In the many years that I’ve been doing these mini-tributes, both currently as Spotlights and previously in the Man of the Week category, I don’t recall ever giving much attention to any directors besides some select actors who have also done some time behind the camera. My memory on all the drivel that’s showed up on this site is fading faster than a t-shirt stain at the mercy of Billy Mays, but I do believe that John Landis is indeed the first director giving credit on this site.

Throughout the years Landis is best known for a series of classic popular comedies from the late 70’s-80’s including Animal House and Blues Brothers, the two films that jump started his career. Spies Like Us and The Three Amigos were some more of his successful comedies and still stand as memories of a day when Chevy Chase had some starpower. But it was his work with Eddie Murphy in Trading Places and Coming to America that are personal favorites of mine, the latter being one of the greatest comedy films of all time.

While other directors such as Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman may have a better, more consistent overall resume than Landis, there is a major difference between him and his peers. No, I’m not referring to the fact that Landis had a horrible decade of the ’90s where his film list featured the dreaded Beverly Hills Cop 3 as well as Blues Brothers 2000. What I’m referring to is Landis’s place in the horror genre.

The actual reason I thought of giving Landis a tribute wasn’t a film from the list of downright classics he was responsible two decades ago or so but a relatively recent stab at the horror genre in the Masters of Horrors series. It reminded me of how well-schooled Landis always seems to be on the genre in interview and how important he is to the genre for his work behind the camera. It was in 1981, right on the heels of Animal House and Blues Brothers that Landis would, seemingly out of no where, cement himself in the history books of horror with An American Werewolf in London, regarded as one of the best werewolf adaptations to hit the screen.

The film stood out for its state of the art special effects and makeup by Rick Baker. The transformation scene is one of those special effects rarities that has stood the test of time and to this day still blows me away. Beyond the makeup/effects of this film though, American Werewolf stands out for its bridge between comedy and horror.

Apparently the script always got a positive response but though it was written in 1969, didn’t become realized until after the success of Landis’s box office hits. As he said on the DVD interview, "It was very very funny. And it was also very, very scary. But the unanymous response was: either this is to funny to be scary or this is too scary to be funny. It was inconceivable to people that you could be both."

And in this way, John Landis did something special with that movie. And even though this is one of his only notable horror films, you can tell the man really understands. Even though it does have it’s fair share of laughs, the film is truly a scary one. And although his other horror takes like Twilight Zone: The Movie (a production filled with real life tragedy and controversy) weren’t as amazing, the forementioned recent Masters of Horror films by him are a good return to the genre. Deer Woman, a story cowrote with Landis’s son, takes on the outrageous plot of a Native American folklore story of a beautiful woman with the legs of a deer who seduces and murders men. The same way as in American Werewolf, Landis puts together an unreal sort of story and makes it real, with its characters acknowledging the absurdity the whole time and bringing out the comedic element. His other MOH film, Family starring George Wendt as a seemingly nice neighbor with a bizzare secret is equally enjoyable. Hopefully, after a slump of sorts, John Landis is back at full strength, ready to bring us some new classics, regardless of the genre.