My Horrible Idea
(Using Horror Movies to Teach English)
  • How to Use Monsters in the Classroom
    • What Can Monsters Teach Us?
    • Rhetorical Problems of Purpose, Audience, and Genre
    • Doubt: A Parable
  • Literary Stuff
  • Guest Blogs
    • SCARY MARY: A STUDY OF TONE
    • Horror Movie Survey
    • First Dates and Wisecracking Werewolfs
    • Rachel Tucker: A Master Gardener's take on The Purge
    • Janice Cheng: Horror & Logic
    • Zach Butler: Why All the Horror?
  • Movie Lists
    • MEAT IS MURDER: MY TOP FIVE LIST OF CANNIBAL MOVIES
    • CHRISTMAS HORROR MOVIES
    • TRIBUTE TO MR. VINCENT LEONARD PRICE, JR.
  • Archives
    • MONSTER MOVIES >
      • DRACULA (1931)
      • THE MUMMY (1932)
      • KING KONG (1933)
      • THE WOLF MAN (1941)
      • CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954)
      • THEM! (1959)
      • THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959)
      • THE WASP WOMAN (1959)
      • THE DEADLY BEES (1966)
      • PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
      • EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977)
      • THE SWARM (1978)
      • THE BEES (1978)
      • ALIEN (1979)
      • THE ATTIC (1980)
      • CUJO (1981)
      • PREDATOR (1987)
      • DEAD ALIVE (1992)
      • CONGO (1995)
      • JAWS (1975)
      • DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL (1978)
      • LEGION OF FIRE: KILLER ANTS (1998)
      • DEEP BLUE SEA (1999)
      • OPEN WATER (2003)
      • THE HIVE A LOOK AT LITERARY ENTOMOLOGY (2008)
      • THE REEF (2010)
      • THE GREY (2011)
      • SHARKNADO (2013)
      • WER (2013)
      • THE BABADOOK (2014)
    • HONORED DIRECTORS >
      • SHIVERS (1975)
      • VIDEDROME (1983)
      • THE FLY (1986)
      • DEAD RINGERS (1988)
      • CHRISTINE (1983)
      • THE THING (1982)
      • PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987)
      • THEY LIVE (1988)
      • IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994)
      • REPULSION (1965)
      • THE TENANT (1976)
      • THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967)
      • ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)
      • FRANKENSTEIN (1910)
      • THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932)
      • THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933)
      • BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
      • SALEM'S LOT (1979)
      • THE FUNHOUSE (1981)
      • LIFE FORCE (1985)
      • POLTERGEIST (1982)
      • THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974)
      • THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972)
      • THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977)
      • A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
      • SCREAM (1996)
    • KOREAN FLICKS >
      • 조용한 가족 (aka The Quiet Family 1998)
      • 소름 (aka SORUM 2001)
      • 세이 예스 (aka SAY YES 2001)
      • 폰 (aka Phone 2002)
      • 령 aka DEAD FRIEND aka THE GHOST (2004)
      • 거미슾 (aka SPIDER FOREST 2004)
      • 분홍신 aka THE RED SHOES (2005)
      • 레드 아이 (AKA RED EYE 2005)
      • 스승의은혜 (AKA TO SIR, WITH LOVE 2006)
      • 신데렐라 (aka Cinderella 2006)
      • 아파트 (aka APT 2006)
      • 두사람이다 aka VOICES (2007)
      • Alone (2007)
      • 므이 (aka MOUI 2007)
      • 헨젤 과 그레텔 (aka Hansel & Gretel 2007)
      • 추격자 (aka The Chaser 2008)
      • 외톨이 (맘 LONER 2008)
      • 고死: 피의 중간고사 (aka DEATH BELL 2008)
      • 불신지옥 (aka POSSESSED 2009)
      • 요가학완 aka YOGA CLASS (2009)
      • 베스트 세러 (aka BEST SELLER 2010)
      • 악마를 보았다 (aka I SAW THE DEVIL 2010)
      • 고양이: 죽음을보는 두개의눈 (aka THE CAT 2011)
      • 기생령 (aka GHASTLY 2011)
      • 무서운이야기 (AKA HORROR STORIES 2012)
      • 더웹툰 예고살린 (AKA KILLER TOON 2013)
      • 뫼비우스 (aka MOEBIUS 2013)
    • THRILLERS >
      • DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)
      • STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
      • REAR WINDOW (1954)
      • THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955)
      • NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
      • THE BIRDS (1963)
      • STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER (1975)
      • BODY HEAT (1981)
      • CAT PEOPLE (1982)
      • JAGGED EDGE (1985)
      • BEDROOM WINDOW (1987)
      • NINE QUEENS (2000)
      • WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)
      • THE DESCENT (2005)
      • THE EXPERIMENT (2010)
      • YOU'RE NEXT (2011)
      • 의뢰인 (aka The Client 2011)
      • ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER (2012)
      • TOAD ROAD (2012)
      • FEAR LIVES HERE (2013)
      • 런닝 맨 (AKA RUNNING MAN 2013)
      • GRAND PIANO (2013)
      • HOURS (2013)
      • BLUE RUIN (2013)
      • HOUSE OF GOOD AND EVIL (2013)
      • THE PURGE (2013)
      • 더테러라이브 (aka The Terror Live 2013)
      • THE HUMAN RACE (2013)
      • DAYLIGHT (2013)
      • HOUSEBOUND (2014)
      • THE GUEST (2014)
    • PSYCHOS >
      • DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931)
      • ROPE (1948)
      • 1950's AWESOMENESS >
        • ROCKETSHIP X-M (1950)
        • THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (1950)
        • WHAT THE BUTLER SAW (1950)
        • THE FLYING SAUCER (1950)
        • ROBOT MONSTER (1953)
        • PHANTOM FROM SPACE (1953)
        • TARGET EARTH (1954)
        • THE SNOW CREATURE (1954)
        • KILLERS FROM SPACE (1954)
        • IT CONQUERED THE WORLD (1956)
        • THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)
        • THE GAMMA PEOPLE (1956)
        • THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957)
        • THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1957)
        • I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957)
        • THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED (1957)
        • THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957)
        • THE GIANT CLAW (1957)
        • KRONOS (1957)
        • LA CRAVATE (1957)
        • THE THREE FACES OF EVE (1957)
        • THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (1957)
        • I BURY THE LIVING (1958)
        • THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS (1959)
        • TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE (1959)
        • ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1959)
        • BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE (1959)
        • I EAT YOUR SKIN (1964)
      • LES DIABOLIQUES (1955)
      • PSYCHO (1960)
      • WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE (1962)
      • TAXI DRIVER (1976)
      • ¿Quien Puede Matar a un Niño? (aka WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? aka THE ISLAND OF THE DAMNED 1976)
      • THE SHINING (1980)
      • FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)
      • MISERY (1990)
      • CAPE FEAR (1991)
      • THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
      • SWOON (1992)
      • DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (1992)
      • RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
      • SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
      • NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994)
      • THE CELL (2000)
      • SEXY BEAST (2000)
      • ONE HOUR PHOTO (2002)
      • MONSTER (2003)
      • WRONG TURN (2003)
      • WOLF CREEK (2005)
      • SIN CITY (2005)
      • HARD CANDY (2005)
      • THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (2006)
      • MR. BROOKS (2007)
      • THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
      • SKYFALL (2012)
    • THE SUPERNATURAL >
      • NOSFERATU (1922)
      • CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)
      • LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971)
      • THE CHANGELING (1980)
      • THE EVIL DEAD (1981)
      • ANGEL HEART (1987)
      • HELLRAISER (1987)
      • CHILD'S PLAY (1988)
      • THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
      • AUDITION (1999)
      • END OF DAYS (1999)
      • STIGMATA (1999)
      • Richard Matheson Tribute: A STIR OF Memories
      • THE GIFT (2000)
      • THE RING (2002)
      • THE GRUDGE (2004)
      • THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE (2005)
      • THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (2005)
      • DARK WATER (2005)
      • SILENT HILL (2006)
      • PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2007)
      • LAKE MUNGO (2008)
      • DRAG ME TO HELL (2009)
      • INSIDIOUS (2010)
      • WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (2013)
      • MAMA (2013)
      • CARRIE (2013)
      • OCULUS (2013)
      • THE CONJURING (2013)
      • LATE PHASES (2014)
      • THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN (2014)
      • JESSABELLE (2014)
      • ANNABELLE (2014)
  • Psycho Hall of Fame
  • Crimson Peak
  • An America Terror
  • The Beat Goes On: Horror Franchises

First Dates and Wisecracking Werewolfs

I met Sharlyn last year as a fellow traveler of exotic lands. I was immediately impressed by her spirit and her intellect. I think I became her project as she single-handedly managed to get me out of my man-cave from time to time to enjoy our Korean surroundings. She has been a huge supporter of this blog from its inception and I'm finally privileged to post her contribution, a personal recollection of John Landis's groundbreaking horror comedy An American Werewolf in London. Thanks, Ms. Sharlyn!

First Dates and Wisecracking Werewolfs

8/18/2014

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It took only one late night cringing in front of Creature Features, peeking over a blanket at a hideously smiling corpse, to convince me that I do not like horror movies! The images burn themselves into my memory and come back to life whenever the lights go out. So, at 19, I surprised both myself and the eager young man at my door when I suggested An American Werewolf in London for our first date. It looked like fun: cute guys, rock-n-roll, and a little edgy horror.

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Thirty-four years later, I still chuckle, remembering the evening that followed.

I knew I’d chosen well as soon as the movie opened playing a lilting rendition of Blue Moon, while the camera explored a pastoral, Welsh countryside. Sure, we see that our story will take place on foggy moors, but, really, with that light-hearted music swinging along, what could go wrong?


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The let’s-just-have-some-fun mood is carried along as the two main characters emerge from a farmer’s sheep wagon, shouldering their backpacks to begin their search for warmth and supper. Yes, the fog drapes eerily over the darkening landscape, and an icy wind chills the mood. But the boys’ teasing banter dispels any discomfort the scene’s similarity to gothic, English mysteries might evoke.

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Shortly, as in all good horror movies, the kids ignore well-meant advice: “Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors.” Sure enough, sticky wisps of fog lift to reveal a full, yellow moon. “Beware the moon, lads…”

All the elements of horror clicked into place; we all knew what would happen next. So why wasn’t I drawn into the terror mounting as the growling werewolf circled closer and closer to these hapless victims? Because the risque banter, fresh-faced teenaged boys, and feel-good music just wouldn’t allow me to take any aspect of the film too seriously. Even when poor Jack is mauled -- his throat shredded, blood slick over his face and lifeless body -- I just couldn’t get too upset.



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Unfortunately, my date had the opposite reaction to the sudden turn from guffaw to gore. The film’s Oscar-winning makeup artist held nothing back. Jack’s gouged neck gapes open, his recently leering face lies torn and bloody. This is no joke; we are dealing with a monster. My date’s face reflected his disgust at the brutality of this abrupt jolt into horror.

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The film’s playful soundtrack keeps the audience on a roller-coaster between horror and humor. I nearly laughed out loud listening to Credence Clearwater taunting: “I see a bad mood risin’; I see trouble on the way...” as a full moon rises and David howls with the intense pain of his transformation. One reviewer expressed amazement that “adorable fifties and sixties music can be made spooky in the context of a horror film” (fast-rewind.com, 2009). I disagree, I think the music adds more to the humor than to the horror. A delightful dramatic irony builds as we hear crooning “moon” lyrics setting up gruesome werewolf scenes.

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The attack scene over, we recovered (or uncovered our eyes), safe from the sight of Jack’s gruesome carcass, and were whisked back into comedy in David’s hospital room, laughing at the horny nurses and the buffoon from the American Embassy whose response to David’s raging shock is: “These dumbassed kids never listen.” 

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The Scotland Yard clowns soon follow, and we are lulled back into edgy, teen-aged comedy. Perhaps the worst is over, we reasoned. No such luck. Jack’s post-mortem visit strikes a new note of dark humor.  How do we respond to a murdered friend who unabashedly sports gruesome wounds, plays puppet with a brightly colored Mickey Mouse -- “Hi David!” -- and then pleads with David to kill himself before he turns into a monster and kills others. 


Jack’s words sum up the tone created by his sarcastic, talking corpse: “Life mocks me even in death.” Is this film mocking horror? Not exactly. Landis employs a truly witty form of gallows humor to imagine how two thoroughly modern guys would respond to mythical horror.

In his IMDb.com review of “one of my favorite films”, Brandt Sponseller calls these unexpected mood shifts “comedy/tragedy juxtaposition.” Since “both the comedy and the horror are fully committed to,” the film’s viewers must decide which element to fixate on.


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My date and I faced irreconcilable differences: I focused on the wry humor; he saw only what another reviewer called “intense body horror” (Mark Olsen, latimes.com).  Later, he admitted that he nearly got up and left the theater. No doubt if we had known each other better, or if he had not needed to maintain a 20-year-old’s machismo, he would have walked out in protest.

His disgust no doubt deepened with each successive visit from Jack, his decaying face revealing bones protruding from putrid flesh. Finally, David is left in a porno theater (the raunchy movie adding hilariously incongruous heavy breathing and naked bodies to this improbable scene) talking with Jack’s rotting corpse and six freshly bloodied, undead victims -- all offering advice on how to best kill himself. 



How could I not love this dry, twisted humor? I have always preferred wry wit (I blame my wise-cracking father for this), so I responded more to the film’s dialogue --”I will not be threatened by a walking meatloaf!”-- than to its shocking visual effects.

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Well, the rest is history. I endured a short, mismatched relationship with a guy whose ever-hopeful lust overcame his revulsion for my taste in movies. Landis went on to earn fame for inciting a revolution in horror movie style. In 1981, humor was the new horror.
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