Capital Celluloid 2016 - Day 21: Thu Jan 21

An American Werewolf in London (Landis, 1981): Genesis Cinema, 7pm


The Rochester Kino film club screen classic and cult films at various venues including cultural institutes and pop-up settings in London. The events are always introduced with a brief talk from Nick Walker, followed by an informal group discussion over refreshments. Rochester Kino's debut event at the Genesis will be a presentation of 'An American Werewolf In London' (1981). There will be a chance in Bar Paragon upstairs at the Genesis for a discussion about the film after the 35mm screening of this fondly remembered classic.

Time Out review:
It’d be interesting to see polling data on how many Brits recall John Landis’s hysterical gore-spattered masterpiece as that all-important rite of passage: their first 18. Well, the folks at the BBFC have ruined all that: in reclassifying the film 15, they’ve made all our childhoods seem that little bit less dangerous. Which is no reflection on the film: horror-comedy is overfamiliar nowadays, with diminishing returns, but this only makes Landis’s achievement more impressive. Not just gory but actually frightening, not just funny but clever, ‘American Werewolf…’ has its flaws, but these are outweighed by the film’s many, mighty strengths: the soundtrack is astounding, the characterisation is marvellous and the one-liners are endlessly memorable (‘a naked American man stole my balloons!’). A classic, no less.
Tom Huddleston

Here is the trailer.

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