. The transformation is all done with practical effects with no cgi and is friggin fantastic. The movie has great pacing but was a little short for my tastes. The acting and cinematography was all top notch. I absolutely love the shot of looking down from the top of the escalator at this guy who is coming up on his back, looking down and the wolf walks right into frame for a split second before the cut away. It was creepy and just plain bad ass. The finale had some great car crashes but was cut way too short. I wish the wolf had more of fight instead of what they decided to go with. All in all a great movie and definitely recommended to any werewolf fan. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a huge claw slashing 7.9 out of 10.

Heres the trailer for An American Werewolf in London