“An American Werewolf In London” is a horror/comedy that has gained a cult following over the years. I went into with reasonable expectations that were completely crushed. I think that this is a really boring film, a rather disappointing werewolf movie and I just didn’t find any of it to be funny.

In this film, American students David (David Naughton “Hot Dog… The Movie”) and Jack (Griffin Dunne “After Hours”) are hiking around rural England when they are attacked by a werewolf. Jack is killed and now David apparently has been cursed. When the Moon is full, David will supposedly transform into a werewolf and go on a killing spree.

The characters in this film are really boring. The film is most famous for its transformation scene. While the effects done by Rick Baker (“Men In Black”) are impressive, the final werewolf form looks way too much like an ordinary wolf. I thought werewolves were meant to walk on two legs. There is also a nurse character, Alex (Jenny Agutter “Logan’s Run”, “Child’s Play 2”), who David falls for. She’s very forgettable. I was so disappointed by the English country folk that David and Jack encounter in a small pub. One of them is played by Rik Mayall (“Drop Dead Fred”) but he has nothing remotely interesting to do. I don’t even recall him having a line.

This film was directed by John Landis, who did make me laugh a lot with films such as “Coming To America” and “Animal House” but this is staggeringly bad. So many scenes are just purely awkward. I was frequently sat there waiting for the punchline and it just never came. The film also has a horrendously abrupt ending. The special effects remain impressive for a film that came out in 1981 but the rest of the movie is bland and pointless. It also makes the fatal mistake of referencing 1941’s “The Wolf Man” with Lon Chaney Jr. because that just made me want to see that movie again.