An American Werewolf in London (1981)

An American Werewolf in London is, by any measure, the definitive werewolf horror movie. The special effects were really ahead of their time. For that reason, this werewolf movie stands the test of time. It is also the first werewolf movie to successfully incorporate comedy and horror to great effect. We’re not just howling at the moon.

Plot summary for American Werewolf in London:
Two American students, David Kessler and Jack Goodman (played by David Naughton and Griffin Dunne), are on a walking tour of England and are attacked by a Werewolf. Jack is killed, David is mauled. The Werewolf is killed, but reverts to its human form, and the townspeople are able to deny its existence. David falls for his nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter – also in “Logan’s Run”), begins to have nightmares of hunting on 4 feet at first, and then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him. They demand that he find a way to die to release them from their curse because they are trapped between worlds thanks to their unnatural death.

Memorable scene from An American Werewolf in London:
Any of the transformation scenes. They still creep us out to this day. Oh, the agony of being transformed from human to werewolf!

Memorable quote from An American Werewolf in London:
“Have you tried talking to a corpse? It’s boring.

Why Socreepy loves An American Werewolf in London:
The transformation scenes alone make An American Werewolf in London worthy of this list. We will never forget the feeling we had the first time we watched it – it’s truly memorable and creepy and fx master Rick Baker was always ahead of the curve.

Frightening Fact:
Director John Landis got the idea for An American Werewolf in London while as a production assistant in Yugoslavia. While watching a gypsy funeral in which the coffin was laced with garlic to prevent the corpse from coming back to haunt everyone, Landis got the idea to do a movie in which people are visited by a dead friend.