Letter From London: 'Beware the Moon, Lads'

More interestingly (and oddly), John Landis fever is currently gripping Britain. This Friday, remastered prints of An American Werewolf In London are hitting our cinema screens. Next week, Animal House is getting the same treatment. And next month, Landis is returning to these shores to direct his first theatrical feature since 1998, a comedy about 19th century graverobbers Burke and Hare, which, with Simon Pegg and David Tennant (Doctor Who) as the leads, could be great.

John Landis gets Britain. The scene in American Werewolf's infamous Slaughtered Lamb pub is much more authentic than what goes on in Eastenders' Queen Vic; get out of the cities a bit and there are pubs like this all over the UK, old, traditional, no-frills drinking holes populated by locals who aren't famed for their warm welcomes. Further to this, Landis' London is laudably recognisable to natives and, for American Werewolf lovers of a certain age, some parts of town will be forever associated with the film. It's very hard, for instance, to wander around Tottenham Court Road tube station late at night and not be mentally transported to the scene where the wolf makes mincemeat of the businessman.

One such enthusiast is Paul Davis, a 28-year-old DJ from suburban South London who saw the film when he was three (can you say "Irresponsible parenting?"), became a lifelong fan and, in 2007, with no permission or rights, naively set about making a documentary about it. I had lunch with him last week to talk about what happened, meeting by the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus (where American Werewolf's climactic scenes were shot) in a limp attempt to soak up the environs. Eros is one of those mystifying tourist landmarks constantly surrounded by German teenagers adorned with "I ♥ LONDON" T-shirts, and the first thing I did upon rescuing Paul was to go across the road to photograph him outside the old porno cinema in the film where tragic David meets his undead victims. Alas, the porno cinema is now a Gap store (thank you, America) at a major road-crossing, but despite the assembled throng of pedestrians, you can easily spot Paul in my photo as he's 12 feet tall.

Pages: 1 2 3