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Originally Posted by Dr. Otto
EDIT: I've re-evaluated my initial thoughts on the movie, and I think my biggest personal problem with AWiL is its lack of pathos. Ultimately this film is meant to be a tragedy (comedy and horror elements aside), and evoking the emotion of pathos is crucial in any tragedy. I never really felt genuine pity or sorrow for David. Maybe it's because he wasn't really to blame for getting cursed in the first place, or maybe it was something about David Naughton's performance, or the way John Landis chose to characterize him. Regardless, I admire AWiL for its special effects, but not so much for its protagonist.
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Not to get too off topic, but that's kind of common in a lot of Landis's early films. Delta House are essentially a bunch of degenerate lowlifes who are the heroes simply because the Omegas and the Dean are worse people than them. Jake and Elwood Blues are, at times, almost passive observers in their own film, which is more focused on all of the zany shit happening around them than any real characterization. Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker screams the n-word to a bunch of black people and runs away, and Big Jim Slade steals a dude's lady just because he suffered from premature ejaculation.