Into The Psyche of a Broken Man…revisiting John Landis’ Into The Night

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John Landis might be remembered for Trading Places, Blues Brothers, and An American Werewolf In London. He might also be remembered by his detractors for the unfortunate incidences that occurred during the filming of The Twilight Zone, but for me, his career should almost be defined by his 1985 masterpiece Into The Night.

The film, starring Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer, is a little seen gem (not unlike his vampire flick Innocent Blood) that sheds the genre trappings of say An American Werewolf and the iconic prominence of stars and celebrity in, for example, Trading Places, Blues Brothers, or Coming To America. It’s a film that focuses on character, very much inspired by its time, with Landis not having to worry about special-effects (ala man changing into werewolf) or eccentric spectacle (look no further than The Blues Brothers or Animal House). It’s Landis’ most assured piece of filmmaking, and debatably, his greatest ever achievement.

The film is also prominent because it was the first Landis made after the tragedy of 1982 when Vic Morrow, Myca Dinh Le, and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed when a helicopter stunt went wrong. Landis and other production crew were initially blamed and charged with manslaughter. Many people still hold Landis responsible for the deaths but the fact remains that after a long trial, Landis and the other crew members were acquitted in a court of law. The director was clearly deeply affected by the terrible deaths – more than many give him credit for – and this can be seen in Into The Night. His vision is pessimistic and bleak. He shows a disregard for commercialism and a materialistic world, and uses Los Angeles (the most fictionally abused city by American cinema, where dreams are made and broken) as his backdrop. His main character is confused, alone, miserable. He can’t sleep, almost an indication he has to spend more waking moments in his misery than those who can sleep. The film is very a much an investigation into what happens when conventional life loses its boundaries and suddenly a cavernous space opens up with infinite possibility. It’s about a frightening reality that isn’t governed by pop-culture, television adverts, or consumerism. Landis depicts a world where we have to make choices – not always the right ones – but choices that aren’t necessarily straight-forward. Ed, the main character, learns what he wanted by the end of the movie but can’t fathom what it is at the beginning. The choice, therefore, isn’t always in front of us, and we might never know what it really is, but it exists. (READ MORE)

The Howling and the modern Gothic

I watched Joe Dante's excellent 'The Howling' last night and what I liked especially about it was the way it portrayed intelligent werewolves. In 'An American Werewolf in London', the werewolf is very primal, only interested in feeding its hunger. In 'The Howling' and also 'Silver Bullet', the werewolf is intelligent and manipulative. There's a great shot in 'The Howling' when the journalist is looking through the doctor's files and the arm of the werewolf appears from the right of screen. It's a great shot, but also shows the intelligence of the beast - it didn't just want to feed, it wanted to hide important secrets.

It is interesting to note how different directors have approached the werewolf - for example, silver bullets kill the 'intelligent' werewolves of 'The Howling', but normal bullets kill the primal werewolf in Landis' 'An American Wereowolf'. The writer and directors seemingly take different aspects of Gothic tradition and work them into modern horror stories - in 'The Howling', we see humanistic elements within the beasts themselves who want to use the media for their own gain; in 'An American Werewolf' we see comedic value taken from Gothic tradition in that, for instance, when a human changes into a werewolf and his clothes are ripped off, what happens when he wakes up next morning , naked in a public zoo; and 'Teen Wolf' that allows its main character to use the fruits of an animals power - it's speed and strength - to become his school's best basketball player.

TOP 10 HORROR MOVIES OF THE 1980s

The Different Faces of the Beast: Werewolf Movies from the 1980s

The best werewolf movies from the 1980s:

1. An American Werewolf In London
2. The Howling
3. Silver Bullet
4. Wolfen
5. The Company Of Wolves

Don't forget....THE TOP 10 HORROR FILMS FROM THE 1980s....what are yours?

Top 10 Horror Films from the 1980s

I've thought long and hard, and spent many an hour choosing the best horror films from the 1980s to place in my top 10. Please have a look and tell me what are your favourite horror films from the eighties. CLICK HERE TO BE TAKEN TO THE TOP 10

You, Me, and Dupree (2006, Russo/Russo)

Kate Hudson is pretty, that's undeniable. Yet, being pretty can only get you so far, and while You, Me, and Dupree is a 'pretty' picture with sun-kissed photography, flashy cars and gleaming boats, tailored suits, and some arguably handsome male actors, it's a vacuous waste dump of copied ideas and high-concept trash. It lacks any originality and is as predictable as every other Hollywood romance-comedy from the last few years. Maybe if Ben Stiller had taken the Matt Dillon role, they'd be life to this film, but aside from some - admittedly - hysterical moments from Owen Wilson (who's the only good thing about the movie), this is one hell of a poor effort.

Short Film In The UK

My university dissertation was very well received - was I surprised just how highly it was marked? - yes, I was! Don't follow my example to a first-class degree mark, as I ignored most of what the tutors were advising. There was classes put on to help students write, set-out, and research their dissertations, as well as constant tutor/student progress meetings, of which I attended none.

I was taken aback by how some of my fellow students were treating the 'system', as if you needed to follow it in order to succeed. It wasn't as if I knew any better but I wasn't going to write a professional-looking piece of work by following guidelines that were really created for students who simply could not think for themselves. My advice to students writing their dissertations is simply: work to create something different, that hasn't been done before. If you can write it well, show you've done plenty of research, and critically analyse every shred of evidence you put forward, you'll be close to a first class grade.

Anyway, enough of that. Here is my dissertation serialised:

What I wanted to do was investigate what opportunities there were for new filmmakers to break into the British film industry through short film. Click on the chapter link to read the article:

1. Short Film: A brief critical history

2. Short Film In The UK: Screen Yorkshire and the Independents

3. Short Film In The UK: Film Festivals and Competitions

4. Short Film In The UK: Technology and the Tiny Screen

5. Short Film In The UK: Availability, Audience, and the Future

6. ‘Okay, we’re done’: The story of my first short film

7. Short Film Take II: The Trouble With Mr. Goldman

8. Short Film In The UK: Recommended Links

Still reeling from Empire Movie Quiz

...so I didn't know what colour lightsabre Mace Windu has...my unfortunate undoing. Yet, as we eventually guessed right my knowledge of the new Star Wars was one of ridicule. Should I know this piece of information from films I hold with no regard? Lucas' special-effects-ridden-no-character-no-heart prequel trilogy is a set of films I doubt I will ever return to - one viewing is torture enough. But it is with regret that the question caused me such difficulty yet because I was fast asleep through most of Star Wars: Episode 2 (or is it 3?) I'll continue to be humbled by the trilogy's trivia.