In 1981, near the North York Wetland Park in the United Kingdom, two American backpackers, David and Jack, hiked here.
That night was the night of the full moon, the two of them were walking, suddenly lost their way, and heard a wolf howling not far away.
Just about to leave, a beast suddenly rushed out and killed Jack alive.
Then, the beast bit David again. At this time, nearby villagers came and killed him, and David survived.
The wounded David saw that the dead beast was a man in a daze, so he passed out.
When he woke up, he found that he had been lying in a London hospital for three weeks.
In this way, the American classic horror film of the 80s began: "American Werewolves in London"
After David woke up, strange things happened one after another.
He told the doctor and the police that he had been bitten by a wolf, but the other party did not believe that the attacker was a mental patient.
He also had nightmares, dreaming that he was hunting animals naked in the forest and drinking blood.
The most frightening thing is that he saw the dead Jack to warn himself: You were bitten by a werewolf, and you will become a werewolf on a full moon night, and you will kill.
These things tortured David and made him extremely depressed. Fortunately, the female nurse Leips in the hospital, gentle and beautiful, gave him a lot of comfort.
Before long, David's body healed.
On the day he was discharged from the hospital, Leips hinted that David wanted to take him into his own home.
In this way, David led a sweet love life.
But this relationship only lasted one day.
The next day, on the night of the full moon, David was at home alone waiting for Leips to leave work. Suddenly he had a splitting headache, sweating all over, and his body began to deform.
After a bitter struggle, David became a werewolf and attacked a couple, a group of homeless people and an office worker who took the subway that night.
When he woke up the next day, he found himself lying naked in the wolf den in the zoo.
David returned home with all his troubles, told Leips the truth, and went to the police to surrender, but Leips could only comfort him emotionally and could not help him, and the police did not believe him.
In order not to hurt Leips, David had to stay away from her and wander in the streets by himself.
In an adult theater, David met Jack and those who were killed by him.
They told David that the only way to avoid hurting others was to commit suicide.
David was hesitating, when the full moon rose again, David immediately turned into a werewolf and killed everyone in the theater.
Then he rushed to the streets, causing great riots, resulting in several deaths.
In order to prevent David from continuing to kill others, the London police were fully armed and dispatched to push David into a dead end.
Just about to shoot, Leips suddenly crossed the line of defense, trying to save David's life one last time.
"The American Werewolf in London" was released in 1981. It is a classic of American horror films and was selected into the "100 Most Interesting American Movies " list of the American Film Institute .
It is also listed in the "Kubrick's Most Watched Movies" list.
It has two main achievements.
One is the sophisticated special effects makeup that led the entire 1980s.
The second is the combination of horror and comedy, which has a huge impact on future generations.
You may not be used to the special effects of the old film, but the transformation process of David in the film is really shocking. In the era without CGI, it only relied on makeup, actor performance, and frame-by-frame shooting to achieve amazing results.
Because of this wonderful special effects, the film won the 1982 Oscar for Best Make-up Award, which is also the first time the Oscar has set up the award.
When Michael Jackson watched this scene, he was deeply impressed, so he asked the production team to shoot a MV for him, which later became the famous "Thriller."
This shooting technique also indirectly influenced the movies in the 1980s, making them present a very clumsy but very textured special effects style.
In addition to special effects, the combination of horror and comedy is also worth mentioning.
For example, David's transformation should be terrifying, but the soundtrack is elegant and cheerful jazz, which is very horrible.
When David went home naked, there were also many jokes. For example, a balloon that tricked a child into covering a key part.
Stealing the aunt's coat caused a series of embarrassments.
It is said that director John Landis originally invested in the film, but was frequently rejected for either "too scary to be funny enough" or "too funny to be scary enough".
But in the end, this set of bad taste made "The American Werewolf in London" a masterpiece of horror comedy and a classic cult film.
And its most memorable place is the expression of the loneliness of strangers.
There are many details in the movie, creating a sense of loneliness among young people in different places.
For example, the protagonist, being an American Jew, is often looked up and down by the British.
If you call your family, you can tell the good news but not the bad news.
Wandering in the adult theater, it is much like the youth of the video studio in China.
And these are exclusive to the lonely youth in the city.
This lonely fringe image is a tradition in werewolf movies.
Because werewolves cannot control their animal nature and easily harm those around them, stories of werewolves often end with the werewolf dying or living alone.
I have seen many werewolf movies, all of them are like this.
For example, Professor Lupin in "Harry Potter and Azkaban" was expelled because he nearly killed a student, leaving behind alone.
In the early monster movies of Universal, the werewolves ended up being killed by their relatives, as if they had escaped from a sea of suffering.
In the recent hot American drama "Love, Death, Robots", there is also a story about a werewolf soldier. The final outcome is that the werewolf soldier is repelled by humans and has since lived alone in the wilderness.
In a word, werewolves are lonely. Putting this loneliness into a modern city becomes "American Werewolves in London".
Therefore, this is a metaphor about the lonely youth in the city. Behind the fear and laughter, there is a deep compassion.
This kind of compassion is so fascinating that a small number of movie fans watched repeatedly and came to an over-interpreted view:
David didn't become a werewolf. He went crazy and killed people in this city because of the death of his friend. His lover wanted to help him but was helpless. In the end, he was shot dead by the police.
It is sad to think about it.
Today, many young people insist on being single under the excuse that they don’t want to harm others. Maybe in "The American Werewolf in London", they can see that stubborn and lonely self.
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