Trailer
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
Arc Cinema presents a series of Friday night filmic feasts hosted by Venus Mantrap - local drag artist and culture warrior.
Fright Night: Cult Cinema Classics at the NFSA plumbs the archives to showcase cinema with bite, edgy movies and fan favourites - films that unnerve, push buttons, ask questions and just look good on the big screen!
If you're a sucker for nostalgia or curious about forgotten gems, join Venus as we venture into the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond - with special guests, surprise performances, trivia and best-dressed contests. Gather your tribe of rowdy rebels and misfits and join Venus for Fright Night!
When two American college students are backpacking through London they ignore local lore and stray from the English mores, right into the path of a ravenous werewolf - ultimately turning their summer abroad into a living nightmare.
An American Werewolf In London (1981), directed by John Landis (The Blues Brothers, Coming To America), blurs genre in this beloved classic that delivers equal parts horror and comedy. Celebrated for its special visual effects, this was the first film to ever receive an Academy Award for Best Make-Up. Join us for this special edition of Fright Night as we approach the full moon and find out if David can undo the werewolf’s curse.
‘The best moments in American Werewolf probably belong to Dunne, who may be a decaying cadaver but keeps right on talking like a college student: "Believe me," he says at Naughton's bedside, "this isn't a whole lot of fun.”’ - Roger Ebert
‘What you see here is good old-fashioned makeup and trickery making the incredible seem real. After the excesses of The Blues Brothers, AWIL is an exercise in restraint. David doesn't change into the wolf until a whole hour has elapsed, whereupon the movie's pace accelerates and the body count multiplies.’ - Pat Reid, Empire
Venus Mantrap is an androgynous construct whose roots are firmly planted in the world of drag. Exploring aspects of cabaret, performance-art and comedy during live shows, Mantrap has produced The Bowie Ball and starred in the one-person-shows Life, Love and Lip Syncing and Valley of the Molls. Venus is regularly found at Smith's Alternative as the MC of Cabaret Voltaire and has been a featured artist at Glitterbox, LGBTIQ+ Elders Dance Club, Drag Cabaret and Finucane and Smith's touring show Dancehall. Follow them on Instagram at @the_venus_mantrap.