American Werewolf in London

American Werewolf in London featured probably the most humorous horror film we've watched in this class so far. It was kind of campy, very quick paced, and overall easy to watch. The genre of the movie has even been described as "horror black comedy" (referring to the dark humor of the story) and involved many viewers saying that it was too humorous for horror... yet too scary for humor. Comedy horror has evolved a lot over the years, now being a common trope and it's own genre within film. 

As our class has discussed before, there's a talent in combining humor with horror- and in a lot of cases, it's almost a necessity. Horror and humor is generally seen (at least from what I've heard) as two of the most difficult genres to write in. You have to know how to really scare your reader, which involves placing them so well within the narrative that they have no choice but to really feel what the characters are feeling. Similarly, with humor, you have to know how to craft jokes and humorous scenarios that don't feel too overdone or ridiculous. You can't force your audience to laugh, no matter how hard you try. Then, of course, there's always the addendum that no matter what, every person in your audience is going to be different. What might absolutely terrify someone or leave them in stitches (of laughter), you'll have someone looking at the whole thing with the completely opposite opinion. 

In regards to American Werewolf, the set-up itself is comedic, and convenient. You have two regular American guys taking a backpacking trip through Europe, which sets up the "person in a strange land" trope to some extent. They, and as a result we, are unfamiliar with the specific traditions and customs in this specific area. It leads to the catalyst of Jack and David of course wandering where they aren't supposed to, and getting attacked by the werewolf that turns Jack.

The set design in general for American Werewolf lends itself to the comedic qualities of the film. The first concrete location we're brought to is a pub by the name of the "Slaughtered Lamb"- a definite play on words for the overall themes of the film. We're reminded of the story of the wolf in sheep's clothing, who uses the disguise to pick off unsuspecting sheep- the perfect parallel to a werewolf stalking around in the form of a man, waiting for the moment when it can strike. Similarly, even the choice of "slaughtered" hints towards the rest of the film, because of how "slaughtering" can mean to massacre or kill in large numbers- which the Werewolf Jack clearly demonstrates in his first full moon. Then of course within the Slaughtered Lamb is the infamous pentagram shrine, meant by the tavern goers to ward off any evil.

Where I did feel the movie diverted from at least my personal humor (going back to the "completely opposite opinion" thing was the inclusion of the adult movie theater setting. While technically it created the setting of a humorous scenario based on absurdity of surroundings juxtaposed with the dark humor and serious tone of the conversation Jack and a-very-dead David are having, it just felt too heavy handed for my own tastes- by a long shot. I could have done without the inclusion of that specific setting, and still gotten the same effect from the movie in general.