Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1981: Griffin Dunne in An American Werewolf in London

Griffin Dunne did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Jack Goodman in An American Werewolf in London. 

Griffin Dunne plays one of the aspects of the film that makes it as memorable as it is as a horror comedy, a film where both aspects of that are entirely true and neither dominate the other nor do they clash. Rather they cheerfully go hand in hand skipping down the road their merry way, much like our protagonists, two young American men Dunne's Jack and David Naughton's David here who find themselves in the moors in rural England. The first aspect of this is both actors are very much playing their parts as though they were just a film about two guys finding their way through England, any old way. There isn't anything special about them, rather what is special is how very normal they are. Their greatest concern initially is Dunne's portrayal of Jack's rather horny fixation on a woman back home. The change of thought only comes finally when they arrive at a strange village inn where all the ruffians seem to exist in this particular spot in a particular way, as though they never quite escaped a Hammer horror film, while still being allowed to enjoy modern amenities. Dunne's performance contrasts effectively with their surroundings by very much exuding the tourist energy right down to the overly smiling way he asks the locals about their curious candle in front of a rather troubling pentagram. Dunne exudes someone completely out of his element bringing the comedy of this state within the scene right out of a horror movie, though I think this also goes into a key about the film. Which is while both Dunne and Naughton play the part very normally as two random guys in a situation, they do convey the undercurrent of fear and dread as they notice these eerie things. They react realistically on both fronts, one that you might not immediately take it seriously but two you would still probably get a bit of fright from it nonetheless. 

Unfortunately for Jack, he is the last victim of the werewolf that does attack the boys, with David only being narrowly saved by the villagers, though also left infected by the werewolf's curse. Well with that it would seem the end of Dunne's performance, a brief enjoyable bit, but that's it. Well, obviously that's not it as he appears to David at the hospital, featuring his grievous wounds from his mauling, but seemingly very much alive. This is one of the film's masterful ideas of the returning Jack, as not only does it give a very clear representation of what will become David's crimes as a werewolf, but it also allows a very easy provider of exposition as Jack explains how the werewolf curse leaves all its victims as undead forced to wander the earth. What it also does is grant a most unusual character in the form of the decaying Jack and Dunne is wonderful by playing it so much as Jack being very annoyed by his predicament. His delivery of "it's boring" is great because he says it's boring like he's been at the mall for too long or something, not that he's currently in a state of decay. Dunne frankly brings more genuine frustration in Jack when he laments the woman he had been pining for went into the arms of another man at his expense. His actual statement that David needs to die to end the curse is as practical as possible from Dunne as though he's making it just the clear thing that needs to be. All this totally works in Dunne's performance, and again creates a remarkable balance between humor and horror. There is something unnerving but also funny in the zombie talking with such a casual presence.  

Dunne naturally makes an impact with each appearance, Rick Baker's makeup obviously also helps a lot, as his second appearance is as the further rotted corpse. Dunne's subversion of the makeup though is again what makes it truly stand out as he again very calmly lays out what David has to do, and manages to be comedic in this yet still there is a palatable sense of dread. Dunne does this because he doesn't go overboard with the casual, in that he is never truly absurd, rather again it is just this average guy who is a zombie now explaining things, so there is something funny there, but it is also quite serious in its own way. His final scene is a purely verbal performance from Dunne as Jack is now down to his skeletal structure as the corpse, and he is joined by David's victims as they ask for David to kill himself. Dunne nicely shifts his performance just a bit in this scene as his delivery is a bit more optimistic even joyful in his words, as now he's no longer having a heart-to-rotted heart with his friend, he's in a strange way trying to facilitate a conversation between David and the victims. Dunne is very earnest in fact when Jack tries to defend David just a bit and has a real sense of concern in his voice when he notes that hanging would be too dangerous of a method for suicide due to the risk of choking if he bungled it. Dunne's wonderful as his voice exudes a very real sense of friendship with David in the scene and has a slightly positive defensive quality around trying to ease the relationship between David and all his victims. Dunne's performance in each scene succeeds in making a striking impression that is essentially the success of the film in a microcosm. He is funny by being this matter of fact undead creature, but while still inspiring a natural dread.