I have always hated the ending because it transitions mean-spiritedly from a tragic final scene to those stupidly jokey end credits with the upbeat version of "Blue Moon" playing. While I appreciate that the film is both a horror movie and a comedy, I think at the ending we are so caught up in the romance between David and Alex that we ought to be mourning David's death -- instead of laughing at it, as Landis seems to want us to do.
shareIt's kind of a brilliant ending. I love when a movie plays with your expectations, and then ends anti-climactically and then as if to say "in your face!" have very comedic credits. It's like they wanted to piss the audience off! I love that. I was personally pissed off and shocked the first time I saw it as a kid. As an adult I adore its genius.
shareBut let me ask this: Did you care about David? I have a difficult time wondering how anybody who cares about David can laugh at his death, least of all Landis himself. The rest of the movie is certainly funny, and makes me laugh. But I find it impossible to laugh during those end credits when the final scene is so sad.
shareWell, I am an anti-semite so when I think about the fact that he comes from a classical Jewish family, I don't feel too bad about it. But then again, as a character, he was a guy with a great sense of humor and creativity, and his quirks served his progressing story arch. It's a beautiful contrast to the werewolf curse that he has contracted.
When I was younger, I used to care a lot more what happened to characters in fiction than I do now. If I love a character and they happen to die in a movie, I'm fairly happy if they at least died at the very end so it doesn't really matter, because they're in most of the ride and if I want them to be alive again, all I do is rewind the tape. Characters are beautiful that way, that if you have an imagination of your own, you have power over life and death and you can decide what really happens to them. If you don't like a character dying, create an alternate fictional universe where they make it.
Yes, the final scene was a potent and genuine sad scene. But sometimes jokes can be played by creating very genuine drama like that and switch it around on you. It's very offensive to most, as it's not appreciated to have your emotional strings pulled and then find that the writers are playing a prank on you. It's deeply personal and most of us have a hard time laughing at ourselves like that.
Well, I am an anti-semite
What that means is that by the status quo of the average indoctrinated person in society, I would be easily be interpreted as one of those anti-semitic sort of people, because I am anti-Zionist, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish establishment anti-religion in general, anti-tribalism, anti-supremacy in general that included Jewish supremacy, and the simple fact that I will not exclude Jews from my criticisms. In a sense I'm for equality since I have an equal list of criteria from which I criticize.
Of course I'm not dumb enough to think there aren't good people who happen to be Jewish, but the Jewish establishment is something that everybody of common sense should loathe and seek to break off from in order to live in peace without getting exploited.
Bottom line is that the gist of it is if you imagine yourself saying to an orthodox Jew that you declare them your equal, no greater, no lesser, then in their eyes you are an anti-semite for not allowing them special privileges. A lot of Jews consider non-Jews to be of lesser worth.
Doesn't sound to me like you're for equality when you're anti a group. You're just as tribal, and you simply don't accept Jews as being a part of your tribe.
shareYou are quite right. I'd say that that makes it highly likely that no one here will understand you (and judging by the number of responses your comment has received in the last five years, I'd say I'm correct).
shareyou accidentally opened up the can of crazy
As John Landis had said in interviews, David is dead and the curse lifted, nothing more to say.
Personally, I think it's a great ending.
As John Landis had said in interviews, David is dead and the curse lifted, nothing more to say.
I didn't find anything wrong with ending music to close out the film. It decided to go with a quicker version of Blue Moon because all the horror has concluded. I thought of it as the upbeat tune to the record over the more sad version we get to start off the story, where tragedy follows. It's genius and works well.
shareI always thought that Landis meant to shock us with that. Not to let us laugh. He knew we were still with David's death and Alex grieving for him. Suddenly Landis drove his 'Blue Moon' car over us. Like if he was saying: 'Remember, this was a comedy horror film?' Wink. An emotional shock. Al least that's how I perceived it in Dec. 1981 and after.
-I don't discriminate between entertainment
and arthouse. A film is a goddam film.-
Never cared for it either. A horror comedy should end on a lighter note, but I don't know if there was any way for that to work so logically I would say the best thing to do if you want the ending we got is to lose the humor
shareI would say the best thing to do if you want the ending we got is to lose the humor
Landis did the same thing with Tradeing places. ok that wasn't a comedy but he also played a silly 50's be bop song, and he does it again here. I guess he likes those 50's songs? he does that often at the end credits.
plus, don't they do this a lot in horror movies where the end credits typically play some sort of strange song like freddy kreguar movie using "all I want to do is dream", with coincides with the theme of the story, and same thing here.
Landis did the same thing with Tradeing places. ok that wasn't a comedy
plus, don't they do this a lot in horror movies where the end credits typically play some sort of strange song like freddy kreguar movie using "all I want to do is dream", with coincides with the theme of the story, and same thing here.
sorry it was a typo.
I don't think its to make you laugh, I mean its nearly impossible too. I think its simply a slightly morbid way of lightening up the mood, going with the strange weird vibe of the film. sorta like the santa clause story in Gremlins by phoebe cates. you don't know whether the laugh or cry or just be sorta weirded out by it. personally, I think the end credits music makes the ending more disturbing, as a kid it NEVER made me laugh. it actually kinda bothered me. to me, I think that was the desired effect, to kinda mess with the audience emotions, playing a lighter song to go with the depressing ending. it doesn't lift the mood, it actually makes it more disturbing to me.
I like the doo-wop version of Blue Moon at the end of the film when the credits roll, in particular because the juxtaposition to the tragic ending is jarring, and serves as a tension breaker. It is after all a humorous and fun horror film designed to entertain. This ain't Schindler's List where you spend the rest of the day depressed about the depravity of the human condition.
shareI agree.
It's completely jarring, but I always thought that was the point.
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Wait a minute... who am I here?
I love the ending, I think its one of the best in motion picture history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24MZcKtps1w
lol, stop.
shareI thought that the ending to this wonderful movie was perfect
share