1981 was a good year for genre films, and especially, it turns out, for werewolf movies! Joining Steve in the Bear Cave this week is frequent contributor Craig Lantz, talking about one of the most widely-recognized lycanthropic masterpieces, An American Werewolf in London, written and directed by John Landis. After being known mostly for raucous comedy films like Animal House, Kentucky Fried Movie, and the Blues Brothers, Landis set out to film a horror film in Britain, complete with classic British horror tropes skewed through an American lens, with a lot of humor, heart, and blood-pumping gore that earned the make-up team, led by Rick Baker, the first official Academy Award for Makeup. Stunning practical effects, including a brightly-lit transformation scene, snappy dialogue, and some fun gags, combined to make a modern horror classic that made ...