Bounding Into Halloween Night 26: There’s A Bad Moon On The Rise With ‘Dog Soldiers’ & ‘An American Werewolf In London’
Looks like we’re in for nasty weather, folks! There’s a forecast for showers of blood, scattered thunderstorms of pointy teeth, and even flurries of loose dog hair. Tonight’s movies pay homage to everyone’s favorite good boy, the werewolf. These lovely lycanthropes are among the only few monsters in existence who are allowed to have days off from their affliction, but they’re still greatly feared among their creature counterparts. Our two features for the 26th night of October show why everyone has a reason to howl with fright when the wolfsbane blooms and the Autumn moon is bright.
Dog Soldiers (2002)
The first cycle of the evening is from director Neil Marshall (The Descent, Centurion), and this is his 2002 feature debut, Dog Soldiers. This movie is a great blend of horror, action, and even some comedy. This underrated gem took the genre in new directions, away from the cartoonish cliches. It’s terror in the woods but without a single dumb teenager in sight.
Private Cooper (Kevin McKidd) is sent to the Scottish Highlands with five British soldiers on what they’re told is a training exercise. This happens not too long after Cooper fails to join a Special Forces unit, but he refuses to kill a dog, and nobody can hate him for that. When the soldiers arrive, they find the remnants of another SF troop that were doing the same exercise.
The surviving Captain is off his rocker, and won’t specify what happens, but then they’re attacked by an unseen enemy. The men retreat from the ambush, and a few die along the way (including an accidental self-impalement), but they are saved by a zoologist (Emma Cleasby) who takes them to the house of some unknown family. The place gets surrounded, and it’s revealed that they’re being hunted by a pack of seven-foot-tall werewolves.
The soldiers plan to wait them out until dawn and hope they change back to human at that point, but that option goes out the window. The so-called training exercise turns into a night of terror, blood, and survival. Aided by Sergeant Wells (Gotham’s Sean Pertwee), they try to find a way out, but not everyone is who they say they are.
There aren’t many great werewolf movies out there, and Stephanie Meyer’s shapeshifting dogs didn’t do them any favors. Dog Soldiers is one of the best furry fables to come out in a long time, and it still holds up. It has become one of those movies that horror nerds look forward to mentioning whenever there’s a conversation about werewolf flicks.
It’s available for free on several streaming apps, and that includes Pluto TV – but here’s the trailer:
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Here we go! Our next feature keeps us on the same turf, but out of the woods. Not only is this one of the greatest werewolf movies of all time, but it’s also one of my personal all-time favorites. This is a brilliant combination of horror and humor from the great comedy director, John Landis (Animal House, Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Coming To America), and it’s his highly successful dive into the horror genre.
It also features the phenomenal Oscar-winning make-up effects by the legendary Rick Baker. From 1981, This is An American Werewolf in London.
David Kessler (David Naughton), and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) are two American college students on a backpacking trip through Europe. Their first stop is Northern England and its Yorkshire moors. After arriving in a small village, the best buds head to the local tavern called The Slaughtered Lamb, and the outdoor sign is even cooler than the name.
They’re met with cold apprehension by the locals, and it’s obvious that the young gentlemen aren’t welcome there. They make a quick exit, but not before being warned about sticking to the roads and to “beware the moon.”
Not only do these dummies immediately go off the road and get lost, but they even stop to look at the full moon in the night sky. That’s when they start to hear the howls of an animal, followed by growls as it gets closer. A giant wolf leaps out of the shadows, mauls Jack, and scratches David across the face before being shot to death by the villagers.
He wakes up in a London hospital to the news that he and his friend were actually attacked by a very strong madman, but David insists that they were attacked by a giant wolf. Naturally, nobody is trying to hear him out.
While still in the hospital, he starts having very wolf-like dreams, and also timeless ones about nazi werewolves. Then he gets a surprise visit from Jack’s ghost, who looks the way he did at death. Jack has become one of the undead tethered to the werewolf’s bloodline until it is severed. Jack warns his best friend has to take his own life otherwise he will be stuck rotting away in limbo for all time, and that David will change on the next full moon, kill people, and make more like him.
He lucks out when his stereotypical and secretly amorous, but still hot English nurse (Jenny Agutter) falls in love and offers him a place to stay for a while. Jack starts paying him visits at the new flat, and looking worse each time he appears, but still with the same request for him to commit suicide before the oncoming full moon.
David tries telling himself that it’s all a hallucination (and even calls Jack a walking meatloaf), but as the full moon approaches, the uncertainty sets in and leads to the greatest transformation scenes in all of film history. London’s calling and the American Werewolf has answered!
This great film is the ultimate proof that practical effects will always be superior to CGI. Even the more fake parts still look convincingly good. The shifting tones from comedy to horror are so fluid and expertly done. It’s hard to put laughs into a scream picture without making it campy, or overly self-deprecating.
An American Werewolf in London found the right balance, and that is why it’s still praised 43 years later. Head on over to TUBI and watch it, but remember to stay off the damn moors! And watch the trailer:
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