Sunday 21 April 2013

Films This Week

(Click here to read my general introduction to the 'Films This Week' series of posts.)
 
18/04/13
Went to see Edgar Wright introducing An American Werewolf in London (as his Screen Epiphany). The film holds up well as a comedy (it's very funny), but perhaps less well as a horror (it's not very scary) – though the transformation effects are still very powerful (there's a beautiful physicality to them). There's an interesting element to the film concerning the weight of guilt, but it feels a little underdeveloped. As a whole, the human drama doesn't convince – I barely believed a single moment of it. Unfortunately this leads to a lack of real engagement (which might be why the film isn't scary), but there are some moments which do really work, such as the crash sequence. There's also some very fine (and early) steadicam work. Edgar Wright's intro was a lot of fun – very effusive, and it helped to highlight the elements that make it such a cult film. It was definitely the right way for me to see the film for the first time.
 

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