An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Film and Plot Synopsis

In An American Werewolf In London, two American college students tour Britain. One night of the trek, a werewolf attacks them—leaving one horribly mauled and the other dead. In the hospital, the surviving student begins has nightmares of himself hunting on four feet. Soon his dead friend appears to him to demand he kill himself to break a curse that keeps (and the werewolf’s other victims) him from resting in peace because of their unnatural deaths.

‘An American Werewolf In London’ Movie Summary

In An American Werewolf In London, David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) are two young Americans backpacking through Europe. They make their way to the Moors of England where they visit The Slaughtered Lamb, a local pub. When they get a cool reception from the people in the Lamb, they leave into the night, but don’t worry, the full moon provides enough light.

After straying from the road, they hear a roar before some sort of an animal attacks them. It mauls Jack to death, but David survives his encounter with the help of some people from the Lamb shoot the beast before it can kill him.

Once in the hospital, David begins to have some frightening dreams which make no sense to him. Nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter) forms a bit of the Florence Nightingale Syndrome when she falls for David. He gets the hots for her as well during his stay.

Soon David begins to have visions of his mauled friend Jack. He tells David that a werewolf was responsible for the attack, and that he (and all of the werewolf’s other victims) remain un-dead until someone ends the creature’s bloodline. Furthermore, Jack tells David that he is now a werewolf too, and will change into one the next full moon.

Meanwhile, David’s doctor, J. S. Hirsch (John Woodvine), travels to the Moors and the Slaughtered Lamb to investigate David’s attack. The townspeople tell him the truth—a werewolf attacked the boys, and David is now one.

The next full moon arrives

The day of the first full moon comes, and David transforms into the werewolf. He them runs out into the London streets to claim six victims. He wakes up naked the next morning in the wolf enclosure at the zoo.

Alex, who’s now his girlfriend, tries to get him to go to the doctor. However, once David learns what he is and what he’s done, he’s so distraught that he runs off to Trafalgar Square. He hopes the police there will arrest him so he can’t harm anyone else, but it doesn’t work. So, he runs off again.

He winds up at Piccadilly Circus to call his family, and say he loves them. When he goes to slit his wrists to end it all, he chickens out. Suddenly, Jack appears to him again outside of an adult movie theater. After they go inside, David’s victims from the previous night appear too. They encourage him to end this madness, but before he can, he transforms into a werewolf once again. He begins attacking people in the theater, before bursting out of it.

Once out on the London streets again, he wreaks even more havoc with cars, people, and the town. There’s many causalities from it. Eventually, the police arrive, and surround David. There, Alex runs up to tell him she loves him in hopes it will calm him down. While it works for a moment, he suddenly lunges at her. The police shoot him dead. David turns back to his human form before dying in front of Alex. She begins to cry while she stares at his naked body on the ground.

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