It's October, kids. Halloween, monsters, spooky, ooooooooooooooohhhhhhh..... I got roped into a writing circle (which is exciting) but we're supposed to write short stories about zombies (overdone – does not bode well). Why are zombies so popular? Why this massive pop culture explosion of rotting flesh? I'm really not sure about it. And isn't it kind of pathetic? Domination by other monsters makes sense, but how is humanity taken over by a trudging corpse that can't even run (depending on the story, I guess)? Sure, maybe we get caught unawares at first, maybe they build up some numbers, but I fail to see how an entire civilization could be ravaged by this threat.
We're not even here to talk about zombies, though. No, we are here to discuss something which is actually dangerous – werewolves (as you know, assuming you read the title of the article). Indeed, to kick off the monster-themed month of midnight movies, Baxter Avenue Theater presents the John Landis classic, An American Werewolf in London, renowned for its makeup and transformation effects, and in fact winning the first ever Academy Award for makeup, as this was the inaugural year for the reward (after outcry that the previous year's The Elephant Man received no such official recognition for the same).
The film stars David Naughton and Griffin Dunne as two American youths backpacking through the English countryside. During a creepy full moon night they are attacked, and David is bitten – by what turns out to be... a werewolf!!!! Blood, violence, and terrifying nightmares ensue. It's pretty great.
An American Werewolf in London screens tomorrow, Saturday, at midnight. Baxter Avenue Theater is located at 1250 Bardstown Road. Further theater information and advance ticket sales can be found at the Baxter Avenue Theater website.
Image: Internet Movie Database
