10. Wolf Attack - An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Starting with the cult classic from 1981, An American Werewolf in London follows two American back packers, David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), as they travel to England. After coming across a creepy pub they decide to ignore the warning and venture out across the moors. This is when things take a turn for the worst. David and Jack are attacked by a werewolf, Jack dies (well, sort of) but David survives, although he is now plagued with the werewolf curse. What does this have to do with the London underground? Well, later in the story we come across a morphed David terrorising London. A shot shows a commuter in his formal attire waiting for a train at Tottenham Court Road underground station. As he minds his own business, standing alone on the platform, the rumbling growls fill and echo through the station emanating eerily from the black tunnels. Even though the man believes, at first, that it is an immature prankster he makes his way to the escalator to leave the underground. As he passes through the next walkway he finally encounters the beast and the pursuit beings. What is most suspenseful is the manner of the sequence, the lengthy tracking shots of the commuter and the medium point of view shots as if the camera was David, as the werewolf. The different shots interweaving to show the suspense of the mans attempted escape. The chase only ends as the man falls onto the escalator; void of energy and fight. The last shot of the sequence is from the creature point of view as it slowly makes an approach to the fallen man and towers over the fear filled commuters. This stalking approach in the filmic portrayal of the London underground is very common in the use of horror films. The tension of the sequence is created through the drawn out process before it reaches its inevitable climax leaving us to question, Why didnt he just take the elevator? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_ss0nT5DGHw