CRAIG STEVEN JOSEPH LACEY'S BLOG ON THE SUBJECT OF "THE HUMAN ANIMAL" IN JOHN LANDIS'S FILMS: 'SCHLOCK 12 DECEMBER 1973 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 79 MINUTES' AND 'AN AMERICAN WERE-WOLF IN LONDON, 21 AUGUST 1981, 97 MINUTES'—A BLOG-POST, 27 SEPTEMBER 2025, BY CRAIG STEVEN JOSEPH LACEY

§1.0 - Points 1.0–1.6: THIS BLOG'S CONTENTS:

1.1 - THIS BLOG'S TITLE:

1.2 - CRAIG STEVEN JOSEPH LACEY'S BLOG ON THE SUBJECT OF "THE HUMAN ANIMAL" IN JOHN LANDIS'S FILMS: SCHLOCK 12 DECEMBER 1973 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 79 MINUTES AND AN AMERICAN WERE-WOLF IN LONDON, 21 AUGUST 1981, 97 MINUTES—A BLOG-POST, 27 SEPTEMBER 2025, BY CRAIG STEVEN JOSEPH LACEY /

1.3 - THIS BLOG'S LISTED SECTIONS AND NUMBERED POINTS:

1.4 - §2.0: Points 2.0–2.14: THE DISCLAIMER /

1.5 - §3.0: Points 3.0–3.2: THE DATES OF RESEARCH, WRITING AND PUBLICATION /

1.6 - §4.0: Points 4.0–4.40: CRAIG STEVEN JOSEPH LACEY'S BLOG ON THE SUBJECT OF "THE HUMAN ANIMAL" IN JOHN LANDIS'S FILMS: SCHLOCK 12 DECEMBER 1973 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 79 MINUTES AND AN AMERICAN WERE-WOLF IN LONDON, 21 AUGUST 1981, 97 MINUTES //

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§2.0 - THE DISCLAIMER—Refer directly beneath to points 2.0–2.12.

2.1 - All rights reserved © Craig Steven Joseph Lacey, 4 December 1976–, Australia, 2025; 2.2 - Changing the content or re-publishing this blog is strictly prohibited; 2.3 - This blog is protected by the: 2.4 - Privacy Act 1988 of Australia, against unauthorized access to Craig Steven Joseph Lacey's Samsung Galaxy A05s, and Google account; 2.5 - Cybercrime Act 2001 of Australia, against computer fraud or internet fraud; 2.6  - Copyright Act 1968 of Australia, against intellectual property theft; 2.7 - Universal Copyright Convention, circa 1952; 2.8 - Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 9 September 1886; 2.9 - Fines and/or prosecution will apply according to Australian and International law in reference to unauthorized access and use of this blog published through the Blogger app of Google.com and the author's storage device(s) with the information. 2.10 - A total of three images have been used in this blog at: 2.11 - Point 4.29: The engraving of the German woman, Barbara van Beck, with were-wolf syndrome, circa 18th century, by G. Scott; 2.12 - Point 4.35: two consecutive film-stills of Jack Goodman, acted by Griffin Dunne, at the hospital, who bears the injuries of the were-wolf's attack to his upper chest, neck and face; an anguished David Kessler is in the back-ground.

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§3.0 - DATES OF RESEARCH, WRITING AND PUBLICATION—Refer directly beneath to the points 3.1–3.3.

3.1 - This blog was started, 14.09.2025, and published, 23:30, 27.09.2025, as researched and composed only by Craig Steven Joseph Lacey at Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia, 4000; 3.2 - Word count: 2,136 and characters count: 12,722; 3.3 - Last up-dated: 00:34, 27.09.2025, Australian Eastern Standard Time.

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§4.0 - CRAIG STEVEN JOSEPH LACEY'S BLOG ON THE SUBJECT OF "THE HUMAN ANIMAL" IN JOHN LANDIS'S FILMS: SCHLOCK 12 DECEMBER 1973 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 79 MINUTES AND AN AMERICAN WERE-WOLF IN LONDON, 21 AUGUST 1981, 97 MINUTES—refer directly beneath to the points 4.1–4.40.

4.1: I re-watched the film: 4.2: An American Werewolf In London, 21 August 1981, 97 minutes, director John Landis; production companies: PolyGram Pictures and Lycanthrope Films Limited; 4.3: with the expectation, that 1980s styled, platinum silicone rubber prosethics, make-up, lighting techniques and cinematography used for the special effects of portraying the were-wolves and victims on screen would distract from the transportative experience into the film's narrative world. 4.4: Only a few moments emerged when such dated special effects defied the requisite suspension of disbelief. 4.5: The film sustains its cut above the B-grade of horror film status: certainly there is none of B-grade's hallmark self-conscious, stop-motion animation mixed with live footage—such as found in another North American horror genre film of the early 1980s: 4.6: The Evil Dead, 15 October 1981, Redford Theatre, 85 minutes, directed by Sam Raimi; production company: Renaissance Pictures. 4.7: Yet the films of John Landis are not to be taken too seriously; there is a high sense of camp irony, which often distinguishes horror films by a categorisation of the arthouse horror subgenre—to which Sam Raimi's highly camp: The Evil Dead, 15 October 1981, belongs also. 4.8: The concern of bad taste or indecent cultural values in reference to the horror film genre is inverted by its use of camp æsthetics in these films. 4.9: What may be considered socially offensive, perhaps blasphemous? seeks to find artistic expression of the truths of experience and culture which may not find expression according to the censors of the establishment; at least, that was a prevailing concern during the 1980s, whereas during the 2020s the censors seem to be much less stringent. 4.10: As to the depths beneath the æsthetic surface of John Landis's film's black humour, who can say exactly what might be found? 4.11: Along such lines, the obvious comparison to this film is John Landis's film début: 4.12: Schlock, 12 December 1973 United States Of America, 79 minutes, producers: Jack H. Harris and James C. O'Rourke; 4.13: in which 'schlock' is a reference to an inferior quality, that is, a "B-grade standard" of product—the noun: 'schlock' is from the German Yiddish: 'shlak', that refers to a life-altering stroke, to further indicate that a degraded status has been associated with severe disability. 4.14: To pry apart the so-called 'degraded human form' of a disabled person from an ape-man or wolf-man hybrid, the disabled person traditionally is classified according to folk-lore as the 'changeling': a fey infant left by trolls or demons after swapping their own for a human child—and note some changelings manage to survive to adulthood. 4.15: The folk-lore topics of the hybrid child and wolf-man have met in reference to a North American cultural text, a film which struggles with its special effects and direction, not to achieve the arthouse categorisation as the films mentioned here, viz.: 4.16: Silver Bullet, 11 October 1985, 95 minutes, production companies: Dino De Laurentiis Company and Famous Films—an adaptation of the master of horror, Stephen King's: Cycle Of The Werewolf, circa November 1983, 127 pages ISBN-13: 978-0-960382828. 4.17: The changeling is often considered clairvoyant or gifted, almost as a compensation for the disability afflicting him, and more often than not occupies the human world, rather than the wilderness. 4.18: Yet as a freak, the changeling reminds civilization of the human physiology's animality, the body as an organism within the orders of biology and nature, from which a soul and spirit may nevertheless be found beneath the projections of freakishness that the hybrid is meant to "catch" from society, such as portrayed by the film; 4.19: The Elephant Man, 3 October 1980 New York City, 124 minutes, directed by David Lynch; produced by Jonathan Sanger; 4.20: in which the protagonist elephant man famously states: "I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am... a human being! I am a man!" 4.21: Such folk as the ape-man, the wolf-man, the disabled and the elephant man take a place at the edges of society, often the wilderness—for example: Schlock lives in a cave of the state of California. 4.22: Schlock is considered a "throw-back" in human evolution: a prehistoric man, though comparisons emerge to the wildman raised in the wilderness with animals, such as epitomised in the film: 4.23: Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan, Lord Of The Apes, 30 March 1984, 130 minutes, directed by Hugh Hudson; produced by Hugh Hudson and Stanley S. Canter—as adapted from: Tarzan Of The Apes, circa 1912, by Edgar Rice Burroughs; re-published: 5 August 2008, Penguin, Imprint: Signet, 320 pages, ISBN-13: 9780451531025. 4.24: Further comparisons are made to the North American "Sasquatch", otherwise referred to as Yeti, such as portrayed in the often comically absurd films: 4.25: Harry And The Hendersons, 5 June 1987 the United States Of America, 110 minutes, directed and produced by William Dear; 4.26: Sasquatch Sunset 19 January 2024 Sundance Film Festival, 88 minutes, directors: David Zellner and Nathan Zellner; production company: production companies: Square Peg, ZBi and The Space Program. 4.27: The complexity of definition is one regarding the similarities of the ape to the human, both are classified under the biological order: Primates, and being both anthropoid the relation can complicate the "animal–human" distinction that is often taken for granted in Western World cultures. 4.28: To an extent, the wolf, while not as similar to the human as an ape, has a similar physical size, and when compared with a human who may be covered in hair—for example, as found in cases of Hypertrichosi lanuginosa, or "Were-wolf Syndrome"—that further involves facial features similar to a canine, the requirement is greater for differentiation between such animals and humans, as compared with a comparison made between a human to a snake or kangaroo. 4.29: Refer directly beneath for an example of the so-called medical diagnosis of Hypertrichosi lanuginosa, or "Were-wolf Syndrome", in the engraving of the German woman, Barbara van Beck, circa 18th century, by G. Scott.

4.30: Cynocephaly refers to a 'dog-headed' human and finds association with Christian legends, such as discussed in: The Acts of St. Andrew and St. Bartholomew, 5th century A.D. 4.31: Both apostles are initially set to ordeals within a city of Parthia to prove the miracles of God; after which they are sent to the periphery of a 'city of cannibals' where a man: "whose face was like unto that of a dog," the cynocephalos, became tamed by an angel, and following the Christian rite of baptism he was re-named from: 'Hasum', meaning "Abominable / Bewitched", to: 'Christian'. 4.32: Further, the late 10th century German bishop and poet Walter of Speyer portrayed St. Christopher as a cynocephalic species from the land of the Chananeans—known as the Canaan of the New Testament—who consumed human flesh and barked, though one of them, Christopher, reformed, received baptism and later was martyred as "Athleta Christi / Champion of Christ": noteably St. Christopher is depicted in sacred Christian art with a dog's head, regarding which may refer to the fact he is known to be "Cananeus / Canaanite", viz. "caninus / canine". 4.33: Cynocephaly may also refer to a sub-group of the family of Old World monkeys, such as macaques and baboons, with dog-like heads, such as found in Ancient Egyptian religions, for example: the son of Horus, 'Duamutef', or the opener of the ways, 'Wepwawet', or the god of the dead, 'Anubis'; each depicted with the head of a jackal. 4.32: Focus often falls upon the later Egyptian god, Anubis, the lord of the underworld, where he and his cult resided, such that the Cynocephaly are associated with the living dead: a subject which is revealed in the film: An American Werewolf In London, 21 August 1981, 97 minutes. 4.33: The character of Jack Goodman, acted by Griffin Dunne, the back-packing companion of David Kessler, acted by David Naughton, declares to David: 4.34: "I was murdered, an unnatural death, and now I walk the earth in limbo until the werewolf’s curse is lifted." 4.35: Refer directly beneath at the two film stills at the hospital of Jack Goodman, acted by Griffin Dunne, who, being the undead, advises David Kessler, of what he must now do to end the curse: Jack bears the injuries of the were-wolf's attack to his upper chest, neck and face.

4.36: As the narrative unfolds David Kessler accrues a number of undead as phantom companions, his victims, who advise him of what action he must take to lift the curse of the were-wolf, such that he is indicated to return to the role of a Cynocephali member of an Anubian cult, though Egyptian religious allusions have all but eroded in such modern contexts. 4.37: Further to Anubis's rule over the underworld, the god's role is to "Weigh the Heart" to determine if the deceased had loved genuinely or not, to be ushered into the afterlife. 4.38: The character of David Kessler is confronted by his conscience, viz. to have his heart weighed, and he must face his victims and the consequences of his actions. 4.39: The general interpretation is that regarding "the animal", love is sex, an exercise in bonding or procreation; whereas in a spiritual context sex becomes love-making, and love and romance emerge from the profound respect derived from spirituality. 4.40: The Cynocephalos or Sasquatch serve to indicate that the human is, despite the achievements of civilisation, an animal per the Latin phrase: "homo, id est animal rationale mortale", that is, "a human being is a mortal and rational animal," and in succumbing to one's unconscious, animalistic instincts, the life of love and the spirit escapes the human to regress into the beast. 

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