The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

4 Edgar Wright
an extremely gory Rick Baker makeup job wherein Naughton’s throat gets
slit in close-up by a Nazi monster.
At that point, my mom and dad said, “OK, that’s enough! Bed!” and sent
us both to bed. So I wasn’t allowed to watch the end of the film. That was a
rash decision by my parents. They were trying to protect my innocence, but
all that meant is that I had no resolution, didn’t see the end of the film, and
all I was left with was these images of the nightmares.
And so I was plagued by that for the next couple of weeks: the Nazi
monsters and the moors attack itself—all the really scary parts in the early
part of the film continued to plague me. So I don’t think I actually saw it for
another couple of years.
Did that make it even sweeter fruit because it was forbidden?
Wright: Absolutely! And every time I see it, it just really strikes me. It’s a
special film for me. It’s just really unique. I don’t think anything else comes
close to hitting the particular recipe of ingredients that film has.
Have you ever met anyone associated with the film?
Wright: The other day I actually took part in like a documentary for a Bluray
DVD that’s coming out, and I’ve been very lucky to get to know some of
the people who have been involved, like John Landis and Eric Baker. I even
met Griffin Dunne and George Folsey Jr., who produced it. So I’ve met a lot
of the people involved in the film.
In fact, the crowning part of that was: I had a festival in 2007 where I
curated the new Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. And one of the films I
showed was An American Werewolf in London with John Landis, doing a
Q&A with him.
Let me ask you this then: Landis has said he was trying to make a contemporary
version of an old movie. He still believes it is not a comedy.
Did you reconcile that at all with him?
Wright: It’s definitely a horror-comedy. It’s frequently very funny.
I think what happened is that he made a horror film, but he’s such a naturally
funny person. The scenes in between the horror are just very funny.
It’s not arch at all—you care about the characters. You care what happens