An American Werewolf at FrightFest
The occasion is Film4’s FrightFest, which has taken over the Empire 1, the capital’s biggest non-IMAX cinema screen, for its annual five-day festival of blood and terror. Today sees the world premiere of the remastered An American Werewolf In London, ahead of its 28 September release on Blu-ray. The film’s writer and director, John Landis, is here to introduce it and, afterwards, field questions from the assembled throng.
First, though, the brand new making-of, Beware The Moon, has its premiere - its UK one, at least (a slightly longer cut was screened last year in Pittsburgh). This exhaustive 98-minute documentary started life as a fan project. Its roots show as director Paul Davis self-consciously talks to camera while visiting locations, but once the interviews kick in the film transcends its origins. It’s well shot and edited, employing a structure that dissects American Werewolf in sequence, giving a satisfyingly complete picture of Landis’s film, from David and Jack’s arrival on the moors, through the astonishing daylight transformation, to the climactic carnage in Piccadilly (amazingly, the bus stunt took just two minutes to clear up).
And so to the main event: John Landis takes to the stage to introduce the remastered version of his 1981 movie. I met Landis briefly at the 2008 London Film & Comic Con. I was delighted by his real-life demeanour, which matched the enthusiastic and highly animated personality I’d seen in various documentaries over the years.
Though he was a guest at the event, he was clearly there as a punter too, using his time away from the signing desk to wander around and soak up the atmosphere. To steal a line from Tod Browning’s Freaks, Landis is “one of us” - and we look after our own. The applause that greets his arrival on the Empire stage is phenomenal.
One member of today’s FrightFest crowd says that the comedy “underscores” the horror, which I think describes the effect beautifully. It’s a naturalistic, often dark, humour that allows the audience a release of tension without reminding them that, actually, this is just a film and there’s no need to, y’know, care about its characters. It’s a long way from Saturday The 14th, a horror spoof that was released the same year.
Landis says that he hopes today’s presentation of An American Werewolf In London looks as good as the one he’s seen on Blu-ray, though he acknowledges that “the projectionist always has the final cut”. It must be a relief for him to see a clean, clear, vibrant picture up on the Empire screen. There’s no doubt about it - the film looks amazing. Unfortunately, the lip sync is slightly out.
For a while, I think I’m imagining it, but then Brian Glover tells his “remember the Alamo” joke and his mouth movements bear very little resemblance to what he’s actually saying. Thankfully, it only lasts a few seconds and the film continues to play, for the most part, with the sound just a few frames out of sync. It’s easy enough to ignore (especially for a crowd raised on dubbed Italian movies), and it’s perhaps imperceptible to some, but it still blots what should be a flawless presentation.
Landis works the stage like a theatre pro, discussing everything from aspect ratios to Michael Jackson, before declaring that he’ll be in the foyer to sign stuff and will then be hanging out at FrightFest to watch movies, adding with typical humorous candour: “Please leave me the fuck alone!”
I join the signing queue, get the splendid poster you see pictured, and then leave John Landis “the fuck alone”. If there’s a full moon tonight, things could get hairy.