Song of the Week: Bad Moon Rising

Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.

Greetings boils and ghouls! It's your Humble Narrator Shadow Jerusalem here tonight with a very special edition of Song of the Week.

Well if you happen to be outside tonight and look up you'll notice it's a full moon. Kinda makes you want to get where you're going all the quicker doesn't it? Any horror enthusiast knows that the full moon is when any lycanthropy-beleaguered individual undergoes their monthly transformation to full-blown werewolf (or wolfman such as it is).
The moon has been getting a bad rep since the ancient Greeks and Romans, they believed it caused mania or insanity in an individual, hence the term lunacy.
John Landis' 1981 classic An American Werewolf in London. Two American students hiking through the English moors are attacked by a wild animal on a full moon, David survives only to be haunted by the rotting corpse of his friend Jack insisting he kill himself before the next full moon. Well needless to say David doesn't heed his advice and come the full moon... let's just say things get hairy.

This transformation stands out to me because it's done fully lit, in plain view and without the usage of CGI. Rick Baker (King Kong, Hellboy, too many others to name) was the creative genius behind the werewolf effects not only in this movie but worked on Joe Dante's The Howling, Mike Nichol's Wolf, Joe Johnson's 2010 remake of The Wolf Man and last but certainly not least the scarily delightful music video to Michael Jackson's Thriller

But the song of the week is what plays just prior to his transformation

So for tonight this is your lycanthropic pal Shadow saying, beware the moon stay on the road, and load up the silver, it's the ONLY way to kill a werewolf
Now if you'll excuse me my 5 o'clock shadow is getting bushier and I feel the need for raw red meat